OCTOBER 13 2018
ABRUPT HUMAN CHANGE? NO AND YES.
ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE? YES AND YES.
Almost a 1000 moons ago I portrayed Sisyphus in a school play. It was partly a musical, and one of the songs I had to sing centered on Sisyphus’ infinite punishment for displaying scorn for the gods.
Sisyphus was no saint: he was the ultimate trickster, lived by deception and dishonesty, thus his sentence too was specifically in line with his life: an endless effort to redeem his shortcomings and waging an eternity of hopeless struggle, deep down in the underworld.
After so many years I still remember one song which, translated, depicts his particular punishment.
”I, Sisyphus, am always dead beat,
I roll this rock up, in the hellish heat,
And when I’m near the summit
The rock hops down without a stop:
My actions always a terrible flop.”
We too live by deception, and will also suffer the same fate as Sisyphus, our actions also are always a terrible flop, because we’ll never reach the summit of carbon-free bliss.
Why are we bound to fail in preventing ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE?
We fail because we are humans, and we cannot change human nature: ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE REQUIRES ABRUPT HUMAN CHANGE, something that will never happen because of the words drilled into me when I was a youngster at Catechism lesson, “We are conceived and born into sin, and therefore children of wrath”.
That wrath we now face, as the last generation. This may sound downright ugly, but it happens to be the truth. What we are experiencing today is the culmination of the sins of the fathers, augmented with our own failures.
The sign of true religion is captured in one sentence, “Love God – and thus his creation – above all, and our neighbors as ourselves” (Matthew 22: 38). By fashioning our lives on the fallible foundation of carbon fuel, we no longer can change direction. The grim reality is that we have created a society totally opposite to the aims of the kingdom, the New Creation. This means that our conversion too must be all-encompassing.
Since our foundation is faulty, we, like Sisyphus, are doomed to try, as the IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – did again this week – and also doomed to fail.
IPCC explained.
Ah, to be a permanent member of the IPCC, a United Nations body. It’s a dream job. These scientists are stationed in one of the most desirable and most expensive cities in the world, Geneva, Switzerland, and enjoy a high, tax-free salary. So to preserve this situation, they simply have to deliver an optimistic report, because telling the world that we now live in unstoppable Climate Change will automatically suspend their lucrative employment, even though, deep down, they know this is the case.
And then there are these annual conferences where some 2000 delegates come from everywhere in the world where there is weather, to hear reports and make resolutions, and cause untold tons of Green House Gases through flying –possibly first class – and being buried under an avalanche of paper.
I know all about it: I had first-hand experience there because I attended such a conference in the year 2000: COP 6, in The Hague, Netherlands, from 13–25 November 2000.
I had a press pass from the regional paper for which I wrote a weekly column: no expenses spared as long as I paid for them myself.
The conference took place right after the disputed election of Bush, and his ghost dominated the discussion. Had Al Gore come out as the winner, history might have been closer to a climate victory, but the Bush’ platform was anti-climate while Gore had written a book on climate which I bought and NEVER read, ‘THE EARTH IN THE BALANCE.”
Later Al Gore became famous for a film. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which became quite popular, but, like Sisyphus, the book and film never really had an impact large enough to change the course of the world.
Now 18 years later, nothing has been accomplished on a world-wide scale. Like Sisyphus the world picks up that rock again, makes another try, gives the can another kick, and, looking at human nature, and the addiction we have to OIL, we know that another failure is in the cards.
But the politicians love conferences as long as their governments pick up the expenses: visiting a beautiful city, staying at a nice hotel, enjoying good meals, take in a different culture: that’s a bonus, not to pass up.
All sorts of NGOs also attend. In The Hague I visited the INNUIT group, showing those interested that the Arctic was changing fast. Remember that was 18 years ago!
In 2015 the COP took place in Paris, and resulted in THE PARIS ACCORD, hailed as a breakthrough.
Empty words.
And there we go again. Another IPCC report and they all keep getting more alarming than the previous one. And then nothing substantial happens, until the next report is issued and makes everybody’s headlines for a day, or two. Rinse, spin and repeat. “Now we really have to do something! World leaders have a moral obligation to act!”
Oh boy. To start with that last bit, world leaders don’t act because of moral obligations. They act to stay in, or get in, power. And they all know that to achieve that goal they must keep their people happy, even if dictators do this differently from ‘democratically elected’ leaders.
Leaders, politicians, think short-term. They may see further into the future than the next election, but that is not useful information. If they enact measures aimed at 10 years from today or more, they risk being voted out in 2 years, or 4. It’s not even their fault, it’s how the system works. It is different for dictators, but not even that much.
So a false foundation fosters more falsehoods.
My life is dominated by the coming of THE KINGDOM. All my actions are geared to reducing my carbon footprint, in preparation for the Kingdom to come.
I know that I am in a privileged position, living away from the city, able to heat with recycled wood from the local pallet factory, and having enough land to grow food.
But I drive a VW diesel. I trusted the authorities and believed that with driving a diesel car my environmental impact would be less.
The lesson in diesel is that Big Business cheats: the bottom line on the balance sheet is more important than THE TRUTH.
By buying a diesel I still cause air pollution, so today I drive a lot less. So far this year, I have driven less than 5000 km and will probably do less than 7000 km for the year, even though we live close to 6 km from the nearest store.
We only have 2 meals per day, breakfast – organic oats cooked in a slow cooker, with added flaxseed and fruit – and a noon meal, usually home grown stuff, salads, 2-3 per week, potatoes- vegetables or soups: no meat at all. The evening snack is home-made yogurt with our own maple syrup.
Tipping points.
The scariest issue today is the melting ice that uncovers and destabilizes permafrost. This layer is known to contain vast quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas with a warming effect many times that of carbon dioxide. Melting permafrost will release that gas into the atmosphere, with lethal consequences.
Arctic News reported that “On October 2 and 7, 2018, peak methane levels were as high as 2838 ppb and 2859 ppb respectively. Methane levels over the Beaufort Sea have been high for some time, and have remained high at very high altitudes.
“The threat is that a number of tipping points are going to be crossed, including the buffer of latent heat, loss of albedo as Arctic sea ice disappears, methane releases from the seafloor and rapid melting of permafrost on land and associated decomposition of soils, resulting in additional greenhouse gases (CO?, CH?, N?O, water vapor) entering the Arctic atmosphere, in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle of runaway warming.”
Can we do anything? Yes.
Pray.
Pray for what? Pray that abrupt climate change will occur, so rapid that it speeds up the COMING OF THE KINGDOM. That is our only hope because The Coming of the Kingdom, the wonderful appearance of perfection on earth will also herald Abrupt Human Change combined with Abrupt Climate Change, back to stable, perfect weather.
But not yet.
Big trouble lies ahead. Sam Canara – who edits the ARCTIC NEWS – believes that by 2026, a mere 8 years away, we will see a rise of 8 degrees Celsius, sufficient to fulfill the prophesy of 2 Peter 3, among others.
Eight years is a bagatelle in terms of eternity. But it allows time for conversion. The Lord is good to us, and gives us plenty of warning. With Noah and his Ark, the warning was also decades, as long as it took the Noah clan to construct that huge vessel. He also used lots of outside help, and constantly preached disaster, but, hey, the money was good, he was a good employer, but heeding his warning? No. Life was too good.
So, today too, very few will heed the warning. Nevertheless those who have their ear to the ground and hear the rumbling, (soon the BIG ONE will come, shattering the earth as no earthquake before) and believe what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians: 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here”.
That means: A new Life style, in line with the New Creation.
We have to let our imagination go wild and picture The New Creation, and how we will live there, because that situation is to last forever. This means that we NOW, October 2018, must start the NEW LIFE.
That entails change.
Our constant attention must focus on the New Creation. That includes exercise, sleep 8 hours, eat healthy food, not too much, preferably local, mostly plants, suspend watching TV or limit it to a minimum, and pray without ceasing. Love the earth and love its people. Buy fewer things and consume less. Recycle wherever possible and – even better – reuse things. Demand a low carbon option in everything you consume, from clothes to food to energy.
Remember the ancient Greek fable involving Sisyphus.
”I, Sisyphus, am always dead beat,
I roll this rock up, in the hellish heat,
And when I’m near the summit
The rock hops down without a stop:
My actions always a terrible flop.”
The IPCC portrays this mythical figure. For decades now it has produced reports. We know the score. The panelists always express optimism: they sound upbeat, because being negative angers the rich who, themselves, are building bunkers and buying hideaways in far-away New Zealand. But with every IPCC report the rock rolls back to zero, and a new report is written, more ominous, more specific and the cycle goes on.
The Bible is clear: this world will go up in flames, because we are playing with fire. We simply are creating hell on earth: there’s no escape anymore: the die is cast: there won’t be a ABRUPT HUMAN CHANGE: there will be ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE before the Lord returns.
TWO IMPORTANT CHANGES
Then two important permanent changes occur: ABRUPT HUMAN CHANGE, as “The Redeemed of the LORD shall return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away, (Isaiah 51: 11).
Isn’t that wonderful language! Isn’t that a marvelous message!
And the other ABRUPT and permanent change will take place on our planet: perfectly restored! Perfectly in shape to receive the redeemed of the Lord!
Perfection at last, thanks to Christ: John 3: 16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
AND THANKS BE TO GOD.