The Fallout, 6

I have no idea how this is going to turn out. Perhaps things will go on as before, but not very likely to happen. The horse has been out of the barn for a very long time and we are already seeing signs of catastrophic climate change. We have had several summers of wildfires all over the world and they destroy homes, neighbourhoods and now, even entire cities. This is here in Canada. Fort McMurray, anyone? Catastrophic spring flooding in populated areas used to be a rarity. Every year now. And let's not talk about killer hurricanes and tornados. That all started with Katrina, New Orleans, 2005. This summer, in my own privileged Vancouver, we can expect more eerily orange suns as the smoke twirls its way over our fabled mountains and then for a week or two in the summer our city smells like a prolonged campfire. Bring your own marshmallows. We also have rising sea levels. But why talk about such sad and dismal facts when our fabulously handsome prime minister is ordering a pipeline carrying bitumen, one of the worst of the untreated petroleum products, across our beautiful province to the coast where it will be transported over the warming sea to China for refining. And recent polls indicate that a majority of Canadians, even in this province, support this kind of lunacy. But why are we surprised? Our species has a long history for being self-destructive. Look how many people still smoke? Drink alcohol? Watch Fox and Sun News? If our future was not being held for ransom by such pathetic and venal dumbasses it might even be funny. There is nothing funny about climate change, and there is nothing funny about having to prepare for a very limited future. We also have a lot of days, like today, this third of May, when nothing could possibly look wrong. The morning is cool, the air is around eleven degrees, but it will slowly warm to eighteen today. The sun is out, the sky is blue. Birds are singing and everywhere the flowers shed their fragrance and loveliness. The colour de jour is a soft, brilliant golden green as leaves unfurl and swell on the strong branches. What could possibly be wrong? How much longer can we enjoy the illusion?