I’ve been living with weather all my life, but never with the violent kind of weather we’ve been seeing all around the globe lately. So, I thought I’d ask my neighbor, George, who lives in the basement apartment next door, how he understands today’s weather, and then just listen.

He said it was the result of global warming running the weather machine faster and harder than usual. He said that global warming was heat and heat was energy, and where does that energy go?

Well, right into the weather machine, of course. And that means we’re going to have heavier rains, floods that are deeper, winds that blow harder, droughts that are drier, heavier snows, more forest fires and earthquakes, more hurricanes and tornadoes, with volcanic explosions to boot, and the sea level rising to drown out our coastal plains.

I asked him where was this weather machine?

He said you just have to believe it’s there, because that’s a lot easier than training you as a meteorologist, a seismologist or an earth scientist. You must believe there’s an invisible weather machine, not made of wheels and cogs, pulleys and belts, but of oceans, lakes and seas, rivers and mountain chains, deserts, glaciers, deeply buried burning lakes of fiery lava, global magnetic fields, and powerful ocean currents, and the trade winds and a jet stream. That’s the weather machine, and more heat means more energy and that means more weather.

I told George I wasn’t sure I believed him, but thanked him, anyway. He said problems with the climate were certainly of some concern, but one could buy an extra umbrella, and inflatable boat or just put on a sweater under your overcoat. His real concern was the ultimate question. Will life as we know it, here on earth, grow into a sustainable format, wise enough to avoid creating the conditions for its own extinction?

That’s the question, he said.

That’s according to George, who lives in the basement apartment next door.

Orrin Frink is a Kennebunkport resident. He can be reached at ofrink@gmail.com.

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