It was a humbling week for the developed world. Air travel both from and to Europe and the U.K. was paralyzed, the result of a rare combination of stratospheric and ground-level winds sending ash from a volcano in Iceland over most of Europe. Even the U.S. president was grounded, unable to attend the funeral for the Polish president.
Fresh vegetables and flowers in Africa were also stuck on the ground to spoil in their packing crates, unable to move to their northern destinations. Multimillions will be lost due to this natural occurrence. Only the highly sophisticated network of rail transport in Europe and the U.K. mitigated this disaster. Is there a lesson for the U.S. in the “ash event?”
Mother Nature speaks up
The ash cloud capped an extraordinary winter of heavy snowstorms and extraordinary winds. The sight of monster trees yanked from the ground has been disturbing, to say the least. Hurricanes and earthquakes have further underlined the sense that the Earth is talking back. Is anyone listening?
Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at City College in New York City, said in the Wall Street Journal (4-21-10): “We humans often think we are so great, with all our technology. But Mother Nature easily puts us in our place. Our job is not to fear the disasters that nature hurls at us but to understand them, and eventually master them.”
Is Kaku serious? The disasters in the last few months would not seem to be amenable to human mastery.
Meanwhile, climate change is a looming disaster that we could have mastered had we been able to admit a role in its creation early on. Unfortunately, there is sufficient disagreement about the severity, if not the reality, of global climate change that no agreement on a solution at the federal or the global level is likely any time soon.
In spite of the extreme winter in the Northeast, globally this decade has again been determined to be the warmest on record, maintaining the upward trajectory. Economists, corporate honchos and politicos can think quite comfortably about the global economy when it comes to business transactions and how to find the cheapest place to produce goods but have an excruciatingly hard time accepting what else is going on in the world, such as what the weather might be doing beyond one”™s front door. Scientists and policymakers claim we are headed for a catastrophe of unknown dimensions, and that we had better start planning for a very warm and turbulent future.
Attaining sustainability
There are areas of human activity that can be gotten under control and with great advantage to our ultimate survival. At the recent Regional Plan Association assembly in New York City, the keynote speaker, William McDonough, an architect by profession, had a refreshing perspective on how to live sustainably on this planet.
His book, “Cradle to Cradle ”“ Remaking How We Make Things,” describes a concept of waste disposal that is central to creating a society that can live with the limitations of the Earth. He describes it this way: “There are two discrete metabolisms on the planet. The first is the biological metabolism, or the biosphere ”“ the cycles of nature. The second is the technical metabolism ”“ the cycles of industry, including the harvesting of technical materials for natural sources (mining, for example). With the right design, all of the products and materials manufactured by industry will safely feed these two metabolisms, providing nourishment for something new.”
McDonough is decrying the wholesale tossing of all trash into one heap. The trick is to separate the biodegradables from the precious metals, one element back to the Earth, the other back to industry. Sounds simple. It is not. But the rewards can be profound to all elements of society, the health of the Earth as well as the general public, and industry”™s bottom line as precious metals become ever more precious and expensive.
Surviving the Future explores a wide range of subjects to assist businesses in adapting to a new energy age. Maureen Morgan, a transit advocate, is on the board of Federated Conservationists of Westchester. Reach her at maureenmorgan10@verizon.net.
