Polar Vortices
Even if we are not, the Earth is evolving.
She has no choice but to fundamentally alter her patterns of activity in order to adapt to the changing environmental conditions that are influenced as a result of the by-products of modern civilization.
Having been in a perpetual state of damage control for the past 5 decades (at minimum), the Earth has concerned itself with the mitigation of chemical insults hurled at her by the human race.
Initially presenting as another cosmic ecto-parasite, humanity was tolerated as little more than a temporary inconvenience to be routinely discouraged with the goal of attenuation. Problem was, humanity progressed into an obligate endo-parasite requiring more invasive actions upon its host, on which it remained completely dependent.
Humans have relentlessly mined the earth's mantle and crust for compounds which it may employ to facilitate its own ends without any regard for the sanctity of the planet on which we rely.
As we insist on volatilizing any and all compounds which may be used as energy sources, humanity has succeeded in polluting both the atmosphere and the ecosphere with partially combusted hydrocarbons and other persistent pollutants which the natural processes of degradation have little or no effect upon.
This means that these chemicals are unable to be broken down through the normalizing mechanism of biodegradation and, thus remain in the environment until which point the atomic bonds release and fray. Half-lives of many of the environmental toxicants which have been created and studied by mankind are in the order of hundreds of years. Thus, even if our actions were to take a drastic change toward sustainability and all toxic emissions into the environment were immediately ceased, there will be a period of centuries before some of the more persistant chemical compounds disintegrate into their respective elemental components.
It has been said that even after the human race has expired, signs of our legacy will remain. Indeed, poly chlorinated bi-phenyls most certainly will remain long after the last hydro-crypt has been decomissioned and humanity has succumbed to its own toxic creations.
Just as someone might open a window to dilute the suffocating fumes of a smoking parlour, the Earth is altering her weather patterns to clear the air.
This past winter has seen a number of bone chilling Siberian high pressure systems engulf the majority of North America, one of the main sources of atmospheric intoxicants. In this manner, the planet has enacted an abortive mechanism meant to dissipate the highly concentrated pollutants threatening the bioshere.
These polar vortices, as the popular media has called them, may simply be a reflex action of the planet attempting to ameliorate an exhaustive problem.
It is generally recognized now, that the phenomenon of global warming is better understood as a process of climate change. A process which may, indeed, be initiated not by ourselves and our own selfish activities but by the planet itself in a desperate attempt to mitigate the damages of a damned age.
Just as a wise and perseverant parent will often eliminate sources of danger for their child without taking the time to explain or justify their actions, so the Earth may be attempting to do the same for its denizens.
For all extensive purposes, the Earth is our God. Humanity is completely reliant upon its resources and revolution. It is the source of all beauty and inspiration. It destroys and renews.
Rather than a primitve form of animism, Earth worship is a form of realism. It is a fundamental respect towards that which bore our burden, and asks nothing in return.
Unfortunately, most people do not perceive reality in this manner. The majority have lost immediate ties with the Earth and have begun to regard her as anecdotal, believing somehow that the human race is mutually exclusive from the remainder of what it is in some right.
Perhaps, with this recent spate of arctic weather gripping the continent, we have become more aware of our contingency upon the planet and its weather patterns. Some may have even begun to reflect upon both the fragility and the intregral transient nature of global weather patterns and speculated as to the cause of this effect.
Others may feel that it is very unbecoming of us to believe that we, of such small stature, could be a functional component of changing global weather patterns.
Regardless of ones personal perspective, one thing is clear: the planet is evolving.
And unless we start taking our actions more seriously, more respectfully, the winds of change will re-organize into the brass band of a funeral dirge.
Step, shuffle, step.
