CSANews 120

Fall 2021

We must be at the bottom of the trough. We have vast fires raging through most of Canada and many other places in the world. There are droughts and floods and landslides and lost crops in every country in the world. Locusts and new diseases are affecting those crops that are left. Famine is rampant and millions of people are going to die. All of the wars are almost irrelevant, when placed in comparison to this catastrophic background. The massive displacement of people has created a thousand armies of refugees and people seeking a better and safer life.

The next great challenge is water. The Canada/U.S. sharing agreements are on shaky ground. Egypt, Ethiopia and surrounding countries are dependent on the Nile River and are threatening a “water war.” The Hoover Dam is holding the lowest water reserves in history. Entire lakes have disappeared and our deserts are growing ever larger. I believe that water will be the new gold – rare and expensive.

And let’s not forget our COVID pandemic, although it seems pretty minor when compared to all of our other world disasters. But we have only scratched the surface of the pandemic. I believe that we will find millions more deaths in Africa and Asia that are, so far, unreported. And will there be new and more virulent strains evolving? Or will it simply die out like many other viruses? There is a lot of uncertainty all over the world.

I believe that the only real answer is to continue living and enjoying our lives. We must obviously help to put out the fires and help to resolve the many other issues. But we are a resilient species and we CAN resolve our many problems. We need to help others in need and give of ourselves (and our money) to improve the lives of less fortunate people. We can certainly do that easily. Start now, unless you are already a super volunteer. We WILL make a difference!

Please stay safe and don’t forget to be happy, as we are the luckiest people in the world.

J. Ross Quigley
Editor