As I am writing this entry there are numerous savage forest fires burning in California and Oregon. Devastating floods just hit Northern Europe. In Florida some oceanfront buildings are being evaluated for structural damage which could be the result of rising sea levels. Our rapidly changing climate is impacting these current emergency situations and we are seeing many other weather related threats all around the planet, melting glaciers and ice caps, rising seas, and increasingly violent weather outbreaks.
In 1999 I interviewed the co-author of "The Coming Global Superstorm." Whitley Strieber wrote the book along with the late Art Bell. The authors were sounding an alarm that our weather was going to be changing and that it could happen really fast. They were certainly right about that although some of their predictions were way off base. Even so, their belief that our weather would be getting more severe was correct.
Another prediction that Strieber made during this interview was unfortunately almost naive. He predicted that our Congress would be moving swiftly to address climate change with legislation. Sadly, they have done very little. 22 years later we still have many legislators who deny that climate change is actually happening. We are still waiting for our government to address this situation by taking crucial steps to attempt to reverse the damage to our atmosphere that has already taken place. Some other countries are taking action. Can we reverse the damage that has already occurred? Let's pray that it is not already too late for us.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.