I loved that commercial for Chiffon margarine in the 1970s. You know, the one known for "It's not NICE to fool Mother Nature!"
By chance, was it played over and over and over again in the 70s and 80s? And did Mother Nature get so fogged up over it that she's exacting revenge on the planet now?
I should read up on Al Gore. I need to make it a point to see An Inconvenient Truth one night - Steve has a copy on his computer. I've heard Gore has plenty of good points to offer on the future of this planet.
Look at what has transpired here in the last couple years. The last days of my time off for my condition coincided with the crashing of Hurricane Katrina into Louisiana; not to mention Rita and Wilma later in the year. This years' California wildfires. The alarming lack of water around suburban Atlanta. The constant reports here in Michigan that our lake levels are dropping to record low levels. The video footage of the great ice barriers crumbling due to increased warmth in the Arctic. The tsunamis we've heard so much about. Last year's Michigan winter was virtually non-existent; very mild and rather dry.
Maybe I can make a better educated guess on what's causing the weather to go haywire after watching Gore. My reasoning could end up anywhere between Ozone Layer and auto emissions to the Second Coming.
How many acres are burning as we speak? How many have burned in the last ten years? How many more acres of forests do we have country-wide? And how long before we burn every last tree down to the ground? Even Michigan had a wildfire in its Upper Peninsula this summer, so we are not immune by any means.
The last two years, we've been spared catastrophic hurricanes. But who's to say the Gulf Coast won't get socked in the near future? Hurricane amounts come and go in cycles, and meterologists say we are only in the beginning stages of the next cycle.
What happens when all the pipelines and wells run dry in the southeast? We've seen what happens (2004) when all the power goes out, but do we ever think of a world without water? It seems impossible, since 70% of the earth is water. You can bet some pundits would suggest we transport Great Lakes water down there, but we must pay attention to our own dropping lake levels.
The ice barriers hold so much water potential in their solid form and help promote the current temperature planet-wide. You lose those, and the water evaporates away, we lose something else: the overall stability of the planet, perhaps.
I'll watch Gore's video as soon as I can. And I must admit they don't sell Chiffon anymore, I use Parkay... so hopefully I don't fool Mother Nature one more time.
On a serious note, though, it's the truth: none of us can afford to.
