It’s raining again. It’s also blowsy out there. The phone rang at 5:38 a.m. – the recorded voice said that the University of Alaska, Anchorage Campus was to be closed today due to high winds and power outages.

What gives? It’s been raining here a lot in the summer and fall, the amount increasing over the past five years. I’ve noticed that because of this that the vegetation in our area is changing. We’re on the verge of being labeled a coastal climate. Indeed, the vegetation is becoming more lush – there’s now lots more green leafy stuff than ever before. The fiddlehead ferns are in abundance. And the cow parsnip is, each year, a bit taller. I’m beginning to feel like I’m living in a jungle.

I noticed that the landscape is changing while on my recent road trip. The trees along the Richardson Highway are now tall, bushed out, and leafy. The permafrost layer is melting. The Mat Su Glacier is receding, and the Mat Su River has, in places overflowed its banks, taking out houses.

What gives? Indeed. I refuse to live in a state of fear, but I’m becoming increasing more incensed. I know what the problem is – its global warming. And I know the root cause of it – mass consumption and witless exploitation of resources, which is mainly due to overpopulation.

As I walked around the fair, I was blown away by the sheer number of brain dead people. A friend once referred to them as the unwashed masses. Many were pushing full baby strollers, and dragging toddlers around. The children also appeared to be brain dead. You cannot tell me that these people are monitoring their energy consumption, or looking for ways in which they might make the world a better place. Rather, they’re just living their lives, eating, sleeping, shitting, and driving to and fro. Oh, and they watch a lot of corporate controlled television, which of course contributes to their intellectual malaise.

I then came to the House of Doom. This year, as in previous years, a deep voice (channeled through a speaker system) encouraged passerby to enter at their own risk. I immediately saw the House of Doom metaphorically – it’s yet another energy sucking fair attraction. (And don’t get me going about the midway rides.)

This dispatch sounds really bleak. And I’m sure that my republican friends (note, the r in republican is not capitalized) will chide me for having expressed this viewpoint. So, sure, a caveat. There are many with children who have vowed to consume less and have also vowed to teach their children to do the same. My hats off to them—I truly applaud their efforts. However, these individuals are in a minority. End of caveat. Other countries have reached the tipping point, and we are on the verge of it ourselves.

On my first day of college (this was in an agricultural institution), one of my teachers, a fellow named Ward McMillan, in a sotto academic voice, said “I have news for you all. You are going to starve.” He then explained that our food production was increasing arithmetically while the human population was increasing geometrically. This, I now realized, was insightful, given this was the mid-1970s. I suspect that he’s right, and this will come to be. What Ward didn’t foresee was the gradual demise of a once lovely planet. I pity the upcoming generations, who it seems will be powerless to do anything about it.

Next: 271. 09/6/12: Fairbanks, Two Street