Staying on the sunny side
Hello friends,
As always, the week’s news brought its share of thrills and chills, but even with all that, having Kamala Harris atop the Democratic ticket has been both calming and energizing. This week, we’ll learn her pick for VP. All of the contenders bring distinct advantages, but whatever happens, it’ll be a great team. There are storms ahead, no doubt, but it turns out there was blue sky behind all those clouds.
On the themes of news and weather and hope, let me share the following reflection.
We still receive the paper version of the New York Times at our house, and I always look forward to the Tuesday edition which features the Science Times section. The paper edition has one distinct advantage over the digital version: laying open on the kitchen counter, four or five articles appear on one large paper field, and viewed side by side, these articles can generate some very interesting lateral conversations. In the digital format, where only single articles appear on a screen, you don’t get this kind of cross-talk.
A few days ago, I opened the Science Section to pp. D2 and D3, and scanning the pages, sensed a connection between the articles, the theme being something like disaster, death, decay, … and hope.
Starting with articles on the upper left, new research shows that the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, famously destroyed by a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79 was simultaneously clobbered by an earthquake. Archeologists discovered the bodies of two men painting a mural who appear to have been crushed by a falling wall, then suffocated with hot, volcanic gasses, before being encased in lava. Now that was a tough day.
On the lower left, there’s an article on cannibalism in the animal kingdom. Apparently, female golden bell frogs have been observed to eat adult male frogs simply because they find their mating call irritating. We all knew dating could be dicey.
On the lower right came an article entitled, “Some Seniors Readily Step Back. Some Never Will,” a topic that has been much on our minds of late, given Biden’s initial determination to stay in the race. That process was a bit taxing to be sure, but it could have been worse. When asked about his plans for retiring as CEO of Viacom, Summer Redstone claimed, “I’m not going to die.” On Aug. 11, 2020, this strategy was convincingly disproven. Let’s thank Joe Biden for choosing a different approach.
And finally, the hopeful piece. In the upper right quadrant, on the top of D3, there’s a conversation with Susan Solomon, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at MIT. Back in the 1980’s, Dr. Solomon discovered that industrial clorofluorocarbons were depleting the Earth’s ozone layer at an alarming rate. Her work led to the Montreal Protocol, where 99% of the world’s nations signed an agreement to ban ozone depleting chemicals. You can read the article here (if you agree to come back and finish reading this note). She went on to write a book entitled “Solveable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again.” If ever there was an issue that can drive us to existential despair, climate change is it. But in spite of it all, Solomon sees possibilities, not just perils.
Two quick takeaways. When asked what a second Trump term might mean for the environment, she says that rather than freezing up or freaking out, it’s better to get moving: “I’m not saying we should be sanguine. I am saying sound the alarm. Get going. Do what you need to do. Form groups. Help to create the popular will that’s going to propel this issue to where it needs to be.” And I thought: “Yes! We’re doing that! The Dems of Davidson Green Team is on it!” (Let me know if you want to sign up).
And second, the interviewer observed that several female scientists—Hannah Ritchie, Ayana Johnson, and Katharine Hayhoe—have written books on the environment that highlight grounds for optimism, while the scariest books about climate change have been written by men. Solomon responded: “I think women are pretty good problem solvers.”
Ya know: I believe that’s true. It makes me glad all over again that we have Kamala Harris running for president.
Have a splendid week,
Greg