Living through 2023

NYC during Canada's forest fires

It's hard to know if this was the best year of the coming decade, but if it was, beware. What did it do for us? High anxiety. Climate anxiety or eco-anxiety is a new human condition, and it's real and pervasive. 

Weather weirdness and climate breakdown. Drought, fires, and floods. So sad for the forests of Canada and the beautiful historic Lahaina. Records broken for air and sea temperature anomalies, ice formation, and more. Floods after drought. Extreme weather causing massive devastation, crop failures, mass migration, and starvation. Food and water insecurity. The extinction rebellion. COP28 in the UAE led by an oil CEO Sultan. 

Wars on many fronts: Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Palestine, Sudan, Ethiopia, Maghreb. 

The Barbenheimer phenomenon. What was that?  A bit of escapism in a tug-of-war with weapons of mass destruction. 

Trump and Guiliani would be jokes if they weren't so dangerous. This signals the downfall of democracy in America. Stress on so many fronts. The states warring with each other. The US passing a point of no return. 

Humanity at war with the earth, and with each other. 

Were there any high points? Of course. We rekindled relationships post-Covid, including with our cousins in Florida. But there are a few positives to which we can point for hope. 

• Renewables have been picking up steam
• Phasing out of fossil fuels made it into the COP28 agreements
• Reduction in the rate of release of methane
• Surge in sales of EVs
• Reduction in deforestation of Brazil
• The ozone layer is healing well

But on that last point, a study has been published that indicates that global warming is accelerating due to one simple fact: we have been cleaning up particulate matter from the air which unbeknownst to us had a cooling effect on the earth. Now that the air is cleaner, more sunlight is getting through to warm the earth even faster. 

So we are f*^%ed ... we can die either from pollution-related respiratory disease or from melanoma or heat stroke. Charming thoughts. 

While there's much to be worried about the climate and nature crises, we must not lose hope, because hopelessness breeds apathy. Hope alone won't change anything but actions do. We built a big shed. We've contracted to install solar panels, batteries, and an eV charging point early in the new year. An eV will follow shortly thereafter. Hey, it's a start. We've planted hundreds of trees, and we don't use chemicals on the land. We encourage biodiversity and provide wildlife with habitat. Perhaps we can encourage others to do the same.