“I wrest the waters, fight Neptune’s waters
Sail through the sorrows of life’s marauders
Unrepenting, often empty
Sail on, sail on sailor
I work the seaways, the gale-swept seaways
Past shipwrecked daughters of wicked waters
Uninspired, drenched and tired
Wail on, wail on, sailor
Sail On, Sailor”Song by The Beach Boys
Intermission
Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats.
Intermission is ending and the second feature is
about to begin.
The first feature of the program is nearly over and
they are just displaying the credits now. We can
clearly see who are involved . . . producers,
directors, actors, everyone who had a role in this
blockbuster production of, “Dead End”.
This epic production tracks, live and in color, the
birth, life and destabilization of an entire living world.
We have reached a saturation point and are
now at the limit of the capacity of the Earth system to
remain in its stable state. We are approaching true
Free – Fall of life-support systems at the global
scale.
What a show! What riveting impact! A tour de force!
Produced by . . . directed by and starring . . . US.
Yes, we did it!
That’s right folks. An amazing feat. Let it sink in and
then, everyone stand and take a bow. (while we still
can). Okay then, be quick about it. Water level is
rising real fast.
Let’s move forward to the second feature:
“Surf’s Up”, which has already started.
This epic production documents the chart breaking
progression of the rise in global sea levels. Wow!
All of those nifty, hi – tech digital models and
projections, meticulously prepared by clever
scientists and academicians were worthless . . . a
tribute to the absurdity and hubris of trying to map
elemental forces of nature onto a minuscule
template.
Facing a future of accelerating climate change while
blind to worst-case scenarios is naive at best and
fatally foolish at worst. So, what’s new?
The alarm was raised recently when climate
scientists warned:
“The current trajectory looks like it’s headed off the
charts, smashing previous records,” Prof Matthew
England, a climate scientist at the University of New
South Wales, said at that time. “What we are seeing
is very unusual,” he said. “This is heading in an
unprecedented direction, and could be taking us into
uncharted territory.”
Even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse
gases tomorrow, ocean levels would continue to
rise.
Not only is dangerous sea level rise “absolutely
guaranteed”, but it will keep rising for centuries or
millennia even if the world stopped emitting
greenhouse gases tomorrow, experts say.
Rising seas are one of the most severe
consequences of a heating climate that are already
being felt.
The rapid surge in global ocean temperatures seen
in recent months indicates a climate pattern shift that
could accelerate planetary warming and
supercharge trends that are already driving extreme
storms, deadly heat waves, and weather related
crises.
Since April, the warming appears to have entered a
new trajectory. Meanwhile the area of global sea ice
has dropped by more than 1 million sq km below the
previous low.
“If a few decades ago, some people might have
thought climate change was a relatively slow-moving
phenomenon, we are now witnessing our climate
changing at a terrifying rate,” said Prof Peter Stott,
who leads the UK Met Office’s climate monitoring
and attribution team. “As the El Niño builds through
the rest of this year, adding an extra oomph to the
damaging effects of human-induced global heating,
many millions of people across the planet and many
diverse ecosystems are going to face extraordinary
challenges and unfortunately suffer great damage.”
Climate change models and projections fail in their
inability to capture the infinite number of dynamically
linked variables involved. What seem like singular
tipping points often trigger a “cascading” sequence
of related events in the ongoing free – fall; multiple,
collateral events (e.g. infrastructure damage, loss of
land, water and food sources) that coalesce into
system-wide breakdown.
Free – fall . . . meltdown.
A changing climate is current reality. Land and
marine heatwaves, forest fires, atmospheric rivers
and floods have become the backdrop to day-to-day
life. Watch it live on TV.
It should be understood that the events in the global
destabilization that we are experiencing are primarily
consequent to the main act which is taking place
in the oceans, which soak up more than 90% of
excess heat energy.
Rising sea levels are perhaps the most severe
consequence emerging from the ongoing climate
crisis.
Scientists are not used to thinking in terms of rapid
change, but the trajectory of the global average
temperature on the surface of the ocean has now
entered uncharted territory – quickly and
accelerating.
CNN —
Temperatures in parts of the North Atlantic Ocean
are soaring off the charts, with an “exceptional”
marine heat wave happening off the coasts of the
United Kingdom and Ireland, sparking concerns
about impacts on marine life.
There are many scientific indicators pointing to the
imminent collapse of the Thwaites Glacier (AKA the
“Doomsday Glacier”). Once this glacier collapses,
scientists expect sea levels to rise 10 feet or more in
a fairly rapid progression. At that point, everything
near the coasts will be underwater and destroyed.
Joseph Carlisi – Biography
Born and raised in New York City, he earned BA and MA degrees in Philosophy at Hunter College of the City University of New York and then continued his graduate studies in Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology working under the mentorship of Marvin Minsky. Joseph worked as a part time content and copy editor for Harvard University Press (science and medicine) while attending M.I.T.
After ten years as a university lecturer, researcher and administrator, he started and managed an advertising / public relations firm in San Diego, CA that handled a wide range of commercial accounts. On the academic side, he published a series of seven articles on animal behavior for Harvard Magazine and two books: “A Guide to Personal Power” and most recently “Playing God on the Eve of Extinction”.
Joseph Carlisi creates oil on canvas paintings that can be described as vivid, surreal and unexpected. His paintings have been exhibited and sold in: Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Miami, Tokyo, Yokohama, Amsterdam, Berlin and Salvador Brazil.
Joe’s art is available for purchase.
Contact him at carlisijoseph@yahoo.com.