I decided to cruise through some social media today to see what has been going on in the world while I worked. On Facebook, alone, I found all kinds of status updates and shares about how ridiculous Donald Trump was, what people got for Christmas, what people were in hot water for not getting someone anything for Christmas, how bad the Star Wars Prequels were, two separate articles about Harley Quinn in the new "Suicide Squad" movie, numerous pics about people's fitness lifestyles, and what to do if your "fat pic" goes viral.
Surprisingly enough, I didn't see one mention of quite possibly the most terrifying thing ever.
Did you see that? Did you actually read that article? The North Pole actually made it to ABOVE THE FREEZING POINT. Granted, it was for a period of less than six hours, but the fact remains, this is a part of the planet that, in winter, is usually colder than Mars. Above freezing temperatures have only happened three times since 1948. Meteorologists and climatologists are calling this event "extremely terrifying". Think about that for a second. Scientists are using the phrase extremely terrifying. This is being generated by a "historic" storm that dropped both snow and tornadoes in Texas within the last few days, and is causing massive flooding elsewhere. It is possible that the North Pole could reach the 40s for a time.
The problem is, no one seems to care.
I tried to raise this as a point of discussion with someone today, and their response was that the government is changing the weather patterns to "screw with the economy" What?!! How the hell can a rational person deny the existence of human-initiated climate change, but be willing to accept the fact that the government has the Sci-Fi power to control the weather just to tweak Wall Street to its liking? Faith in humanity: -277 points.
Anyone who knows me, or at least has read my writings (some of them are here--look through the archives), knows that one of the main things I harp on is to learn history and keep up on current events. One of the reasons we've gotten away from "Government by the People" in this country is that no one pays attention to what is actually happening! Do not let the media distract you from what is important. Screw the latest "break the internet" fads and dig around for what is actually happening around you. Confirm through multiple sources, rather than believing anything the media feeds you (and I mean reputable sources; not "Jim-Bob's 24-hour 'The Truth is Out There' " conspiracy site).
Remember, Carl Sagan said it best: "The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
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