Global warming, climate change, rising sea levels, going green.
These are terms that most of us paid little, if any, attention to, even a decade ago. I do not consider myself an alarmist and I am admittedly cynical about a lot of the news that is reported by the media, but CNN, FOX and the other networks do not invent tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and the like, just to boost their ratings. These things are really happening and they are happening with increasing frequency. This is our new reality and I believe it is going to get worse, before it gets better.
Global warming and dramatic climate changes are upon us. Whether mankind is responsible for these changes, or whether the earth is just rearranging itself as it does periodically, is anyone’s guess, however, statistically speaking, there is a good chance that by the end of your life you will be classified as either a survivor, or a victim. To at least some extent, the choice is yours. Think back over the past few months of all the natural disasters that have occurred,
- Tsunamis in Myanmar
- Earthquakes in China
- Rising ocean levels swamping islands in Micronesia
- Drought in Africa
Here, in the USA., we have had:
- Wildfires raging in California
- Tornadoes in Virginia, in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Iowa
- Killer windstorms in Kansas and Missouri
- Crop killing floods devastating the Heartland
- Melting tundra in Alaska, forcing evacuations of towns.
I am not going back as far as hurricane Katrina. What I just described has happened during the past three months! And, we haven’t come to hurricane season, yet.
Living more than 25 years in Florida, I have survived almost a dozen hurricanes. I have dodged tornadoes in the Midwest, sat out a blizzard in Donner Pass and weathered an earthquake in California. Be glad I am not your next door neighbor. These things seem to follow me around.
In my experience Americans do not handle disasters particularly well. Fortunately, we have not suffered a lot of the problems that other nations in the world have endured.
Do not get me wrong. I love my country and I love the American people. I think we are an easy going, resilient bunch. We tend to be generous to a fault and, despite all our grumbling, we are a very forgiving nation, BUT, we have grown accustomed to a life of convenience and instant gratification. When a disaster takes away our electricity, our supply of clean water, our homes and instant access to fast food, we definitely do not handle it well. We come around quickly, but when disaster strikes, the first 72 hours can be a nightmare!
We Americans buy insurance policies anticipating disaster, but how many of us have a real plan, or a survival kit that can save us and our loved ones should disaster strike?
The days of It cannot happen here are OVER. Do not just think about preparing for a disaster. DO IT NOW!