By Mary O’KEEFE

It is the end of the year. This year was the hottest year on record with January through November being 2.62 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average since the pre-industrial days.

I have often cited many examples of what science fiction has shown us about “what if.” When a lot of these books and films were created they appeared to reflect a distant future but, as I have said before, these science fiction writers in many ways are societies’ oracles. And like the oracles of the past they have been sought after by some and burned at the stake by others … it really all depended on the message people want to hear.

This column has allowed me to really look at weather and how climate change is affecting us on a daily basis. To be honest, I feel that scientists who specialize in this area really let us down. Years ago I attended a seminar at Caltech on climate change. Scientists on the panel spoke about their concerns for the future. They spoke with certainty of the increasing amount of carbon dioxide and what a warmer climate would mean to the Earth. There were a lot of scary scenarios discussed with a lot of scientific evidence put forth. To be honest, though, scientists were preaching to the choir. Most in the 2017 audience understood the basics of climate change and that it was a threat; it was reaching those few who still did not believe in the science surrounding climate change.

During this seminar one of the panelists said he felt that scientists needed to be more aggressive (my word not his) in their concerns, and I agreed – both then and now. Scientists in this area seemed to say, “Well, we warned you.” That is often the case in science fiction as well. In the end, the scientists say, ‘We told you so’ over and over but that doesn’t change the ending.

The issues of climate change are at our door. We can see these issues all around us if we just look up from our own lives. And each of us can do something to reduce our personal carbon footprint. It can be as easy as not throwing our garbage on the ground or walking through nature instead of driving through it.

So I leave 2023 with this quote from Rod Serling and the hope that we will learn in 2024 to do more to help our planet: “You walk into this room at your own risk because it leads to the future – not a future that will be but one that might be. This is not a new world, it is simply an extension of what began in the old one ….”

According to NOAA, the cooling trend locally continues with temperatures from the mid-to-high 60s. Rain is more definitive; 80%, on Saturday with totals of ½ to ¾ inches. A weaker system will be going through on Monday morning with a 20% chance of rain.