That the currently observed climate change is man-made is still disputed, in particular by president Trump who calls global warming “weather.” Scientists are not denying that Earth is undergoing glacial periods for billions of years, and the development and spread of hominins had been related to the interglacial period after the previous ice age. But now, all is accelerating. The picture above shows how much the Arctic, where I’m presently living, has changed. Temperatures in Svalbard last year had been way above average throughout, most of the time by more 6 degrees Celsius.

But most of what is going on on this planet is actually man-made. For instance, mass-extinction of species, the sixth wave in the past half billion years, is a phenomenon which must be directly related to Homo sapiens and his desperate attempts (misled by an alleged command of a non-existing divine power) to

[b]e fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28.)

When one thinks of extinction of species one may have rhinos, tigers and orangutans, polar bears, whales and corals in mind. Some might say, for what do we have zoos? However, what is actually of much more concern is (just as another example) the decline of insects by 75% in the last three decades. Does anybody remember the times when the family went for a holiday and dad had to clean the windshield of the car from smashed bees, flies, mosquitoes whenever refueling? These times are over, guys. Only ignorants may feel released when they do not have to use repellants anymore. When the bees die, there will be no crops, that’s what bee-keepers have told us for years. And they were the first suffering from the phenomenon. It was caused by pesticides, of course, long denied by corporations who want to earn more money by enable larger monocultures of crops. And, without other insects, birds will disappear as well. Did anybody notice the decline of songbirds when having left your overcrowded cities? And where is us in the food chain? Well, you’ll figure it out.

It must now be considered brazen irony that man himself has called the species he belongs to “sapiens”, meaning wise. After a century of world wars and possible nuclear overkill, we are now facing rapid extinction as well. The surge of dystopic movies are a foreboding of what becomes reality within couple of decades.

That Donald Trump could not prevent the release of the Climate Science Special Report (as has been feared couple of months ago when respective scientists had leaked the draft to the press) is not really a relief but shows the little powers of a deeply frustrated commander in chief (of the US but with a much grander perception) with his fingers at the nuclear button at any time.

Has the Doomsday Clock moved its minute hand to 2 minutes to midnight? We should check frequently.

4 November 2017 @ 7:11 am.

Last modified November 4, 2017.