January 8, 2008

The Golden Age of Global Warming

Posted by Adrienne Maree Brown at 12:51PM

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I'm visiting Detroit and it's January and balmy. A week ago there was snow on the ground and the air hurt my cheeks. But now I bundle up inside the house and then strip on my way to the car cause it's too hot for a hat, for long underwear and scarves; and snow boots just look silly.

I was chatting with a friend who is in New York, and she said, "It's so nice outside!" This reminded me of a piece I've been meaning to write, or phrase I've been meaning to coin: The Golden Age of Global Warming. This moment we're currently in where those who are used to suffering through brick winters that only result in scaly skin and bragging rights are experiencing beautiful days in November and January. The experience is so unusual that it's impossible to think its for a bad reason, like climate change. Or even when global warming is named as a potential reason, its with a guilty sigh, cause it's just so damn nice outside.

The only similar thing I can think of is The Golden Age of Gentrification...which is an everlasting cycle as more and more city frontiers are colonized in the name of the up-and-coming. There's that moment when its still mostly locals but suddenly you can get a goat-cheese sandwich right there near your house. It only lasts for a moment, just like this Golden Age of Global Warming, because the long-term effects of gentrification don't actually include those locals being there any more than the long-term effects of global warming include people, period.

But how to get folks riled up against global warming when it feels so nice...another day, another challenge. For myself, I've started to see these balmy days as flirtations of apocalypse, and long for the chill of a real winter.