The Air Out There

Breathe.

Last May I wrote about the Keeling Curve, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and the climate-related feedback processes associated with it. Today, the carbon dioxide concentration is 401 ppm, 350 ppm is the "healthy threshold". It has been like this for some time. I think about this, and I think about the pollen count, the nicotine vapor from the ecigarette next to me, the smoke rising from the local saw mill, the fumes at the gas station. Then I think about the murky air over LA, the hard-to-see athletes at the Beijing Olympics, and the Suracha factory being sued. I think about what I am breathing in every day, and I quietly apologize to my lungs for the many ways in which I have been unkind to them in the past. I thank them for their service to me, that they stick in there, that they let me dance and run and sing and laugh. I take a deep breath, and another, closing my eyes and savoring evening air. I think that it could be sweeter, cleaner. I think about the fact that everything we put into the air stays there, that air pollution is like fouling your own pool. I think that we could all take some action, do some thing. I think that ultimately, we will all want to take another breath.

To read about climate projects:

http://350.org/