COP26: dare to hope?

I can no longer bear the apocalyptic thrillers that once enthralled me – especially when they’re re-hashed from tired, old stories in which most life forms die; the powers-that-be are all incompetent, corrupt, or thwarted; the populous populace is oblivious; and the hero who wins the day is a Hollywood fantasy.

So, this week I’m avoiding news from COP26, the climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

I’ll read the synopsis when the dust has settled. Like Charlie Brown, taunted by Lucy as she urges him to kick the ball, I will dare to hope for a different result from all prior efforts. I’ve learned to be cynical yet remain just a wee bit crazy. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

I do have one suggestion: let’s ditch “climate change” and use “catastrophic environmental change.” Climate change is merely one symptom of the pending collapse of all systems that keep us alive on this rock spinning in space.

Images:

Top: the terrible beauty of Howe Sound, in the Salish Sea, shrouded in smoke from Western Canada’s annual forest fires.

Bottom: Big Lonely Doug, one of Canada’s biggest trees, was left during a clear cut near Fairy Creek, near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. Big Lonely Doug is among the last ancient trees standing in Canada’s old growth forests.

Text and images Copyright Deborah Jones