Climate Change

In the sixties we were threatened with an ice age on the way,

A time when every winter would be very long and grey;

The future would be chilly, so we were led to think,

With Icebergs in the Channel and the Thames a skating rink.

We really would face problems, due to rapid climate change,

And how we coped with winter we would need to re-arrange,

For we'd be like the Arctic, with endless ice and snow,

Coupled with the bitter winds which from the east would blow.

Life in winter would be hard, and quite expensive too,

With spending months in warmer climes the privilege of the few.

The rest of us would have to live and cope as best we could,

And thinking back to better times would not do any good.

But, of course, they got it wrong. the ice age didn't come,

And those who then predicted it would now appear quite dumb.

But then another group appeared, and said the earth was faced

With rapid warming, using words that were doom-laden laced.

The lushest fields of England would in quite short time be changed

As brightest green for dried-up brown each summer was exchanged.

In Kent we'd soon be growing all the fruits we now import,

Exotic things from round the world - or so we all were taught.

We had a massive problem, as the earth was heating fast;

The ice cap was now melting and would soon be in the past.

The future looked quite bleak indeed, with deserts everywhere,

Vast tracts of land which would become completely dry and bare.

It was the fault of man, they said; we needed to reduce

The cutting down of forest trees, and much restrict the use

Of fossil fuels and chemicals which they proclaimed in fear

Were causing all the ozone round the earth to disappear.

We really were in trouble, unless we made amends,

And followed them and heeded all the latest published trends.

But change again was on the way, for suddenly it seemed,

That global warming now had stalled, and was no longer deemed

The threat it had been; now they talked instead of climate change,

Which after both the former scares might well seem rather strange,

Especially as they claimed it still was principally man-made,

So former calls to spend vast sums most certainly didn't fade.

The truth is that our climate's never static, and it shows

A face that's always changing, just like the wind that blows,

There's nothing that mankind can do, no way that he can act,

Which can make a difference or can change this simple fact.