Pons Sublicius

Global temperatures are now approximately 0.1°C above the Holocene Maximum. 

To put that in context, consider the ruins of Skara Brae. Neolithic Orkney was a civilisation that flourished during the Holocene Maximum for that latitude. One illustration of the consequences of climate change is the decline of Neolithic Orkney. The climate deteriorated over millennia, probably due to orbital forcing. 

Crops failed and people abandoned their settlements to retreat behind the walls of hill-forts as society fell to acrimony. Better acclimatised invaders destroyed their temples, evicted their gods and scattered their ancestors' remains.

Eventually their language and customs were entirely forgotten. When Pytheas ventured north from Marseille to "Orkas" he spoke with strangers. It was as if they had never existed at all, until, five millennia after their heyday, a storm set its shoulder to a sand dune to reveal the ancient hearths around which they must once have complacently gathered.  

We're going in the opposite direction now, and we are going much more rapidly, witnessing a pace of climate change over decades that took centuries and millennia to elapse previously, due to the artificial forcing we are now applying through carbon emissions. 

Look at the rubble of Skara Brae. Now look at your house, your workplace, your temples and churches. Think of the songs that stir your heart, then think of the silence that now prevails over the hearths of Skara Brae. 

We stand upon the Sublician Bridge, like Horatius and his companions, asking ourselves "how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods". 

Except we do not face an Etruscan army, we face the consequences of our own actions and inaction, and the "fearful odds" are those we have imposed upon ourselves. Nevertheless, urgent action is once again required for our salvation.  

The demolition of the bridge won't save the city. Nothing short of its complete re-foundation on sustainable principles is required. Otherwise the fate of Skara Brae awaits.