What I am Reading - The Water Knife

Climate Change is an unknown.  No human has experienced a climate like we are in the process of  setting up.  Ever.   I just read a new book by Paolo Bacigalupi that tries real hard to imagine what some of the consequences of this new world might be.  His new book The Water Knife delves into the politics of several U. S. Southwestern States, in the near future, fighting for a very limited supply of a very necessary, and therefore precious, resource - water. The central figure of the novel is an undercover operative for the Nevada water authority and is on assignment in bordering states, covertly trying to gain access to an ancient Native American water treaty while officially grappling with competing water officials and sabotaging water projects unhelpful to the Nevada plan.  In the meantime he comes in contact with an assortment of seamy characters and destitute local citizens trying to make a life in a very degraded environment.  This is the third book I have read of Mr. Bacigalupi's and I have enjoyed them all.  He incorporates a lot of well thought out technical detail and cultural subtleties in his story line.  It is not a pretty world he writes about but he has a way of making it seem possible.  I recommend it to anyone who is interested in thinking about all of the possibilities our new world might bring to the table.

The difficulty with keeping it simple.

Global annual fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions through year 2007, in million metric tons of carbon, as reported by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/home.html. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am still here, folks.  Not active on this site, obviously, but still watching, waiting and learning.  I now believe that the main dilemma we are facing has become less a problem to solve than a forgone conclusion that we must find a way to accept.  We are clearly unwilling, as a species, to restrain our prodigious consumptive habits.  We will not limit our population.  We will not reduce our dependence on hydro-carbons.  We will not throttle our resource-gorging lifestyles.  If we cannot, or will not, do any of these things then the carbon dioxide load of the atmosphere will continue to climb into uncharted territory and the planet will slowly evolve into an unlivable habitat for all life, including humans.

We are fooling ourselves if we think that there is a way to continue our exorbitant lifestyle and, at the same time, find a way to stave off the rapid deterioration of our planet's living environment.  It is really very simple.  Everything we do, or have, in today's consumer society is produced by burning hydro-carbons.  Our food, our utilities, our stuff, medicine, transportation, the internet, even mining hydrocarbons is not possible without using more hydrocarbons.  Burning hydrocarbons, in turn, produce carbon dioxide gases that migrate into the atmosphere (staying there for a very, very long time by the way) which causes heat to be trapped on the earths surface.  If you are still with me here, it follows that virtually everything that is consumed contributes to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and  the resultant Climate Change.

Climate Change, therefore is all up to you (and me too of course).  The more you consume the more you contribute to climate change.  When you consume something, everything that is consumed to produce, distribute, sell and recycle it are part of your consumption as well.  And, don't forget the other part of the equation,  everything your children consume (and their children) is also part of your consumption.  It really is that simple.