Climate Change – The Social Writer

I’ve started a summer journal. This is a note from 26-06-2020.

It’s 11:57 PM now. The temperature is about 23 degrees celsius. It has been the warmest day so far this year. And -yes I might sound ungrateful- hopefully the last. As said in earlier notes, this country is underprepared for this type of weather. It doesn’t have a siesta like in Spain. The economy isn’t halted even the slightest bit. Activities aren’t postponed. Life doesn’t slow down. Work intensity isn’t diminished.

Frankly, the approach in the Netherlands seems to be even counterintuitive: The stronger the heatwave, the more active Dutch people become. Today, streets were sprawling with sweaty folks, hurrying to and fro on their bike with a red face. To the beach. To work. To the terrace. Or to accomplish all these activities within the same day.

Despite global warming, Dutch people still gratify each warm day as if it were the last. Muggy and uncomfortable days like these are still perceived as seldom and need to be fully exploited. I think it’s a reflex which occurs whenever we see ’thirty degrees’ appearing on the forecast. It’s an old habit, originating from the harsh winters and disappointing summers we used to have in the past.

But those times are now disappearing and slowly being replaced by hot and wet seasons, like in Asia. As with any obsession, not much is left of its origins, but the reflex remained. Foreigners from warmer countries must witness this awkward summer obsession with spanish shame.

Air Conditioners

A related development is the multiplied purchase of air conditioners. From a growing amount of apartments, I see the unmistakable airco hoses sticking out of the windows. Some inhabitants have even fabricated a wooden construction, from where the hose can eject the warm air.

Herewith, I’d like to make a modest correlation with the end of mankind. It’s quite a simple circle really: People have made the world warmer by using too much energy, and now they need air conditioners to bear with the heat they created, using more energy, increasing warmth even more, for which more air conditioners are needed.

Why would this be the end of mankind? Well, because people buy the air conditioners for their own good, and don’t take into account the macro outcome. A large chunk of people cannot transcend their own life-span. Long term effects are therefore not considered, for it won’t be their responsibility anymore after they die; Most of the ecological problems of the world of today, have been created by those who didn’t care about the world of tomorrow.

It’s outright selfish, but unfortunately very natural human behaviour. The end of mankind is near, but if you happen to be an air conditioner salesman, you might be able to hold out a little longer than the rest of us. You might even be the last man standing.

Photo credit: Tim Roosjen

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Mother Earth as we know her, might appear so solid and inconceivable, and able to withstand anything, that people (including myself) think she can manage it all alone and tend to forget about a sacred agreement.

In the very beginning, when our helpless souls were at her mercy, she had welcomed us with open arms. Deliberately, she shared with mankind all the beauty and potential she has to offer, under only one condition. Reciprocity. A silent compromise or pact of mutual effort: In her, we found a home. Conversely, she expects us to safeguard her health. To treat her with respect and dignity. And above all to clean up the mess after ourselves.

Because whenever we become too troublesome and don’t honour the pact, she has no alternative other than to show us the doorway. And if she becomes ill, she’ll be forced to rid herself of the alleged virus.

She has left it in our hands to treat her with gentle care and to preserve her wellbeing, and help her through good and bad. In return, she helps us having a hideaway from the lethal heat of the sun and the bitter coldness of space.

We are the guardians of our own responsibility to not let her fall out of harmony so that we don’t fall out of grace. Whatever happens to Earth, it’s always our task to be one-hundred percent certain that at least we are not accountable for any of the distress or sickness she might experience.

But lately, something unsettling began to unfold. A stubborn fever took hold of Mother Earth. She’s been sneezing and coughing for years on end. Over time, her temperature has risen towards far above average and she suffers from temperament swings.

Surely this small flu will be tackled. In over 450 billion years she has survived many of them. After the cause is detected by her defence mechanisms, the high temperature and sneezing streaks will eventually make it unbearable for the mysterious virus to still live on. And then, during a harsh time of transpiring heavily, she will sweat it all out. Consequently, Earth is recovered and the virus exterminated.

Does Earth have reasons to suspect us to be this virus?

Time will tell.