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As I write this, Hurricane Katrina is tearing through New Orleans,
and if it hits like the weathermen say it will, the question “Where
Yat?” is going to take on a whole new and tragic meaning.
The city of
bontemps and Louis Armstrong, Mardi Gras, the Quarter and everything
else that makes N’awlins the home of soul could wind up as the first
American casualty of increasingly unstable weather hastened by global
warming.
And here a brief word on the cliche “our prayers are with you.”
Sometimes
it takes a tragedy of monumental proportions for people to see their
own folly and rethink their conduct and policies. Through ancient times
and the Medieval period, humans turned to deities to explain
catastrophes and suffering. Then, on Nov. 1, 1755 at 9:20 a.m., an
earthquake struck Lisbon, Portugal, that demolished the city and killed
more than 100,000 people. As a result, Enlightenment philosophers made
a convincing argument that no God would wreak such havoc, and that
humanity is on its own to work out a morality and praxis to deal with
natural forces. This led to the advance of reason and science and the
retreat of superstitions, including religious dogmas, in explaining the
phenomena of life. An awful lot of positive change followed, including
the establishment of American democracy.
The science of climate
change as caused by humans is so well established that all that remains
is to work out the details. We know that carbon emissions cause
unstable weather, increased storm activities, rising sea levels and
droughts, etc. And we know what to do about it.
It does no good
to pray when we ourselves refuse to act to curb greenhouse gases. Have
we sacrificed New Orleans on the altar of our false god? How long can
we keep pretending that we have no hand in destruction and devestation
such as Katrina’s?
Just connect the dots.
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