This chapter not only scared the bejesus out of me but it also got me thinking because some of the problems, concerns, questions that McCully raises are not answered completely in the text. The main question was now that we have indeed “speeded up nature’s clock” how do we take preventive measures to ensure that these changes do not put our lives at risk? Can these changes be stopped or are they all inevitable? Is there a way to alleviate the chaos? I thought it was interesting how although our human instinct is now to fight nature with technology, something we have even mentioned in our classroom discussions, the real solution lies with nature. We can combat the rising sea levels with wetlands and marshes that absorb this water. Technology does not actually solve problems but just shirks them or relocates the true problem to other places. The different examples of technology making other environments or landscapes (especially the island that was torn in two and sunk after a storm) worse really sold me on the idea that inventing walls or building groins would not reap any benefit for us or the environment.
What I liked was how McCully highlighted the difference between knowing of natural changes and experiencing these subtle shifts ourselves. We are aware that change is an inherent component of nature. However, dynamic shifts of nature do not align with our idea of time. Change in nature occurs at a pace that transcends our existence on earth and it is this that causes us to be unfazed by our knowledge and even indirect experience. For example, we all understand that global warming is a phenomenon that impacts the entire world but we do not experience the full wrath because the changes that accompany this process are so gradual. However, the statistics that depict the true implications of global warming go to show just how abnormal and ridiculously fast our natural environment is changing. Over the past century, sea levels rose 10 inches surrounding NYC but in the next century it is predicted that water levels will continue to rise by over 22 inches, an increase of 120%!! Just about half of me would’ve been underwater by now! McCully explains that the difference between changes that the natural “is the human factor.” She remarks that human progress and change is happening at too quick a rate for natural climate change; we are aggregating and exacerbating these natural changes by forcing them to speed up, which leads to deadlier consequences.
Also, Storms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters have become almost normalized incidents as we see them occur, albeit sporadically in geographical location, more frequently in amount. However, the problem may be that these catastrophes tend to be more localized in nature rather than widespread in wreaking havoc. For example, the drought that California has been suffering is far in proximity, so although us NYers wholeheartedly sympathize we’re less likely to rally together and be proactive in lending a helping hand. Similarly the although the US mobilized support after Hurricane Ike, which truly devastated South Central United States in 2008, those in other parts of the world weren’t as active. Even if we look at the earthquake that shook Nepal in April 2015, efforts initially made to help alleviate the plight of those affected ended almost as quickly as they started. Of course natural disasters occur all the time but it is well worth noting how incredibly frequent they have become in the past century, and more critically the last decade.