FEELING THE BURN.
We as humans learn primarily by reaction: touch the stove and it's hot––OUCH!––ok, don't touch the stove; kitten puts ears back, hisses, then bites––OUCH!––fair enough, don't touch kitten when hissing. Then we constantly test and retest until we're absolutely certain about our observations, and our boundaries.This collection of information teaches us how to behave in the world. But what if something doesn't hiss or bite you back?––at least not immediately. How are we supposed to learn how to treat it?"Because of climate change," reports the Boston Globe this week, "scientists predict the frequency and intensity of [super] storms will only increase in years to come." Couple that with a forecast for a century of droughts, as recently reported by the New York Times, and we have some potentially serious concerns facing us, and facing our children.If the first time we did something destructive to the land, the land slugged us back, the world would probably be in much better shape today. However, though the Earth has always got around to punishing us eventually, the repercussions have never been immediate. And like little children, we push and push to test those boundaries, but when we push the planet, the planet doesn't hiss. It doesn't cuss us out or take a swing. When we do something that irritates the Earth, the planet reacts slowly. POWERFULLY, but slowly.So we're left to assume we don't affect it. The same goes for the human body. Although it's barely even food at a squint, you could hypothetically survive on fast food alone––and thousands do––for several years before the human body started to shut down. If the effects were immediate, though––say, eat a Big Mac get a belly ––then no one would likely eat Big Mac's. But they're not, the effects are slow. DISASTROUS, but slow.With all the problems we're going to be facing in the next few generations, and in the wake of a terrible drought followed by a devastating storm, I'm simply struggling to make sense of why we all haven't dropped everything, changed our diets and our lifestyles and become more sustainable. Quick. Is it possible we are simply not built to learn from long-term mistakes? Are we (horrifyingly) biologically apathetic to climate change? If we felt the burn from touching the stove several weeks, or months, or even years later... would we ever learn not to touch it? Would we still touch the stove, knowing in a few years it would burn us, or our children? Looking at the shape of the planet right now, and the forecast, I'm terrified of the answer.- Jesse.