Friday, July 19, 2019

Water, As We Knew it.

Much (tainted) water has passed under the bridge since the last post here.  The roiling current over the last several years is far too swift to recap, and attempts to describe and analyze our cultural flow are abundant and easily accessed elsewhere.  Throughout changes of all sorts, there is one constant that needs to be continually addressed for the sake of context: the earth doesn't care what humans do.  Since humans do care, to the extent that we craft all kinds of stories and push for their dominance in public discourse, here are a few highlights from the news that indicate a possible pattern of interest.

Recently, we have heard from the U.N. that a million species (presumably, other than our own) are at short term risk of extinction.  We continue to break weather event records, and the pace of setting records is a record of its own.  In the last two decades there has been an acceleration in the instances of billion dollar weather catastrophes from a handful each year to an average of more than one per month.  These include wildfires, droughts, floods, extreme precipitation and extreme temperature related catastrophes. We have seen this two year old political administration conduct a slash and burn campaign for environmental stewardship.  The White House occupant (who is really more of a squatter) has replaced career professionals in key government positions with industrial lobbyists and crony hacks whose intent it is to roll back all manner of common sense safeguards.  Science has become just another opinion.  Yet if you ask a politician for an informed judgment about environmental risks he will say he is no scientist.

Not so long ago there was legitimate speculative consideration over climate change, insofar as its causes, portents and possible remedies.  Now, there is no speculation among those whose only agenda is to observe and report observations.  We caused the change.  The change portends mass extinction.  And, at this point, there is little hope for remedy.  The only speculation that remains is in regard to the speed of our demise.  Data extrapolation inherently tends toward modesty and often understates worst case scenarios.  It is properly in the nature of scientists to hedge a bit; they are trained to stick to the facts.  Essayists and others not constrained by scientific protocols also underestimate calamity either because of a failure of imagination or of fear of criticism.   Outside of science there have always been pearl clutchers, gloom and doomers and whackos carrying signs telling us the end is near.  Their feigned mystical abilities and claims have been entertaining more than alarming.

One thing remains certain through all the stages of discussion about climate: the earth is utterly indifferent.  The planet will conform unerringly to all laws of chemistry and physics.  Air is either breathable or it is not.  Water is either clean or its not.  Biodiversity is foundational to our existence because it is essentially a matter of mathematics and not at all a romantic notion.

What is also a mathematic certainty is the principle of exponential compounding.  When feedback loops are in play, results that would otherwise follow geometric curves become points plotted on an exponential curve.  If we couple the known characteristics of exponential compounding with another branch of mathematics called chaos theory, we observe a cascade of extreme effects which release grossly unbalanced forces upon a delicately balanced system.  Polar regions are perfect examples.  Trapped greenhouse gases raise temperatures that melt glacial ice and expose darker-colored soil which absorbs more solar energy and thaws the soil so it releases more trapped greenhouse gases, and so on, to create a feedback loop that accelerates exponentially.  The resulting change in ph of seawater slows circulation of temperature regulating ocean currents, the jet stream slows along with it and weather patterns stall out, forcing extreme conditions onto ecosystems that co-evolved with a variety of weather conditions.

So, in other words, it's going to get ugly.  This much we know.  But, it will be uglier than we've imagined and it will happen sooner than the estimates we've heard.  The question recurs, what does this mean for humans, specifically, that one human in particular who matters most?  One's self. It means the same fate as that of the dinosaurs and any species before or since that could not adapt to extreme, sudden change.

We have one adaptive skill that other species do not share.  We can thoughtfully design our own excarnation.  Rationally facing the certain demise of our species, one who accepts the implications also understands that it doesn't necessarily mean widespread agony and suffering.  Denial will lead to that.  Acceptance leads to consideration of the terms of surrender.  We now know that we were too smart for our planet.  Our development was based on a story of imagining we were in charge and it simply turned out that we were not in charge.  In this case, it turns out to be a capital offense to base our existence on a false narrative and follow it to its conclusion.

This points to the concluding thought of this post and calls for highlighting the last bit of news relevant to the theme.  The recent push in a couple of states to decriminalize psychoactive substances and psilocybin  mushrooms in particular.  For those unacquainted with their therapeutic effects, psychoactive substances expand consciousness into previously unimaginable realms.  Contrary to the fear mongering images portrayed by the opposition,  these drugs do not make you crazy.  If that is the result, then you were crazy before and you're still crazy after.  At the time of inebriation one can hallucinate all manner of physical and psychological possibilities and for some time after, perhaps for the rest of one's life, vestigial perceptions linger of enhanced possibilities beyond the normal day-to-day.  These natural compounds can be, in the final analysis, our best teachers.

The physical body must end.  But while it is still functioning and is within the control of the mind, it need not suffer toward its end.  If one's life is like a flowing stream, and one's energy is believed to continue on in different forms, then it is fitting that one directs that energy release with deliberation and intention and allow the flow to continue.  We may yet find the wisdom toward the end of our development to prescribe therapies that have always existed right under our noses that will ease suffering on a mass scale.  If a chance is ever presented to discover what psilocybin has to offer don't pass it up.