CURRENTS December 2018 | Page 10

10 Currents December 2018 > continued from page 9 more likely that global temperatures will increase 2 to 4.9 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 8.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100. A much hotter future would be devastating for the environment and public health, especially for people living in tropical and warm climates. Food production falls, fresh water dwindles, sea levels rise, coral reefs die, and deadly heat waves, wildfires, and hur- ricanes intensify as the planet warms. We can either do something to slow down our transition to this new reality—giving ourselves more time to adapt and survive - or help speed up a deadly process we’ve decided is inevitable.” Conclusion While America has dealt with and defeated internal extremisms, and in with the western world, defended and defeated external extremisms before, the pending resource wars will drain the cof- fers and strain the fabric of the “American Way of Life.” Have Lib- eralism and globalism had their day? Will the conservative, nationalism, protectionism reemerge and ignite the next global conflict? It would seem intuitively that globalism and inclusiveness are needed for the species to survive on the planet. Absent a world- wide catalyst which causes humankind to see one another has humans, and share planetary resources with one another, Mother Nature will reclaim the land for which so much blood has been spilled and so much ethe- real treasure has been spent, and another species will emerge in the coming millennia. Gene Suppell Editor & Publisher