And 10 more degrees say "goodbye lobsters"
Some food for thought about your dining future
By Richrd Barlett, Cotuit
When we read that parts of China's breadbasket provinces are already being turned into deserts, one of the early effects of climate change, we have to wonder how long our own midwest will be a reliable source of food for American tables.
If we can't have maple syrup on our pancakes and lobsters become only a memory, and water and vegetable resources disappear, will we still see Hummers on the roads? Will we still elect politicians who try to prevent wind farms? If we put our corn production into ethanol because of a national addiction to gas-guzzling, over-horsed, highly polluting vehicles, where will Orville Redenbacher get his wonderful popcorn, and what will Kellogg make cornflakes out of?
With the earth's glaciers disappearing and traditionally snow-capped mountains rapidly losing their white headgear, huge areas on all the continents will lose their sources of water for irrigating croplands, as well as for people's personal use. Climate change won't seem to be an abstract phenomenon when one has to live without water.
In fact, obviously, life without water is impossible.
Botanists tell us Vermont's sugar maples will be early victims of rising temperatures. Better stock up on maple syrup if you like that gorgeous fluid on your pancakes!
Scientists warn us that the oceans are warming toward the point of extinction for lobsters and those species of fish that only flourish in cold water. Maine's Dr. Diane Cowan has been studying lobster populations for 15 years. She has acquired a reputation as the preeminent authority. Her figures for the ocean's temperatures say there has been a 10 degree rise since 1993. "If it does that again, they're gone. They're cooked." She doesn't mean baked stuffed. "Dr. Lobster," as she is known to lobstermen, says, "I think global warming is real, and I think it's had a detrimental effect on lobsters south of Cape Cod, and it could do the same for Maine."
If we can't have maple syrup on our pancakes and lobsters become only a memory, and water and vegetable resources disappear, will we still see Hummers on the roads? Will we still elect politicians who try to prevent wind farms? Will obstructionists still quote fossil fuel moguls in opposing renewable energy opportunities?
No measure against climate change should be off the table. Bon appetite!
Below are Richard C. Bartlett's previous Op Ed pieces;
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