2020 Life Logs, Day 332: Beautiful Day
Date: Saturday, November 28, 2020
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 54, Low 37 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
It was a beautiful day, weather wise, and just in general. Andrew, the young man that bought the house next Shirley, texted that he and his daughter were visiting from New York City just for the morning. He said his 14 year-old daughter Lily that was coming with him would like to meet Shadow. So, I took Shadow down to the dock which is adjacent to Andrew’s back yard. We kept our distance, but still had a nice visit. Then he and Lily were off to explore Falmouth and then back to New York City before dark. I did some outside chores and then Heather texted that they were headed this way to work on the dock. Sometime in September, it developed a serious lean and Jed thought he could put in some cross beams that might help. It took a couple of hours. We couldn’t do everything needed as we didn’t have the enough long bolts. But it definitely looks better. There was a nice sunset as we wound up the work, they set off for Menauhant Beach to try and catch the full sunset. When they left, I came inside and decided to watch a film Heather and family had watched last night and highly recommended, “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet.” All of us have watched David Attenborough’s films through the years, but Heather said this one was truly special. Attenborough recalls his incredibly life of visiting what were still the wild places on earth before wildlife diminished. He shares his realization that at some point he realized that things were going terribly wrong, but he ends by offering a vision for the future. It has been called the most important film of 2020 and I whole heartedly agree. He ends with this statement:
“We’ve come this far because we are the smartest creatures who have ever lived. But to continue we require more than intelligence. We require wisdom.”
Here are some of the statistics he presents to substantiate his story. I copy them here for you to contemplate.
World Population 1937: 2.3 Billion
World Population 1954: 2.7 Billion
World Population 1960: 3.0 Billion
World Population 1978: 4.3 Billion
World Population 1997: 5.9 Billion
World Population 2020: 7.8 Billion
Carbon in Atmosphere 1937: 280 parts per million
Carbon in Atmosphere 1954: 310 parts per million
Carbon in Atmosphere 1960: 315 parts per million
Carbon in Atmosphere 1978: 335 parts per million
Carbon in Atmosphere 1997: 360 parts per million
Carbon in Atmosphere 2020: 415 parts per million
Remaining Wilderness 1937: 66%
Remaining Wilderness 1954: 64%
Remaining Wilderness 1960: 62%
Remaining Wilderness 1978: 55%
Remaining Wilderness 1997: 46%
Remaining Wilderness 2020: 35%
