Countdown to Armageddon

He looked ... shabby.
His wispy hair hung limp, his leather jacket looked as if it were made of rubber, his pants were ill-fitting, and he wore these boots that looked like 1950s NASA surplus.
But, for all the underwhelming impact Gwynne Dyer made on his short walk to the stage, his presence was undeniable and riveting once he began to speak.
My father, stepmom and I took in Dyer's lecture at my alma mater, Kwantlen, during my last visit to Vancouver. It was part of his tour of universities across Canada speaking on the topic of climate change, and the impact it will have on our future.
At this point, I fully expect for most of you to stop reading. I mean, climate change? Heard of Al Gore, anyone? That topic has been done to death.

Or has it?

Dyer spoke, off-the-cuff, for almost two hours, with an impressive display of knowledge and logic. His crucial point is this: In 40 years, the biggest crisis facing humanity will be its most base need — food.
Check out this column he wrote — it sums it up far better than my ill-informed and untrained pen could.
When the climate changes - and it will, at the pace we're going - there are going to be massive food shortages world-wide when once-aerable areas are reduced to desert. Those countries with the geographical good fortune to be located out of the impending disaster areas will soon have hordes of hungry people at their borders.
The UN even recognized this — five years ago.
What's going to happen in Canada, when the U.S., deprived of its breadbasket states, which can no longer produce enough food to feed its people, get hungry?

As my dad put it, "The animals around the watering hole start looking at each other differently when the water gets low."

Britain recognizes that fact, (Read Dyer's column, dammit. I won't tell you again.) and is arming itself because of it. We can't defend against the U.S., and its even more worrisome, considering the agreement the two governments just signed, allowing U.S. military the right to cross onto Canadian soil in the event of a disaster or emergency.
Like, say, 300 million starving Americans?

And for those of you who really don't think the environmental crisis is that big a deal, watch this video: