NASA photo: Save The Earth
DAILY REPORT
August 16, 2010
(warning: depressing)
Thousands of forest fires,
burning across Russia,
after an unprecedented heat wave,
are responding to a freakish cold front,
bringing rain.
300 fires still burn all over BC.
It is 36 degrees Celsius
most of the day.
Anchor desks report
each summer is hotter
than the one before,
(as if we don’t
already know.)
In Pakistan, the worst floods
in the country’s
recorded history
have washed away
160,000 square kilometres,
leaving two million homeless.
(My mind stops.
Two million???
Homeless????)
Ten indicators show
seven of the earth’s 10 systems
are warming while three,
glaciers, snow melt and ice,
are declining.
Oceans are under threat.
Marine algae (phytoplankton),
the basis of the food chain in the ocean,
and producing half of the earth’s oxygen,
have declined 40 percent since 1950
in the northern hemisphere.
The world’s scientists say
they have undeniable proof
that global warming exists.
(Well, DUH!)
91% of Canadians,
some of the world’s
most privileged people,
have detectable levels
of A(BPA),
an industrial chemical
used to make plastics.
Scientists say that by 2050
nanotechnology
will need to develop
artificial food
to feed the world’s
population.
More Research and Studies
and Talking
are needed
(because that releases one
from the obligation of
Doing Anything.)
The Taliban have stoned
a young couple to death
for the crime of
falling in love.
Israel and Palestine have
each forgotten
that across both sides
of a man-made
and disputed border,
a line in the sand,
live human beings
with beating hearts
who long to live in peace.
In Africa,
everyone is dying
as the world collectively
turns its head aside.
Governments continue to be slow to act.
Afraid of the global money interests,
they do not legislate
the urgent and tough
restrictions
that are needed
at every level of life
on this planet.
The multinationals continue
to rape and pillage,
Profit coming before
basic decent human values
and even the survival
of our species.
I think of my grandchildren’s children
and the world they will be living in,
as I wait for more ice to melt,
for the water level to rise
all along the western seaboard,
wiping away
life as we know it.
I feel like the frog
in the pot of water
that is slowly heating up.
My brain goes numb.
A message arises
in front of my mind’s eye:
does not compute
does not compute
System overloaded:
Insufficient memory
to store this information.
The entire planet
needs to reboot.
Stay tuned: more flash floods
and soul-daunting news
to follow.
