“the real climate movement is
global, led by black, indigenous & other colonized & racialized people” sez writer nylah burton -- interesting how things look when usamericans zoom out to see the big picture instead of cropping the little ones . . . “climate justice activists are not only fighting for the planet, but for their very survival,” sez thanu yakupitiyage of 350.org, & survival, as we know, concentrates the mind wonderfully no news to the global south: not to rahma hassan mahmoud, pastoralist in somaliland, whose 300 goats & sheep succumbed to drought; even her herd of camels died: “it was like they were poisoned,” it happened so fast; when everybody’s livestock died, they headed off to get food aid. “if anybody still doubts climate change, they just have to come here,” sez the u.n.h.c.r. official & in lagos, flooding. why? well, maybe climate “change”? but also “ongoing sand filling of the wetland and lagoon . . . for a purpose unknown to the residents . . .” (those wetlands soak up water & if they aren’t there, it all runs off, you see — & there’s a lot more to run off) & 112-117 f in rajasthan, & . . . well, you get the idea. but lest we white folks in the global north think none of this applies to us: “the u.k. can no longer be considered a wet country because of the effects of climate change,” sez the head of their enviro agency, “as he urged people to turn off taps,” after driest may on record — despite many places flooded out dublin had more rain in 1 hr. wed. than in all of may; moscow had its hottest june 17 since 1892; s.w. florida had 2nd hottest spring (hottest was 2015); “normally, it gets a little hotter and then a little hotter,” sez the lawn guy from fort meyers; “this year it happened all at once, like someone flipped a light switch”; 90 f in caribou, maine at 11 am; only 85 in miami; "it's almost like weather whiplash. we're going from extreme hot to seasonably cool conditions," sez the manitoba weatherman (+ the flooded crops, wind damage, hailstorms, &c.); as arizona’s covid cases soar, so do its wildfires: 3 x as much land burned so far as this time last year -- an area bigger than denver; & as an added plus, usamericans, get this: those wacky fire ants are climbing the appalachians, surviving at higher altitudes -- which means they can now live farther north: "i wouldn't put a limit on it at this point,” sez the researcher. over there over there up yonder, farther north, send the world send the word to beware what folks in some regions, neighborhoods, & reservations knew a long time ago
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June 2021
Kristin Prevallet Author/Editor
I'm a writer & teacher in Lawrence, Kansas who actually believes the scientists. I wrote a book of poems called Of Some Sky that seems to have something to do with all this. |