Nice Weather, Global Warming, and Stinky Toilets

January in the Northeast has been splendid this year. Our temperatures have been way above normal and since there's been relatively no snow I haven't had to stress about whether it was safe for me to go to work or who was going to shovel me out. On a personal level, I'm all for global warming.

This attitude is what my dad used to call, "Hooray for me and the hell with you."

It's an attitude shared by the government and the oil companies. Can't blame them, I guess, everybody likes money and I sure enjoyed sitting outside in the almost 60 degree temperatures this afternoon before work.

I'm sure we'll be fine--but there are future generations to think about and, according to the Washinton Post, (Jan.28, 2006) the coral is bleaching. Huh? Water temperatures two degrees above average this fall bleached loads of coral from Texas to Trinidad. Keep that up and fishing will go down the tubes. Little island nations exist now, especially in the Pacific, that might not be here much longer. You don't have much leeway when your tallest rock is only six feet above sea level and ocean levels are beginning to rise. And the currents that moderate the climate in Europe--changing.

On a personal level, what do I know about this. Not much, I admit, I'm certainly no scientist. But I recognize the domino theory when I see it. I sailed on Grace Line's Santa Maria down the west coast of South America years ago. The first time we arrived in Callao, the seaport for Lima, Peru I nearly gagged when I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I discovered that one of Callao's main exports was fish fertilizer made from bird guano and the harbor water stunk from factories that manufactured it. The ship's toilets used harbor water.

A year later we made the same trip and I was telling a fellow passenger about the smelly phenomenon; only thing is it didn't happen, next morning, no smell. What was the mystery all about? El Nino had changed the Humboldt Current. The cold water that it brought from the Antarctic didn't come, so neither did the fish. No fish, no birds, no birds no bird guano and no fertilizer. How nice not to have that awful smell. Except Callao was in bad shape that year. No guano--no factories no jobs, no food for hungry people.