What Could Go Wrong?

The Olympics are over and all events have been completed and evaluated. Competitors trained for years to reach their peak and expected a successful ‘finish’. After all that work, what could go wrong?

A high-diving athlete had trained for years, perfecting a polished routine. The graceful approach to the board was as expected and the diver poised and tested the board with little bounces.Then, something unexpected happened. The diver slipped, falling off the the board, and attempting to regain control, plunged into the
water much as a common cannonball . After all that practice and expecting to score highly, the scoreboard recorded “Zero”. With high expectations, what went wrong?

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The US men’s relay confidently ran their event after long hours of perfecting their time and technique and were happily expecting to, at least, qualify for a medal. Looking at their scoreboard, they were shocked to see “DQ”- “Disqualified” . Electronic monitors detected that

the baton was,at one time, exchanged  outside of the designated exchange area. After all that practice, how could that happen? No one could possibly expect these results. All preparations and routines seemed to be progressing smoothly.  Who knew?

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This has been a very unusual year. Record-high temperatures in one area, floods caused by unusually extreme rain amounts for others while  another area suffers drought conditions all within our US boundaries. While some will say “There’s the way it goes. Just a cycle”, others suspect “There’s something in the air.”  Climatologists have recorded changes in the atmosphere and the presence of heavy smog at times.  We enjoy the products and tend to think these good conditions will never end. But, perhaps, the unexpected is happening.

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Smog is a type of air pollutant. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century as a combination of

the words ‘smoke and fog’ sometimes known as 'pea soup' fog, a familiar and serious problem in London from the 19th century to the mid 20th century. Much like our Olympics, factories around the world have been accelerating their production  for public consumption and profit . Cars and traffic have provided happy travelers and all is well until we begin to see air quality change and problems grow. Who knew this could be a problem?

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Our politicians protect constituents' business interests and are naturally slow to suggest changes,

but changes are ‘in the wind’. Solar and wind energy have been topics of discussion to lessen the need for fossil fuel, but even Wisconsin is reported to be at the bottom in both projects according to the American Wind Energy Association. Electric cars are being produced and improved. Drivers of these ‘electric powered ‘ vehicles comment on high horse-power, but disappointed in range of travel and improvements are desired. The change from ‘fossil fuel’ is slow. Our ‘overseas’ relatives seem to be more highly ‘energized’ to make the change. They seem to know!

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The Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Löfven, has announced that his country will work towards becoming "one of the first fossil fuel-free welfare states in the world," in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

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 Nordic countries already lead the world in renewable energy, with Sweden generating around two-thirds of its electricity through renewable sources.
On one unusually windy day in July, Denmark produced 140 per cent of its electricity needs through wind power alone, exporting the rest of the energy to its neighbors, Germany, Sweden and Norway (one of the biggest oil producers in the world).

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 Almost 100 per cent of Iceland's electricity comes from renewable sources, due to its investment in hydropower and geothermal energy production.Nordic countries already lead the world in renewable energy, with Sweden generating around two-thirds of its electricity through renewable sources

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 But the change is not cheap nor easy.

Making the jump to eradicating fossil fuels entirely in Sweden is a much more difficult task altogether.

In a speech to the Swedish Parliament in which he announced these green policies, Löfven said: "Children

should grow up in a toxin-free environment. The removal of dangerous substances and the idea that the polluter should pay are the basis of our politics."

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In Sweden's planned budget, the government announced it would allocate 4.5 billion kronor next year to  funding  solar panels and wind turbines that will utilize a smarter energy grid and energy storage system. They are getting serious!

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Perhaps this will send an "important signal" to the West. In 1917, Alexander Graham Bell suggested the use of  ethanol from corn, wheat and other foods as an alternative to coal and oil, stating that the world was in ‘measurable distance’ of depleting these fuels. Biofuel and Ethanol are plant-derived gasoline substitutes for powering vehicles.Even algae can be a biofuel  derived from algae( produced quickly in Olympic diving pools, much to the chagrin of RIO Olympic officials). Geothermal energy of the earth's internal heat can be used  to boil water for heating buildings or generating electricity. There are several sources of alternative energy available to replace our fossil fuels.

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Perhaps concentrating on these sources might improve our environment before we find our aquatic athletes diving into pristine green water while‘scoring a zero’ and track-runners unable to see in the smog and we realize that we can no longer cleanly ‘hand off the baton’ to the next generation.

Maybe we already know!