“The problem with your head in the sand is your ass is in the air. Not a good place to be.” D. chuckles, shakes her head. I laugh along with her. Though honestly, it’s not really funny.
We’re
hanging outside the Kennedy Pool, post swim. The air is thick with heat. A high
of 93 degrees predicted for Richmond today.
When I’d
hailed her walking out of the facility, I commented on the heat. “I love the hot
weather,” she said, grinning. Surprising since most folks in the Bay Area
loathe the heat. Too spoiled by our mild climate.
Yet, this
mild climate is gone today. “I grew up in LA,” she continues.
“Whereabouts?”
“Compton.”
“I know
where that is. My sister lives in Torrance.”
“Neighbors.”
“Yup. I
like the heat too, but know that it’s not really good. Our planet is burning
up.”
“You got that right. The
problem is the Ignorance around it.”
“Yeah, I think
most people just keep their heads in the sand.”
Then the
ass in the air comment.
“I won’t
get that image out of my head all day,” I laugh, thinking about a field of
stupid people, asses in the air, legs flailing spastically, as the fires burn
around them.
Part of me
gets the tendency toward ignorance, or apathy, which may or may not be connected.
I am guilty of apathy. I don’t see what I can do. Honestly what can I do about
climate change? Stop driving my car? Okay, yet I only drive a few miles a week
in a small non gas guzzling Fiat 500.
My mom told me about the amount of energy used to run all of the AI data centers. How they’re using up so much electricity and polluting the air. The more people use ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude (what is that even?) the more the data centers have to work to provide this info and the more energy it uses. The data centers are polluting the environment.
I don’t use
AI; or let me rephrase, I try not to. It’s almost impossible now. Every time
you google a topic, the AI Gemini is at the ready to summarize and spit out
info. I hate it. I don’t want some robot summarizing websites for me. How do I
know it’s accurate? How do I know that it’s complete?
I don’t.
I tried to
dismantle the AI Gemini feature from Google. Of course, it was impossible. I
did manage to delete the two boxes below the search bar that offered AI images
and text at the click of a prompt.
The climate crisis will only get worse. Human beings are sheep. (Sorry sheep). Most are just going to go along with whatever is easiest for them. They could stop driving. Yet many must commute to jobs. They don’t have the luxury I have to work from home on the computer.
They could
stop using AI. But it’s hard (see above)
“Enjoy the heat,”
I call after D as she turns away from me now, slinging her swim bag over her
shoulder.
“You too,” she
says, waving her hand behind her.
The sun
beats down on my back, its warmth relaxing, soothing, welcome. Yet I know it’s
not a good thing. It’s too damn hot. And, for the planet, the warming is only
the start of it. This winter a Super El Nino is predicted. Because of the
warming oceans, this atmospheric phenonmen will bring torrential rains, devasting
droughts and all around disaster. Part of me doesn’t believe it will happen
(head in the sand?) because of all the current heat with not a raindrop in
sight. And another part of me is looking forward to it. All that rain! So much
water. End of drought!
But these storms are supposed to be destructive, with winds and rain and lightening, resulting in power outages, felled trees, flooding and even death. I’m trying to prepare. I’ve got a lot of trees that need trimming. But it’s expensive. No one will call me back. I am ambivalent about the possiblity of this Super El Nino.
It’s easier
to keep my head in the sand.
