Change is in the air

(Photo from the News and Observer)

With all the high-flying campaign rhetoric these days, you'll be forgiven for thinking this post is about John Edwards for Barack Obama. Because no matter how important the political change they represent, a more fundamental change is upon us: climate change.

The implications of climate change are mind-boggling in the truest sense of the word. No one can fully understand exactly how our world and our culture will be affected, but it's a safe bet the consequences will be far-reaching. For example, the N&O today leads with this headline: Yearlong fire season possible.

The epidemic of hundreds of wildfires in every corner of the state served as a warning that drought could expand the spring and fall fire seasons into one long year of risk, emergency officials said Monday. "Right now, we could have a fire season year-round," said Tom Collins, eastern branch manager for the N.C. Division of Emergency Management.

Normally, the spring season doesn't begin until March. But in a single weekend, 10,100 acres -- more than half the acreage normally torched in an an entire year -- were burned. "We probably had fires in every county in the state," Collins said. "I've seen days in the western part of the state where we just had fires everywhere, but this time it was statewide.

And not just in our state. Firefighters in all our neighboring states are facing the same perfect storm, with no end in sight. In fact, the only thing "in sight" is the dry bottom of many lakes. Falls Lake in Raleigh is a prime example.

Midway through an exceptionally dry winter, with Falls Lake more than half-empty, water managers are starting to voice the once-unthinkable: Raleigh's drought-ravaged reservoir could go dry this year. Federal engineers who manage the reservoir have assessed the lake's unprecedented low winter level, the expected demand and forecasts of continuing drought and concluded that the once sprawling body of water could disappear as early as this summer.

If current weather and use patterns continue, the city's designated share of Falls Lake could be depleted in June or July, according to a new Army Corps of Engineers report. Tapping the lake's surplus layer of bottom water could extend the supply anywhere from several weeks to two or three months.

There's no direct evidence that our current drought is the result of broader climate change patterns. It could just be a cyclical phenomenon unrelated to the bigger picture. But there is one "big picture" it is related to: unbridled population growth.

North Carolina had a population of 7.2 million people in 1995. Among the 50 states and District of Columbia, the state ranked as the 11th most populous. By 2000, it is projected to be the 11th most populous with 7.8 million people. By 2025, it is projected to be the 11th most populous with 9.3 million people.

Over the three decades, North Carolina's total population is expected to increase 2.2 million people. Among the 50 states and District of Columbia, the state's net gain ranks as the 7th largest. Its rate of population change, at 29.9 percent, ranks as the 16th largest. From 1995 to 2000, the state would have a net increase of 582,000 people, which would rank as the 5th largest net gain in the nation.

North Carolina business and government leaders have made a pact with the devil. They have placed the almighty dollar ahead of all other considerations and made "Growth At Any Cost" the state motto. Encouraged by extremists on the right, the invisible hand of the so-called free markets is now firmly on the handle - and our entire society is at risk of being flushed.