Last night at Carleton University, author, historian and journalist Gwynne Dyer gave a talk based on his book Climate Wars.
Not for the faint of heart.
Dr. Dyer went over how he first came upon the idea of writing about climate change from a military perspective and how the idea has stuck with him an unnaturally long time. As well as reviewing the basics of climate change he went into some detail on how military planners anticipate the climate crisis will increase unrest and force powerful western nations to become brutal in the defense of their own people; to the point of shooting people who try to cross borders illegally.
He said part of his reason for setting the issue in such stark terms was, as he put it, to "get the donkey's attention."
That resonated with me; getting people's attention.
It was the realization that the age of skiing was coming to an end that got my attention. It led to me really drilling down to understand the issue of climate change and then trying to do something about it.
I hope that tomorrow nights panel discussion on that end of the age of skiing will get the attention of at least a few skiers who weren't really thinking about this issue before.
I respect Gwynne Dyer's work but however realistic a picture he paints the world depicted is very stark. People turn away. Maybe the gentler message - more personal - something you love to do won't be available anymore - can make at least some of those people turn their heads back to examine the problem more closely.
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