In the past week, the continental United States has experienced severe coastal storms, tornados, hailstorms on the West Coast, earthquakes on the East Coast, a once-in-a-generation total solar eclipse and the imminent emergence of billions of cicadas. With so many extraordinary natural phenomena occurring simultaneously, many people are anxiously pondering, “What on earth (pun intended) is going on?”
Is the rapture predicted in the Bible’s Book of Revelations coming to fruition? While I am no prophet, these could perhaps be the signs our savior is returning to collect the few anointed souls who still roam amongst the heathens. Oops … the bottled-up Southern Baptist escaped me for a moment there.
Seriously, though, the aforementioned never-before-seen locust swarm is a sign of genuine concern. While the cicadas that are emerging are not those of a ravenous species, they will arrive as a biblical torrent of insect flesh, beating wings and beady little eyes. To add salt to the wound, they are genetically programmed to never shut up. These insects have an organ dedicated to creating a creaking sound in hopes of attracting a mate, a process necessary to spawn more cicadas in order to continue tormenting the human race.
Maybe this is nature’s way of responding to our war crimes against the environment. After seeing the remarkable sequence of events, I asked myself, “Is God upset with our treatment of the world?” much like a small child asking if God is unhappy with their telling of a white lie.
Though it is mischievous fun to offer up biblical retribution for our collective sin as human beings as the cause of these events, it is an unlikely answer. Even if it was the rapture, University of Mississippi students would still be expected to attend their 9 a.m. lecture classes.
An answer our science-minded readers will appreciate more is one anybody who has watched the TV news, picked up a newspaper or been online has likely encountered in the last two decades— climate change.
Think of the many armageddon-esque disasters which have happened recently, and many of them can be linked to climate change.
The wildfires that turned much of Oregon into a living hell in 2020? 2023, the hottest year ever recorded? Seasonal droughts which have become routine in the southwestern United States? The 2021 winter blizzard that infamously left Texas and other unprepared states in disrepair? A tornado ravaging Rolling Fork, Miss., just over a year ago? A snowstorm that left Oxford incapacitated earlier this semester? All of this can be traced back to climate change, at least to some extent.
Unusual weather patterns will become more common in coming years as the effects of environmental degradation, which began decades ago, continue to manifest.
Many of the gasses and pollutants expelled from cars, factories, planes, etc. take both many years and excessive emission to have an effect on the environment. The climate change we are seeing today is the result of decisions made many years ago.
These gasses, too, remain in the atmosphere for a long period of time. So, many of the measures taken by citizens and regulations implemented by governments will take decades to have a noticeable effect on our world. So, although much of the country will be driving low-emission Priuses or electric vehicles come 2036 in accordance with a federal mandate, we will not begin to see real change in our environment until the time George Jetson and his upper-class futuristic family peak out in the 2060s.
Certainly, all of this sounds incredibly daunting, especially to those who have not had the chance to “live life” yet. You know, accomplish career goals, build a family of their own, travel the world and other things a reasonably motivated young person might look forward to.
It’s poetic, really. This predicament we are in as a people, as Earthlings, teaches us a valuable lesson: Big mistakes require big clean-ups. This tenet can be applied to nearly everything, from relationships to studying to driving a car to cooking dinner. This situation also serves as a direct challenge to the popular proverb, “time heals all wounds.” From analyzing our issues and the projections that research has given us, it’s safe to say that time plus corrective action might scab over a handful of flesh wounds on an already badly battered body.
At any rate, spring showers yield summer flowers. So, stay optimistic during these uniquely trying times. I’d even say appreciate the flowers a little more — we don’t know for sure if they’ll be there next year.
Justice Rose is the opinion editor. He is a junior journalism major from Madison, Miss.
