It\u2019s been a year since I\u2019ve posted anything on this blog. I\nhaven\u2019t been doing much writing (except for songs \u2013 more on that later), but I\nhave been busy singing and playing guitar and getting out more into the music\ncommunity. Doing so has helped immensely with the other thing I\u2019ve been \u201cbusy\u201d\nwith: being thrown into a state of depression by the daily sucker-punches to\nour country by the demented man in the White House and those in Congress who enable\nhim\u2014and by the ever more horrifying news about climate change. Almost daily,\nthere\u2019s a stunning new report to take in; most recently, just to name a few: temperatures\nsoaring over 46 degrees Celsius in Australia\u2019s recent heat wave, causing\nmassive animal die-offs (23,000 spectacled flying foxes, just one example); the\nmelting of the ice sheet in Greenland reaching a tipping point; the\ncatastrophic collapse of insect populations worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are two warring viewpoints on who or what\u2019s\nresponsible for the climate crisis and what to do about it: A number of\narticles implore us to alter our habits and life styles to cut back on carbon\nemissions, and a nearly equal number that claim we\u2019ve been hoodwinked into\nthinking climate change is our fault, while it\u2019s really the capitalist world\norder and the rapaciousness of large corporations (the fossil fuel companies\nthe most notable examples) that have placed short-term profits over the health\nand well being of all life on the planet. I personally place responsibility\nboth on the profit-driven corporations and the individual. One individual\ncannot have much of an impact, whether for good or bad, of course, but one plus\none plus one, up to millions, can add up to a huge impact, indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking action, however, requires us to end our denial about\nclimate change and start doing those things in our own power to help curb it. Along\nwith demonstrating and demanding action\nfrom our leaders, we can end, or at least limit, our meat (and dairy) intake,\nsince emissions from livestock contribute around 6\nbillion tons of greenhouse gases\nper year. We can also cut back on or eliminate air travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cattle contribute large amounts of methane, a potent\ngreenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. One cow releases between 70 and 120 kg of\nmethane per year. Since methane has a negative impact of the environment that\nis 23 times higher than the effect of carbon dioxide, the methane release of just\none cow equals on average about 2,300 kilograms of CO2. A Japanese study\nshowed that producing a kilogram of beef leads to the emission of greenhouse\ngases with a global warming potential equivalent to 36.4 kgs of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air travel is also responsible for huge carbon emissions.\nEmissions for airlines were forecasted by the International Air Transport\nAssociation to grow to 897 million tons in 2018. What does this mean for an\nindividual? Here\u2019s an example: If you take one round-trip\nflight between New York and California, you\u2019ll generate about 20 percent of the\ngreenhouse gases that your car emits over an entire year. According to\nthe World Bank, the average American generates about 16.4 metric tons of carbon\ndioxide per year. A round-trip flight from New York to San Francisco emits\nabout .9 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person, which for an American,\nrepresents about one-eighteenth of his or her carbon emissions for an entire\nyear. But, a travel-by-air-loving individual reading this article might say, the\nplane would take off whether I\u2019m on it or not! To which I say, if more and more\npeople cut back on flying, fewer and fewer flights will take off. The airlines are, of course, in it for the\nprofits, and are not about to fly nearly empty planes. (Such a situation would\nalso surely accelerate the production of planes that emit far less carbon\ndioxide, including solar-powered aircraft.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This denial\/head-in-the-sand kind of mentality, and the\ndireness of the situation we face, compelled me to write a song about climate\nchange, which I\u2019ve entitled \u201cEnd of Days.\u201d I plan to do my part (I\u2019m already a\nvegetarian, and I have decided to cut way back on or eliminate my own flying)\nby performing it as much as possible. I\u2019m posting the lyrics here. Please\ncontact me if you\u2019d like me to come sing it at any event you think appropriate.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
End of\nDays<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n – Marsha G. Low<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Passing by City Hall the other day <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I spotted a woman\nwearing a sign, saying \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEnd of days!\nMankind, you\u2019re out of time!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many a time I\u2019ve\nlaughed at warnings <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of fire. brimstone,\nfloods, and blight <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But now I think, she\nmay be right \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The end of humankind\nmight be in sight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chorus: (2x)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n End of days, end of\ndays, \n <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Could it truly be the\nend of days?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another big storm\nheads up the East Coast <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fires out West burn\nout of control <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re still\ndrilling for oil and fracking for gas \n <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the death toll of\nman and beast keeps rising <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Temps are soaring\nhigher and higher <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House clown\nis a climate denier <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019ll be no action\nfrom that quarter \n <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Time to hit the\nstreets and sow disorder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chorus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You may think this\nsong\u2019s a bummer <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But we must act now,\ncast caution asunder <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n March in the streets,\nput our bodies on the line \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you love living\nthings, now is the time \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s plenty to do\nonce we stop our denying<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like eat less meat, and\ncut back on flying <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And demand fossil\nfuels remain underground \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Or to extinction we\nmay be bound!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chorus \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ACT NOW, so it won\u2019t\nbe end of days! \u2013 3x<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been a year since I\u2019ve posted anything on this blog. I haven\u2019t been doing much writing (except for songs \u2013 more on that later), but I have been busy singing and playing guitar and getting out more into the … Continue reading