Cold As Ice

Day 252

I wake in a full-blown panic.  The alarm clock blinks 4:32.  I roll away in hopes of snuggling back into sleep but know it’s no use.  A slideshow from a movie we watched yesterday keeps replaying in my mind.  It’s enough to give one nightmares.   

While visiting the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, we bought tickets for To The Arctic, a 3D IMAX experience that shows the magnificence of the wildlife and habitat of the arctic region.  It’s the magnificent splendor of the glacial waterfalls that’s kept me tossing.  Scientists say they prove the polar ice continues to melt at a significant rate.  To put it simply: The ice is disappearing.  Experts predict that by 2050 the polar ice will no longer exist. 

For those that doubt global warming, go see the movie.  In less than forty years, the absence of polar ice will significantly alter the temperature of our planet.  I don’t claim to know enough about science to understand all the ramifications of this catastrophic event but know enough to know it’s bad.  As my boys would say, “It’s really, really bad.”  

I left the movie panicked.  Hopeless.  “It makes it real when they give a date in our lifetime,” Chaz whispered to me as the credits rolled.  Yeah, I think.  I’m already six shades to Sunday with worry.  I get how real it is.  

Chaz and I will both be in our eighties when the last ice melts but our boys might be parents.   Their kids will be young.  What keeps me up is the state of the world we’ll be leaving them.  They are the ones who will live with our consequences. 

But what can one person do? 

Support elected officials who care about environmental issues.  Be mindful of how you use energy.  Conserve it when you can.  Talking about protecting our environment isn’t a random act of kindness.  It is a deliberate, mindful act of kindness.  Start the conversation.  It’s a first step to action.    

And go see the movie.