Reflections

The news over the last week has been very interesting. And among the environmental /greenie world there has been a few musings and reflections on Eyjafjallajokull. As I sit here writing this 60 Minutes is reporting on the Icelandic eruption that brought the world to a stand still.

Firstly, may I say, that I always find volcanoes stunning. It is adrenalin pumping. All the energy that the Earth possess’ spewing forth. The spectacular smoke plumes, the lightening displays within the smoke, the eeriness of the glow at night, the molten lava slowly oozing out.... It never ceases to amaze and sometimes scare me that nature has so much power, unpredictability and violence.

It did amuse me immensely, however, when people were complaining that their flights were cancelled. Did they seriously expect planes to fly when there was a real threat that volcanic ash could get into the engines and crash a plane full of people???? The news agencies also had a field day reporting on the gloom and doom of passengers.
This incident does however beg the questions – what will happen when peak oil is reached and breached? What happens when there is no fuel available to ensure that there are thousands of flights a week across the globe or the country? I am not, of course, just referring to the transportation of people but also to the transportation of food, mail, animals, plants, etc.

We can not really afford to wait until peak is reached to worry about oil. With proper management we can stave off the time when we reach peak oil. We can also ensure that our oil supplies will last longer. At the rate we currently consume oil once peak oil is reached (and this is assuming that we have not yet reached this point however there is a large amount of evidence that suggests we have in fact reached this crisis point) our oil supplies will not last us long enough to ensure a smooth transition to an oil free Earth.

Our planet is a precarious balancing act. Tip too much one way and we have global warming. Tip too far the other way and we have a new ice age. So is this Mother Nature’s pay back for the damage, hurt and pain that we have inflicted on her? Is this Mother Nature having the last laugh at our expense? Or is it a warning of what is to come?