The seasons, climate change and us

Autumn is so lovable. Green leaves take on various colors: gold, crimson red, orange, yellow green, brown and more. Certain green leaves cling to their green color and appear to refuse to give way to autumn.

The multi-colored leaves stand proudly for all to see and to behold. Variety seems to be the message of autumn. This season brings out the rainbows not only in the skies but throughout the landscape. Beautiful, breathtaking, a pause from very hot summer and a welcome respite before a very cold winter.

Autumn is also accompanied by cool weather – just the right temperature to enjoy the sun and to enjoy the cold winds as well, but not to enough to make you sweat or to make you shiver in the cold.

The blue blue sky of autumn and the bright sunshine make colorful autumn one of, if not the best loved, of all seasons. It is truly a season for thanksgiving, a season to remember the Creator who made all these beautiful sights and creations possible.

Summer, on the other hand, allows us to focus on the sun- its warmth and/or its extreme heat. There is sunshine all over but the cold winds seem to have taken a rest or a vacation elsewhere during this season. In some countries, summer also brings in the rains, or in extreme cases, the storms and typhoons. Steady sunshine, however, is summer’s trademark and that means prolonged breaks for fun, outing, and reunions for those who are on vacation, especially the children who love to frolic out in the rain or out in the beach!

Winter is winter, extremely cold where summer is extremely hot. Add to that some harsh winds and most will prefer to stay indoors if possible. Then there is snow, snow everywhere -beautiful white carpet to behold but so difficult to walk on or to drive through. Still, winter brings the season of Christ’s birth and the world is warmed and kept save as people remember the Child, Jesus our Savior, more than the punishing cold and the freezing temperature.

Spring follows winter where sunshine thaws the snow and allows for everything else to bloom and to flower! Winds are still part of spring but the sunshine and the warmth after winter are so much appreciated, with so many flowers of various shapes, smell and colors to boost!

Winter, spring, summer and autumn, one season following another- allows us time to reflect and to pray about our lives as well. We go through the sunshine of summer, mellow in the colorful, reflective break of autumn, grateful for our redemption despite the cold bleak winter, and then the reward of a thousand and more flowers blooming in spring!

This year’s autumn, however, in this part of the world, seems to have come and is almost going in a hurry. Summer also seemed to have overstayed and winter appears to be coming earlier and colder than usual.

Climate change has so affected the type and length of seasons- we are hardly given the reflective time to appreciate and be grateful for the change of seasons. Instead, climate change focuses on the negatives that human beings have brought upon themselves: extreme warming, increasing sea level, stronger, more severe temperature changes and typhoons, heat and cold waves….

Because gases created by humans (through fuel burning, irresponsible cutting of trees and waste production etc.) are unseen, very few take the resultant climate change and global warming very seriously or urgently. Had the gases been visible and everyone sees clearly how much gases are in their immediate environment, surrounding them, killing them softly, quickly, surely, then people may hurry to heed the advice for all to share in arresting climate change.

So much beauty and joy and reflection in the seasons to lose to irresponsible human acts that bring on climate change. Save the seasons, save the earth, let us save all, including ourselves. Do what you can to prevent further acceleration of climate change.

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