If you think speculating about the effects of global warming is something interesting to read on a blog, you probably don’t live on an island. Because, if you do, these effects are the real deal, right now. In this rant, scientist Gerry Connelly, a resident of Bermuda, gives a clear and frightening evaluation of what those island dwellers are looking at right now: the potential loss of the Gulf Stream and its moderating effects, loss of fishing, extreme weather (Katrina) and the possibility that they could be facing evacuation within a few years- extreme but entirely probable.

With Dennis Hastert in the news over reports that he apparently was willing to cover up alledged child abuse activity for the purposes of political expediency (saving a ’safe’ seat for a Rep with big fund raising abilities), I was reminded of an incident that took place a few months ago. I was eating a late dinner in a local restaurant when the staff began whispering that Hastert was on his way in for dinner. For Rochester this was a celebrity-sighting even though most of them didn’t really know who, exactly, he was.

Minutes later five huge black SUVs rolled up and crew of stocky guys without necks in black suits came in and surveilled the place. They took up places around the bar and then Hastert came in with a group of the most literally ‘fat cats’ I’ve ever seen- big white guys in suits. The picture associated with this post is very complimentary- this guy does not look healthy and he obviously hasn’t walked more than a few feet in years. They had dinner and left.

I was left wondering a few things: Do they drive all those SUVs to every place he goes? Does a guy with that much protection have any idea what ordinary Americans are concerned about? Obviously not, based on this week’s revelations.

What I saw is a man addicted to power.

These are the people telling you that global warming is a myth and climate change is not our problem.

Throw the bums out.

In this UK article, writer George Monbiot asserts that a major disinformation campaign on global warming is being funded by Exxon, and oddly enough, Phillip Morris, the tobacco giant. No, they’re not worried that smoking is perceived as a cause of climate change- instead they apparently created a policy group and had them start attacking scientific consensus on warming as a cover for campaigns supporting smoking from the same group. The idea is to legitimize their group by showing they do all kinds of policy issues, not just smoking-related coverage.

If true, this is ultra creepy and signals  a corporate culture that has completely abandoned any semblance of ethics both as business(es) and as individuals within those companies. Bad karma.

Watch out for Shiva, Goddess of Destruction…

…I felt that I was trying to describe an unthinkable present and I actually feel that science fiction’s best use today is the exploration of contemporary reality rather than any attempt to predict where we are going… The best thing you can do with science today is use it to explore the present. Earth is the alien planet now. –from an interview with Willam Gibson on CNN, August 26, 1997.

You may have noted that I have links and references to science fiction on this site. One of the reasons I started Burner Trouble is that I wrote a novel (unpublished) of the same title in which I tried to portray what my life might be like in the not too distant future if climate change really accelerated. The novel wasn’t really satisfying because real events are moving so fast that they are, in many cases, outpacing speculation. So I thought I’d write about my reality, in real time, hence this blog.
I recently saw a TV show on CNN where three ‘prominent’ futurists were talking about where they thought things were headed. For those who may not be aware of this career category, futurists are people hired by companies with more money than they know what to do with, to predict the future. They do this by playing a game called scenario planning where they create a potential scenario and play out all the outcomes. It’s a job I’d love to get paid for. It also happens to be the exact decription what sci-fi or speculative fiction writers do.
These futurists were unimpressive to say the least. They talked about gadgets and connectivity. Meanwhile the scifi writers tend to focus on social changes and long term consequences. My experience tells me their accuracy is higher. I recently reread William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer, a pioneering near future speculative masterpiece, to see how his predictions held up 22 years later. It is striking how spot on he was in some ways. I recommend it (link in the Recommended Reading list to the left).
Interestingly, Gibson has abandoned speculative fiction for stories set in the present because he feels things are moving so fast now that just capturing our current milieu is challenge enough.