Four Seasons of Warming
The brooks murmur, caressed by sweet, gentle breezes. The cuckoo sings. The season invites all to sweet sleep. Teeth chatter through the icy cold.
These were the four seasons as described by Antonio Vivaldi in his masterpiece in 1725, telling the stirring story of the time before our winters and spring ran together. The time before there was rain where there should be snow. Deadly storms where there should be peaceful autumn days.
But, if Vivaldi were alive today, what story would he tell now? As our weather warms, there is little doubt that it would be very different to the one he wrote some 300 years ago — no longer a tale of the evocative predictability of the seasons, but rather the song of mother earth’s cry a she raises her voice to the pitch of a gale.
Even when punctuated by the sounds of flooding and drought, at first listen this new concerti might still sound beautiful — we wake on Christmas morning to hear the songs of spring birds, we catch a glimpse of daffodils as the new year takes its first breath, and the sun shines where the rain once was. But while we relish in the delicate sounds of spring weaving intimately with the background of winter, we know this new normal is anything but. Beneath our feet, the world is stirring.
With warming weather comes new storms. The fields that we could once rely on to feed us become parched or drowned. And the early bird no longer catches the worm, as the food chain is knocked askew.
Yes, the climate is changing. But so are we. And we are standing on the brink of something incredible: A world powered by clean and secure energy. Individuals, businesses, institutions, and governments around the world are already taking action to transition to more sustainable ways to power our world. We can have healthier families and safer communities. We have the power to choose.
The impetus propelling us towards this future is not a political one, but rather an ethical one. And one that each and every one of us can play an imperative role in: take a moment to notice the changes that are happening in your own backyard. Talk about what you’ve seen with your friends and family. And, perhaps most importantly, continue to hold love and hope in your heart for all the things you don’t want to lose to climate change.
