IMPORTUNITY

(08,23,2023) Importunity refers to an entreaty or urging of excessive persistence. One cannot help but feel a sense of urgency, with the hundreds of fires that are burning all across the globe. In fact, there are hundreds currently raging just across the Northern hemisphere of Canada, from British Columbia to Ontario. Seen from above, it looks like the entire planet is on fire. To make matters worse, practically every habitable continent has been experiencing the hottest summer on record, with soaring temperatures that are hot enough to melt a person’s brain. This record breaking heat caused a spike in energy use where there existed those who were fortunate enough to have air conditioners. While others had to find different ways to beat the heat, those who did not, perished! Ironically, in other areas, there is a high volume of torrential rains which are often followed by flash flooding and mudslides, in which more lives are lost. Hundreds of millions of people have been affected by the thick smoky air, from forest fires, that is capable of travelling across the entire continent. Nobody, on the planet, can escape from the terrible aftermath of these catastrophes. While still crippled and wavering from the pandemic, people are being forced to deal with rising bank rates and inflation which has caused the price of everything to soar out of control. Is it any wonder that there is a growing number of stressed out individuals? Mental health issues have spiked, across the globe. And, yet, in the midst of all this chaos, I was heartened to see that, at least, one group, in South America, is taking matters into there own hands, with affirmative action. After years of devastating the rain forest there, depleting the Earth’s main supply of carbon dioxide feeders that would produce life giving oxygen, South Americans have begun a program of replanting trees, on a major scale. We also do this, to some degree, in the forests of British Columbia, Canada. But, the whole world must get on board with this importunate matter. As the wildfires rage, they not only consume our oxygen, but feed off of our most precious providers of oxygen. It is a ‘double whammy’ from which recovery becomes even more difficult. Although the wildfires in B.C., Canada have been temporarily and only marginally reduced, they have spread to the Yukon and North West Territories, as well as the upper regions of the prairie provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where they meet up with the fires of Northern Ontario. And, once again, the smoke will push down through central Canada and Ontario, on its way to the United States, where it will continue to assault the senses of the hapless Americans on the other side of the border. As if that weren’t enough, the Hawaiian island of Maui has been recently incinerated, with thousands of homes destroyed and countless hundreds of people dead and missing. The inferno, which was whipped up by Hurricane Dora, turned the island into a version of Dante’s Hades on Earth. There is no precedent for how the hurricane fueled winds of fire tore so rapidly through the city that it literally cremated people, on the spot, whether they were caught on the street, or cringed in their homes, bringing to life most persons worst nightmare! The scenario must have been akin to a giant flame thrower disintegrating everything and everyone in its path. One cannot outrun the wind, particularly wind from a hurricane. Those poor people didn’t have a chance. Also caught off guard, the local fire departments and the electricity company, who’s lines had been downed (at ground zero of the fire), could not react fast enough, nor anticipate the speed with which the small fire would grow and spread. So, instead of looking to place blame, for this dire tragedy, the importuned issue is to learn from and plan for how to avoid such disasters in the future, in the event of another hurricane. Here in Canada, we might consider ourselves fortunate that Northern Ontario’s wildfires have not yet crossed paths with any of the numerous tornadoes that have plagued Central Ontario, this summer, although, I believe that it has come close to that, in one or two circumstances. The point is this! It is imperative that each one of us becomes an environmentalist! By this, I mean that everyone should be conscious of what is happening to our planet, due to climate change. Its effect is growing exponentially and picking up speed just like the hurricane fueled winds of fire! Before its too late, we must be vigilant so that we are not caught off guard. The so-called civilized world should take a lesson from the indigenous nations of old, whose elders knew about respecting Mother Earth and how to coincide with nature, without abusing the abundant resources that were gifted to us! Each time that mankind has set their hand at trying to manipulate the natural environment, the result is disastrous! One prime example of such an occurrence, would be New Orleans, in the United States, just prior to Hurricane Katrina. The ‘powers that be’ had decided that they wanted to develop more land, so, they filled in and plowed over the natural wetlands and/or estuaries around the city. Environmentalists knew that this would have dire consequences, on top of destroying the natural habitats of a countless number of species in the area. One man even predicted exactly what would happen, if they went ahead with their destruction of the wetlands. He warned that their removal, by the city, meant that the city would no longer have the natural buffer that, in earlier days, protected the city of New Orleans from flooding brought on by hurricanes. The wetlands had functioned kind of like a giant sponge, soaking up the moisture and strength from the storms, thereby mitigating the impact on the surrounding populated areas. But, the dire warnings were ignored. Not long afterward, came Hurricane Katrina! We all know what kind of devastation that brought to the city of New Orleans! However, some people learned from that mistake and took heed. Now, in low lying areas, they are building similar estuaries in order to prevent them from the affects of future storms. And, presently, the local sources in Maui say that the destruction of the island, and, even more importantly, the loss of life, could have been reduced, save for the fact that the important life giving natural waterways had been diverted from the local residents, by those large corporations who have bought up the rights (or they were gifted by the government) to most of the land and, apparently, the fresh water. Big business corporations have always plagued our planet, since the beginning of the industrial revolution! They destroy the land, in their greedy attempt to strip it of every possible resource, regardless of the inevitable consequences, while they spew out poisons into the air, during the process, thereby multiplying the damage done to innocent individuals! It is a wonder that mankind has lasted this long! Not too many pristine areas exist, anymore, on this planet. So, it is our duty, as caretakers of this planet, our home, to be aware of the effect our presence has had on Earth’s climate. Just as the situation on Maui, not even our scientists (who have been warning us for decades), could have predicted or anticipated the rapidity with which the glaciers are melting, or the effects of green house gases and global warming. Again, the exponential growth is frighteningly overwhelming! More alarming is the fact that we may have already reached ‘the point of no return’! This is why we must all work together, as global environmentalists, in order to try and slow down the swift progression of climate change. Otherwise, the wildfires, heatwaves, excessive rainfalls, hurricanes, tornadoes and resulting mudslides and flooding, that we are witnessing today, will not only become the ‘norm’, but will continue to grow in intensity and severity! All people, in all countries, must ‘get on board’! “Protect the land and its nature!” must become our motto; “Preserve and nurture Mother Earth”! our mantra. With that in mind, it would be remiss of me if I did not mention, at this point, the fact that our very own premier, here in Ontario, Canada, is doing his very best to destroy the country’s most prime agricultural land, and quite possibly the richest and most fertile soil in the world. He is doing this out of sheer greed, gifting the land to three developer friends of his, contributors to his political campaign. The Greenbelt, in the province of Ontario, Canada, is in peril! Premier Doug Ford has attempted to claim that he required the land in order to provide for the well needed housing in the province. But, the truth of the matter is that, according to officials, there has already been more than enough land set aside to accommodate the housing industry, in Ontario, for the next ten years. Thousands of acres have been designated for that purpose, with an excess of thousands more! Now, we find out that the dirty deal was done secretly, behind closed doors. Protection policies, which had been put in place to preserve the Greenbelt, were either ignored or surreptitiously changed! The usual proper procedures were neglected as the deal was fast-tracked through, or passed by, the usual necessary red tape, so that the three developers could make billions of dollars from the transactions. I wonder what Premier Ford’s cut was to be? Perhaps it was enough just to receive large contributions to his campaign, not to mention what was gifted to his family during his contributors’ presence at his daughter’s wedding! Not only are these people willing to destroy the richest land in North America, in their greedy quest for the almighty buck, but, they are screwing around with nature and the natural buffers to storms and the resulting land erosion! At any rate, the immediate results will be catastrophic for local residents, but the rest of the country will suffer the consequences, as well. However, the ‘powers that be’ care nothing about that. Their god is greed! When running his campaign for premier of Ontario, Doug Ford had promised that he would not touch the Greenbelt. More lies from a conservative government! Then, after the dirty deed was done, Ford said that he would not reverse the decision to sell the land. “I won’t do that!” he said. claiming that it was a done deal and denying that there was any wrongdoing. But, when opposing parties pointed out all the discrepancies and true facts of the case, Ford acted like he knew nothing about it, saying that it was all handled by housing minister Clark. Minister Clark then passed the buck to his chief of staff claiming that it was the assistant who had decided what land was to be parceled out and to whom. Given the fact that it is highly implausible that Premier Ford was ignorant of any of the details of this transaction and that he adamantly refused to correct the situation when they were first revealed to the public, the most likely truth is that Ford is just plain ignorant. When first exposed, Ford’s attitude was contemptuous! Whenever there was a crisis to be averted, he’d run to the federal government for help and a handout, which he always got, accept for the last time. The feds had responded by saying that they have contributed ten billion dollars to Ford’s province of Ontario and Ford is still sitting on four billion dollars of that money. He treats it as if it were his own, refusing to help those in need, such as parents with autistic children. His conservative government is always making cuts to the educational system and the health care system, causing Ontario to lose some of our most valuable citizens, nurses, doctors and teachers. And now he wants to privatize the healthcare system! One would think that the corrupt dealings, with his ultra rich conservative friends, could have finally persuaded the residents of Ontario to get rid of him, but, it looks as though he’s going to get away with it again. Minister Clark’s chief of staff is going to take the fall, by resigning. He will ‘fall on his sword’ for his glorious leader, so that Ford, and the ‘powers that be’ can maintain the status quo! Again, big business reigns and the little people suffer! When can we put an end to crooked politicians, on both sides of the border, and their subterfuge?