Photographer unknown

I was born in Montreal at 4:00 am on February 14.

The way my father told the story, it was -40°C (-40°F), frigid even by Montreal standards.

This was twenty years before James Hansen testified to Congress that the greenhouse effect had been detected and the climate was changing.

* * * 

I went for a walk at 2:00 pm on February 14 this year.

They sun was shining and it was 12°C (53°F), balmy even by New York standards.

James Hansen is now 81 years old.

* * * 

I enjoyed the beautiful weather on my birthday.
Still, I missed the snow.

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 7

Photo from iStock

My building has breathable walls. The windows change color like a squid’s skin to prevent heat from coming in during summer and escaping in winter. Out back is the food forest the previous dwellers planted, where I take daily walks and pick whatever is ripe.

I sit at my computer – powered by the solar panels on the roof. I love my new desk. I bought it last week from a company down the road that makes mycelium furniture.

I type the word “utopia”. When I read the definition, I think: Yes, it wasn’t easy but we got there.

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 6

Photo by Andrew Valdivia on Unsplash

Well, wouldn’t you know? There’s a polluting elite of rich people. As in, a polluting 1% across the planet. As in, a high-consuming few at the top of the pyramid of wealth and power who are producing their unfair share of carbon emissions.

Like it wasn’t abundantly clear already: inequality is baked into the system.

But now there’s a study to prove it. There are numbers. Charts. A report. All compiled by scientists. People who know these things and can validate everyone else’s experience. 

I supposed that’s progress. Maybe. 

Now, for fuck’s sake, tax the rich.

Inspiration: Emissions Divide Now Greater Within Countries Than Between Them – Study

A YEARs-LONG CREATIVE EXPLORATION OF THE CLIMATE THROUGH 100-WORD STORIES • WEEK 5