I started watching a new movie the other day; it portrayed what the world will be like if global warming isn\u2019t curtailed: horrific storms with hurricane force winds, unending forest fires, routine 500-year floods, hail stones the size of automobiles. It was a futuristic look at the world in its scariest scenario. I knew where it was going and quit watching after the first 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
Later that same week a psychiatrist was on the radio, instructing parents on how to talk to their kids about global warming so they won\u2019t live in fear with the constant pelting of media scenarios that made them think they are doomed, along with the planet. It was timely, and had some good advice to moderate climate change terror. Tell the kids things like, \u201cWe will solve this problem; let\u2019s do our part.\u201d <\/p>\n
I wish someone thought this way about kids in my generation. We grew up under the cloud of an atomic war. For me it started in elementary school, as the Cold War with Russia heated up. We had air raid drills to \u201csave\u201d us in the event of a nuclear attack. <\/span><\/p>\n We loved fire drills; we got to go outside and wait on the playground. And even though we had to stay in line, it was still a lot of fun; we were out of the prison for 15 minutes. Air raid drills, on the other hand, required that we get under our desks and face away from the widows (to avoid going blind from the flash of an atomic bomb). <\/span><\/p>\n We were told that our region was a target because of IBM and other tech and defense companies that peppered the Triple Cities area. Like this action would actually save us. What were they thinking?<\/p>\n To make matters worse, many popular movies of the day had \u201cend of the world\u201d themes with terrifying creatures, mutated from the fallout of atomic bombs, stalking cities and the people who lived in them. One of my favorites was the movie \u201cThem.\u201d It had a legion of giant ants killing and eating people who wandered near their nest in an underground culvert. I still get a chill whenever I hear a squeaking sound similar to that made by the giant ants. <\/p>\n