New Years and An Inconvenient Truth

We are in the period of time between Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur, perhaps the most introspective time of the year for the Jewish faith. What makes the Jewish religion unique and critisized, is its continuous obsession with moral and ethical behaviour. To the heathens of yesterday, the ability to murder, adulter and steal were the good old days. Unfortunately, Abraham and Moses changed the rules, and some people have been upset ever since.

This past Rosh Hashannah, I had the opportunity to catch up on reading and watching ideas, that were required to improve my personal introspection. I chose to watch the film, An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore (see http://www.climatecrisis.net/) . I know this movie is not recent,  but better late than never.
I have been involved with environmental issues for many years, but never had I seen the argument so well laid out and presented as in this documentary film.
As a skier, cyclist, canoeist, and  general outdoorsman, I have seen the warming of our cities and resorts. The snow and ice that we once received are now just memories. I remember, as a kid shovelling out my fathers car, as the snow was over the roof. I remember snowmobiles through the streets of Montreal during majour storms. Those types of storms don't happen anymore.

One of the most fascinating statistics that Mr. Gore presented is the rate of population growth since 1945. In one generation the world has gone from approximately 2 billion to nearly 7 billion people. That is a lot of bodies to keep warm and feed. The earth must be affected by this demographic shift.
However, the most compelling thought that Mr. Gore said, was that global warming (also referred to as climate change) is not just an economic issue it is a MORAL issue. Those are the words that stuck in my mind. The concept of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world is a Jewish philosophy. The concept that global warming has to do with mankinds lack of morality when dealing with the planet and the creation of carbon dioxide,  water pollution, urbanization etc. brings it more in line with the great moral dilemas of our ancestors. This is our generations great error.

This year, I will try to focus on ways to treat the planet morally and with respect. I hope you will too.


The Adventure Guy