I just had the good fortune to travel to Rocky Mountain National Park this past week. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this nation's birthday than to experience and appreciate the natural beauty that is our inheritance. As I stood near a lake 10,000 feet above sea level and looked at a glacier a mere 100 meters away, I thought about the fact that this glacier was around when George Washington won at Yorktown. It was around when Nero fiddled while Rome burned. It was around while the great Library of Alexandria flourished, while Plato taught, while David ruled over the Kingdom of Israel. The glacier was in existance when the first human being achieved consciousness. Our lives, our hopes and dreams are but a blink in the eye to the life of this majestic glacier. And now it is on course to completely disappear. In our lifetime possibly. That is the impact of global warming. It is not some far off problem to be handled when things are more convenient. It is a problem we created that is changing our entire eco system right now.
The Rocky Mountains are not just beautiful to look at. The glaciers and snow pack they contain are crucial to the lives of the animals, plants and yes, humans in the region. Boulder, Colorado's beautiful creek, which flows right through the town is fed by the ice melt. Without those glaciers, there is no ice melt.
Our planet is in peril. It behooves all of us to take a minute and to see first hand the damage we are causing right now through our addiction to fossil fuels. Wildfires, draughts, habitat loss - it is happening all around us, and we can see global warming up close, if we only take a moment to look.
Monday, July 7, 2008
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