№ 623: I Read The News Today, Oh Boy

Is it true climate change will cause the end of civilisation by 2050? (Paywall)

In the worst case, “the scale of destruction is beyond our capacity to model, with a high likelihood of human civilisation coming to an end.”

COMING TO (LEAVING?) YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON (June 23)

Civilization, you say, is collapsing?

By which you must mean this thing

we are perfecting to expedite killing

every last living, ill-conceived being.

So, who — exactly? — thinks this a disaster?
Surely not those who expect a hereafter
on angel wings with God to sing to.
What — on Earth? — would THEY care to cling to?

We, creatures of clay in the image of God,

may have — finally! — this time shot our wad.

Five prior extinctions have kept the world pruned.

Details on sixth at six! Stay tuned.

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№ 550: Lapse To The Future

The Little Ice Age: where, when, and why

Answering those three Ws is tougher than it looks; there’s no consensus on any of them. The term often refers to a moderately cold period in the 17th and 18th centuries that hit Europe especially hard. But it may have gone as late as the 19th century and began—or was at least triggered—in the 13th century.

One theory, based on discoveries out of the University of Colorado, is that four huge volcanic eruptions between 1275 and 1300 kicked it off, beginning a climate feedback loop that kept temperatures cold for centuries. A more recent theory suggests that the massive depopulation of the Americas following the arrival of Christopher Columbus led to a dramatic decline in land use, which led to more forests, which created giant carbon sinks, which cooled the climate.

The Little Ice Age also coincided with a period of “extremely low solar activity” from 1650 to 1715 known as the Maunder Minimum. It’s possible that all three factors played a role in the shift.

Forget Henley's “Invictus”.

Vonnegut said,

“victim. . .series of accidents”.

Stay in bed,

where you're cozy,

thinking of rosy,

brain unrestrained

unreality.

Simply relax.

Ignore the facts.

Don't think of H. Saps.

impending collapse.

“Something will turn up.”

Tomorrow, perhaps.

[updated 3/25/2019 10:54 pm]

No. CLII: Four Forlorn Four-liners

The national psyche
took a lump dump
with the election
of Donald Trump

Doomsday preppers,
given to brood,
would hate to waste
expiring canned food

Hurricanes, droughts
give rise to doubts
if "In God We Trust"
benefits us

If West Coast expires
in forest fires
it does not matter
if Trump retires