For several years now we have been bombarded with information from certain groups who claim our planet is experiencing a warming trend that soon will cause many world disasters if we do not start to control our air quality and stop pollution. In fact, they claim many of our current problems can be attributed to this lack of control, and to those who do not believe in global warming.
I for one have always taken this with a grain of salt. I remember many years ago going to California one summer. It was very hot and Los Angeles was covered in a rather dense cloud they called “smog†due to emissions from industries and the teeming numbers of automobiles that traveled bumper-to-bumper each and every day.
Even then there were those who predicted impending disasters if we did not start taking some preventative actions.
Well for several years now this area has been experiencing a very severe drought, with no end in sight. We are experiencing many horrific forest fires that have left barren hundreds of thousands of acres of once beautiful forests. It will take many, many years â€" if ever â€" to replace all this.
A few weeks ago we were invaded by moths, and they were everywhere by the millions. Our experts on such an event say this occurred because we did not have enough freezing days during the winter, and this also would create more problems.
This past week a daughter and some members of the family took an excursion for a couple of days to Galveston. She said the trip was marred by mosquitoes that were swarming that area by the millions.
She added two of the kids suffered jellyfish stings while trying to play in the surf. This pest is reported to be in much higher numbers than usual. Sharks and sting rays also are more prevalent. All this is attributed to warming trends during the past few years.
Well, this old world has been around for awhile. There are those who say these phenomena will pass and one day it will go back to “normal,†whatever that is.
It would seem that since our population is growing by leaps and bounds, there are bound to be changes and hopefully there are those trying to find an answer and solutions, and not turn all this into a political debacle. We need to get on the right track â€" while there is a track.
Longtime Plainviewan John Perry is a freelance writer living in Amarillo.
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