The daily train of cars heading onto CO-65 this past winter was just one of the signs of a killer winter. Snow records were broken across the country, and avalanches slid at historically large sizes. Powder days and ear to ear grins were too numerous to count.
Despite the brief respite from the parched conditions of last summer, the future is concerning. Weather prediction has been, and always will be, notoriously uncertain. Climate on the other hand, is much less difficult to predict than any given weather at any given place. Vast networks of supercomputers, manipulated by some of the most intelligent people on the planet, give us an unprecedented view into the future.
Never before in history has the human race possessed the knowledge we have now, and that knowledge gives us power. The power to predict future climate conditions with an accuracy approaching 100% certainty allows us to prepare for that future.
Right now, that future looks bleak. Warming temperatures and more intense weather have the potential to increase drought events, even if net rainfall increases. Plants and soil in the region are not adapted to sudden deluges of the intensity predicted in the next few years, and cannot take advantage of any extra water that happens to fall.
However, lecturing on how humans are destroying the planet has never improved our situation. An attempt to shock an audience into action typically results in a quick retreat to a safe zone built on an island of fear. It is okay to be afraid of the future, everyone is in one way or another.
What sets humans apart is our innate capability to problem solve. Approximately 60,000 years ago, fruits were no match for our dexterous hand, and today, our changing climate should be no match for a vastly improved brain, computers, and effective communication networks. But why is it so difficult? We have the technology, and we are capable of reversing the past, all that lacks is the WILL.
Are we humans going to be cowed into submission by the machinations of our predecessors? Are we too weak and indecisive to band together and defeat the beast of our own creation?
Only time will tell, but how much do we have?
Sincerely,
Ian Thomas
