Timothy Lawton

I have been an avid weather watcher for my whole life. Over the years my personal observations, of what has been around me and from reports around the world, have lead me to conclude that the climate will only continue to spiral out of control. The generally subdued weather and climate of the period from 1850 to 1990 is not the norm. The more extreme events that we have seen over the last two decades are far more likely to be typical earth climate. Since our societies have largely developed into the state that they are currently in during this tranquill episode we are not prepared to deal with the variability that our future climate presents. Regardless if mankind has an influence on this current uptick in extremes I believe it to be a natural occurrence.

Massive blizzards, extreme winds, and now flooding have been a hallmark of the 2009-2010 winter season over much of the eastern United States. Conversely much of the northwest of North America has had a rather warm and relatively snowless season. All over the world this is being repeated and it is occurring year after year. Whether it be droughts or floods, hot or cold, or prolonged periods of calm or extreme storms the climate is becoming far more erratic. Desert floods, fires in the rainforest, the European heat wave of 2003, and countless other events are showing us a world in transition. It seems that no place on this planet is being spared from these freakish examples of nature’s fury.

Yet, we must look at what this means for people as a whole. What does this foretell of the future? Can mankind adequately respond to a climate that challenges us on a nearly continuous basis? It is easy to sit in the industrialized world and simply dismiss what a more turbulent climate may mean for us, but that is very short sighted. First off the effects that will be visited upon us will eventually become an impediment to our every day existence, but before that the trials and tribulations that decimate the third world will visit their results upon our nations. Europe, the United States, Japan, and the rest of the first and second world will be overrun with the refugees from nature’s devastations. Thirsty and hungry people will not go quietly into that dark night while an arrogant, lazy, and spoiled people hold all that they need at their finger tips to stave off their impending doom.

The third world will be hit first, but the more technologically developed societies will not be far behind. The crops that we have cultivated are mostly hybrids bred for the traits that made them suitable to the climate of the past. Clean and reliable water will quickly disappear from much of the world. Massive crop failures will make it to the farm belts of the Northern hemisphere and probably to those of the south as well. Wars over the most basic materials such as water and food will naturally ensue. Malnutrition will lead to epidemics and pandemics and no corner of this globe will be immune. This applies to our livestock as well. Our precarious and comfortable position on this earth is about to take a turn for the worse. All of these natural disasters will only further stress the institutional problems that have been exposed over these last few years. On top of all of this the eco-systems upon which we depend will thrown into complete disarray. Forests will disappear, marine life will evaporate, and the cost of the most basic necessities will skyrocket.

What does all of this mean? What can we do? My primary concern is that we now have no leaders, for the most part, across this world. There are virtually no people who will stand up and take the tough measures which we need to address this coming series of crises. Planning for alternative means to generate agricultural and natural resources is paramount. Again, I must stress the impact that this will have on the populations of the third world. They will be first to endure these hardships, but they will quickly spread to the rest of the world. What are now weather anamolies and inconvieniences will become increasingly meaningful challenges to our very existence. We ignore them at our own peril!!!!