The Mighty Columbia

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. Today I discovered this story about the River Loire in France — it’s disappearing:

The River Loire, via @nytimes. We are not exagerrating, folks, when we call it a climate crisis. pic.twitter.com/YmZkaNfv2G

— Justin Gillis (@JustinHGillis) August 18, 2022

I live by the Columbia River.

The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven US states and a Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States by volume, the Columbia has the greatest flow of any North American river entering the Pacific. The Columbia has the 36th greatest discharge of any river in the world

Wikipedia

Years ago I wondered, how long will the Columbia River flow? Little did I know, that the rivers of the world would be in danger — and so our water supplies– in our life time by that which so many deny: climate change / global warming. It’s disgusting that people still will not wake up to the fact that there is no Planet B and we’d better find a way to take care of the one we have.

Resources

• Climate Change 101
• UN Climate Change
• Climate Action Tracker
• Climate Network
• NASA: Climate Change

Columbia

Through two countries,
one province and seven states,
a source of food and water,
navigation and irrigation,
and the power of hydroelectricity,
a cultural influence and dependence
for thousands of years
and millions of people,
but for how much longer?

Sheri Edwards
081822 232.365.22
Poetry/Photography

1267 days of posts in a row