Climate Change Concerns: PT 2 “R.I.P. He entertained himself to death”

“Canada’s coastline is changing because ice shelves are breaking up faster than expected, experts say. Almost 50 per cent of the ice shelves have been lost in the past six years...” (Sept. 28, London Free Press)

When I read the first two sentences of a recent small news blurb several thoughts came to mind.

First. I touched on similar topics in a recent column in The Londoner. Second. Somebody must be reading my stuff. (Please read PT 1. Link to follow below.)

Third. The small blurb about Canada’s coastline and loss of ice shelves can be found at the bottom of an inside page in my local paper.

That means 97.8% of readers will skip right over it on their way to the much larger and colourful entertainment section. Something fairly disturbing is said about people’s priorities whenever I see that a newspaper’s sum total interest in environmental news is contained in one small blurb at the bottom of one page and is dwarfed by even one review by Liz Braun of the latest slasher flick.

Four. I understand that many forms of entertainment are more accessible and appealing to the masses than colourless news about ongoing changes to our natural surroundings.

For example, movies are downtown. Ice shelves are in the Arctic and Antarctic... for the time being anyway. Entertainment is exciting and can help many fill a few hours each day or week with a bit of zest. An ice shelf falls into the sea... where’s the fun zone in that?

Entertainment, as a topic, provides an easy way to connect socially with others (e.g., “Hey, Josie. What did you think of Brad Pitt in Moneyball? Isn’t he - oouueeee - delicious?”), whereas environmental updates generally do not.


[“Delicious?”: photo link]

Ask your next date the following questions and you’ll immediately see what I mean.

“Billy, what do you think about the loss of ice shelves and villages in the Arctic?”

“Ice? We have ice and villages... where? Hey, when you say ‘ice’ I think tequila! Let’s order another drink.”

Most people will never warm up to environmental news. Modern society offers so many entertaining diversions and we don’t catch the connection between our behaviour and environmental degradation.

But some people do.

More to follow.

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Please click here to read Climate Change Concerns PT 1: “Ice shelves disappear under our noses”

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