“Security, safe, free from dangers, secure: a secure environment. Or someone who does not need to worry; something that instills calm. Tranquility. Safety. And Protection. Something reassuring. Reliable and Stable. Trustworthy. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Security, one of the keywords in political rhetoric. We want security for our children. For our elderly. For ourselves.
Security is something we have strived for since time immemorial. Sometimes more successfully, sometimes less. And ultimately, the desire for safety and prosperity has driven economic development using the Earth’s resources, reducing poverty and famine, fostering innovation and science, and intensifying culture. But it has also resulted in the greatest threat in history to humanity’s security. Safety. Protection.
Our security depends on the balance of the climate. We have created an imbalance.
Everything depends on…
On us. On them. On you. On me.
Home should be secure. And Höör has become mine.
Höör, with its beautiful forests, Fugdaröd, Stenskogen, and Klintaskogen.
Watercourses like Vaxsjön, Dagstorpssjön, Ringsjöerna.
Species like Barbastell bat, wood anemone, and whooper swan.
Höör, providing its residents with local groundwater. A resource that is becoming less secure. Created by a nature that is increasingly under pressure. A nature we are utterly dependent on.
Did you know that
Humans and their livestock account for 96% of the Earth’s mammal biomass. Only 4% are wild animals.
Or that 2/3 of the world’s land area is cultivated. And the figure is increasing.
Areas that are often managed with large machinery. From a time marked by abundance that no longer exists. That demands a lot. That wastes a lot. That destroys too much.
We are heading towards a wall and cannot change course. Extreme weather will wreak havoc more and more often. The Ringsjöarna will overflow.
Forests will catch fire. Devastated by storms. Groundwater sources will run dry.
Höör’s 6-year-olds will likely witness both 100- and 500-year rains during their lifetime, filling and rushing through Höör’s stream, flooding plots, and carrying away treehouses built nearby. These are rainfall events that statistically occur no more than once every 500 years.
We have created an imbalance.
Those who love Höör’s nature, Munkarp’s old pasture-enclosed meadows as relics from times past, blueberry bushes at the forest edge in Hallaröd, Fulltofta’s ghostly wetlands. They must practice grief. Because this nature will change.
Yet, we are fortunate. Our place will probably remain habitable. But the Earth’s habitable places are diminishing, and people seek refuge there. As climate refugees. Or as tourists. Solitary beaches become a rarity. Hiking trails become crowded. Siestas in summer become a habit.
We are heading towards a wall and cannot change course.
And the helm steering our course is inexorably locked in old habits, power structures, repression, denial, or resignation.
Yet, we are only human…
And at the same time, that’s exactly what we are. Humans. Who, in the course of evolution, have surprised with their adaptability. Resourcefulness. Who can destroy and overcome. Who can dwell on hatred and spread love. Empathy. Acceptance and understanding. These are fantastic tools.
Tools that are needed to survive this. So that future generations might have the same opportunities as we do.
It seems so immense.
But much can be done.
You can start small. Look around. Inspire those closest to you. Spread ideas. Review your own choices. In life. Swim against the current.
Let’s take it as a dance.
And while the major adaptation efforts and restructuring are ongoing worldwide, in Sweden, in Höör, with contingency plans for heatwaves, electrification, climate risk analyses, and action programs,
we can contribute our share.
Donate time to each other instead of things. Slow down and get to know the beauty that surrounds us, which doesn’t require long journeys. Experience the joy of gardening. Cooking. Take time. Borrow and share instead of buying for yourself.
Or why not attend a local concert, eat locally produced dessert, support the local economy, and thus consume, but with minimal consumption of the Earth’s resources.
We can start a new chapter. For us and for the world. A new movement in life’s symphony. Let’s take it as a dance. One step at a time.