Words From the Moon

It’s such a cliche, talking about the weather whenever there seems to be a lack of topics to discuss. But those of us who have lived many decades in Minnesota just can’t seem to stop talking about the weather from this past winter. Christmas came and went, snow free and temperatures relatively pleasant for winter here. But then it carried on, no snow, unseasonably warm weather, trees budding ahead of schedule. Yet there’s more to it than just an topsy-turvy weather report just about every day. Here in the upper Midwest, winter activities are welcomed with open arms, as well as a source of income for many. It was sad to walk by the local outdoor hockey rink with no ice save for a couple of weeks. And ice fishing tournaments and events got cancelled left and right, my son-in-law and grandsons not very happy campers. And this was the scenario in other states that count on snow and cold in the winter months to provide skiing, snowmobiling and other winter activities.

In a broader sense, the imbalances in our climate affect many other aspects of life here. In the midst of wildfires, record rainfall, and patterns of storms that seem to play out over and over, this touches our homes, our lives we have created in places we love, and cultural ways also.

Another sector of life here on Earth being affected by climate change is agriculture. I’ve taken great notice of certain foods that have gone up in price when I grocery shop. When I research the reasons for these food prices soaring, it often harks back to some weather event that either ruined a crop or is throwing a wrench in the continued production of whatever food item it may be.

And some places on Earth are dealing with water supplies that are drying up or becoming unusable due to increased salinity, factors that can be traced back to the effects of climate change. This also ties into water that is needed for agriculture, once more a factor that increases our food prices and availability.

So what to do? How do we right the imbalances that are playing out in our climate? There are some actions of adaptation that can and are being put into place, but those actions are really just a kind of bandaid. And talk of geoengineering schemes seems to be the quick fix so we can carry on with life as we know it. But that’s the problem, life as we know it needs to change. The continued use of fossil fuels, agriculture being practiced as it has been for decades, deforestation, these and other ways of being will need to be revised if we want a more pleasant, abundant, and healthy world to live in.