When Mountainsides Fall Down

 

Ministry of Transportation photo

Merritt, B.C.
CBC News photo

 

On the ocean floor, tiny plankton and krill

are such small creatures,
to have such impact

on whale and ocean health.

We humans,
self-important and entitled,

at the top of the food chain,

have a devastating
and destructive reach,
forgetting that we are only one
among many other beings.

Yet, when Mother Earth rages,

rivers run their banks
and mountainsides tumble down,

we get swept away

as easily as tiny krill
are scooped and sifted

through the grey whale's baleen.

for earthweal where we contemplate Extinction - quite possibly our own.

B.C. got a taste of nature's fury the past two days when ten inches of rain fell over huge areas of the province, causing major flooding, highway destruction, landslides, and evacuation of three towns. Major highways were closed, and we now have a huge mess to clean up, so soon after wildfires affected the same areas now hit hard by flooding. 275 people had to be rescued by helicopter, trapped in their vehicles overnight between two landslides. We dont know how many cars got swept away. One major highway will be closed for months. 

An unthinkable number of livestock, wild and domestic animals will have died in the floods.

Governments thought the price of addressing climate change would be too high.  The cost of not addressing it will be much higher. And on-going. We are watching climate breakdown in real time now. And it is accelerating faster than expected. Target dates of 2050 for lowerting emissions are just ludicrous. The science was clear 40 years ago and we havent yet begun.