Donald Trump as "the canary in the coal mine"

Miners used to take canaries into coal mines, because they would die of carbon monoxide poisoning before the levels became high enough to kill humans. They were an early warning system of dangers to the coal production system.

This time, the canary is the Orange Man, Donald Trump. But rather than warning of imminent danger by dying himself, his reckless actions will kill many non-combatants in the ludicrous and unnecessary Middle East war he started.

That, ironically, may be the early warning humanity needs to wake up to the dangers we face from global warming. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz will have nothing on what global warming will do to the production system of the planet. But, if it leads to some white people dying of starvation—rather than the usual story of famines only hitting brown people—then the world’s politicians and media pundits might finally realise how fragile, rather than robust, our civilisation is.