How Do YOU Feel About Ecological Overshoot?

 

Cabwaylingo State Forest, West Virginia

How do you feel about what you know about ecological overshoot and all its symptom predicaments?

I don't spend a lot of time discussing my feelings about how the predicaments we face are unfolding. I see the damage caused by all the extreme weather events around the globe, and an overwhelming sense of grief and sadness are experienced; not just by me, but by many people. Recently, despite the fact that Hurricane Helene's effects were rather mild where I live, I was affected in a way that was new.

 
Here, conditions were rather dark for several days with clouds interspersed with periods of rain, mostly light showers and sprinkles. The day that Tennessee and North Carolina were getting pounded by rain it was rather windy here. Several large tree limbs were blown down. So, outside of a few power outages, little if any effect was experienced here. 

However, I do tend to spend up to a month or so every year in the mountains where Helene dumped extreme amounts of rain and wind. The sheer amounts of rain are unbelievable, as shown by this post from Jeff Berardelli:

More than 45 inches over 3 days seems almost unheard of. Given the already saturated ground from previous rain before the hurricane hit, this primed the entire area for mudslides, landslides, rockslides, and falling trees, which then clogged waterways and provided extra weight to bust through bridges and almost anything else in the water's way. 

Before Helene made its way into the region, I knew that there would be major infrastructural damage. However, I was unprepared for the scale of damage and while one can visualize or predict these things to a certain extent, one is often unprepared emotionally for the feelings associated with the loss after the fact; especially when the results are far worse than initially expected. 

I've dealt with many previous hurricanes over the years that made traveling through the region somewhat wet and miserable for a few days, but never had I seen this kind of widespread damage leaving the entire western part of North Carolina and the entire eastern part of Tennessee closed due to roads and bridges washed away and trees, powerlines, houses, and all sorts of other debris left in the roadways. Even southern and western Virginia, and parts of several other states were affected in an unprecedented manner. 

The symptom predicament of climate change, and specifically the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, continues producing spectacular (read: disastrous) results and these results keep moving further and further north. Having accepted these predicaments, I am well aware that there is little if anything I can do about them other than do my best to avoid them when it is possible. I wish more people understood this simple fact and accepted it, which is precisely why I continue to publish these articles with links to all the relevant material. Some people think that alerting people to these facts is either a waste of time, irrelevant, or downright cruel to those who are still ignorant to them.

I don't agree that telling others is a waste of time, irrelevant, or cruel. If I didn't know about overshoot, like was the case 15 years ago, I would have truly appreciated a site like mine that told the story and provided all the relevant links so I could check out all the info for myself. Of course, this is what I did in a roundabout manner. I did go down some rabbit-holes that didn't check out or were proven incorrect after the fact. I was just like most people today where I actually believed that technology had the power to do that which it cannot. Right there was the trouble - belief - which didn't agree with the facts. My beliefs were false because they didn't agree with established facts. I know this now. I now work to keep my mind open to the possibility that I might be wrong, but certain facts aren't going to change. When in doubt, "do more research" is my go-to strategy.

I think that sharing my thoughts, my grief, and my knowledge about these predicaments is a good thing. After all, the choice to view all of this is in the hands of the beholder. I'm not forcing it on anyone. Sometimes I am amazed at the denial and stubbornness of people to accept the truth, although I do recall being that way once myself too. It's OK, as I expect most people to be that way before being exposed to this information. Once they've read it, however, I find less reason to continue denying these facts.  

Hurricane Milton just adds more of the above to everything. Most everything in this article was written before Milton became reality while I was on my recent trip.

So, now that I've shared all this with you, I'd like for you to tell me about your feelings regarding this. I promise to try to read each one (I usually get to every comment on all the platforms sooner or later) and respond when necessary. Some people like to argue with me, and I'd like to reduce that chance by telling everyone here right now that you really aren't arguing with me; you're arguing with the experts and facts that form my understanding of the situation we find ourselves in. I'm simply relaying this information to my readers through careful analysis. The one thing that is extremely important is this: You aren't going to absorb this information in one or two or three articles of mine. It took me 15 years to get to the point where I am now in my knowledge. The sheer number of links to studies, books, videos, charts, graphs, interviews, and other media is extensive and will take time to absorb. My understanding is comprehensive and based upon the knowledge of thousands of scientists, not just a few experts here and there. I constantly have many, many people claiming beliefs of theirs based on incomplete knowledge and especially reductionism. I try to help them understand, but I really don't have time to argue. I will include a few items that many people tend to dismiss in their analysis in my next article. Many times I simply have to agree to disagree with those who aren't willing to open their minds to the reality I already comprehend. In addition, the reality I try to explain isn't one I'm attached to (or even like) and I try to prove it wrong quite regularly. Unfortunately, so far, I have failed to find the empirical evidence to support claims to the contrary, much to my chagrin. Thank you in advance for understanding. I look forward to reading your comments and responding where necessary.

For those of you who enjoy the inspiration to Live Now from my pictures, here's the latest post on Drawdy Falls.