Issue 37: Some Fires Don't Stop Burning
Reflections on the forest fires in Greece and Turkey, as well as the one-year anniversary of the Beirut blast
For most of my childhood and adolescence, I attended summer camp. So every July we would pack the car, hop it, and drive up I-93 towards New Hampshire. I remember the first time we made the trip, how long and unfamiliar it felt. But over the years the journey became more familiar, and I came to recognize the particular landmarks that signaled how close we were to arriving at our destination.
One of those markers was a wooden Smokey Bear sign (similar to the one below) indicating risk of forest fires the area. Most summers the risk was low; New Hampshire is blessed with frequent showers. There was never a particular incident in the many years I attended the camp. But for whatever reason, I’ve always remembered that sign.
Why do I bring this up? Because there were several times this week when I recalled passing that Smokey Bear sign. Rather than bringing a smile to my face as reminiscing about a childhood memory normally would, I was deeply concerned. This week’s newsletter is an effort to connect those dots.
The first reason why I was reminded of Smokey Bear, the U.S. Forest Service’s veteran mascot, was because of the ongoing forest fires plaguing Turkey and Greece this week. I know that last week I wrote about climate change’s impact on the Eastern Mediterranean’s maritime ecosystem, but the land is hardly immune to these developments. The tragedy here isn’t just the loss of natural beauty, habitat, and forest ecosystems vital to local wildlife and economies. It is also the varying degree of human ineptitude - especially at the governmental level - to mobilize and extinguish the growing inferno (let’s set aside for a moment the fact that forest fires happen every summer so no one should really be caught unawares by it).
As someone who is frequently speaking in front of audiences in the region, advocating for and explaining why cooperation on environmental and natural disaster issues should be taking place, this was a particularly frustrating week. While there were some positive examples of cooperation and international assistance, there were also cases in which offers were turned down. In particular, the Turkish government waved off its concerned neighbors, effectively saying “no thanks, we’ve got this” only to change its mind several days and thousands of incinerated hectares later.
Our neighborhood is burning. But even when the flames are put out, this doesn’t guarantee the embers won’t figuratively linger on, hidden in the leaf litter of our lives, waiting until the right set of pressures reignite the flames. Without formulating policies that address the root issues of our world, these fires won’t actually be extinguished.
There are few better examples of this phenomenon than in Beirut, where the public just commemorated the one year anniversary of the blast that ripped through the city’s port, taking around 250 lives. Little has been done to address the corruption and incompetence that enabled the deadly explosion. Lebanon’s economy continues to sink ever deeper into debt.
Once again I am reminded of Smokey Bear. While monuments are generally designed to remind us of the past, signs warn us about what is coming if we don’t behave a particular way. In the case of old Smokey, the message is clear: don’t toss your cigarette butt on the forest floor, etc. But the Beirut blast was a literal and symbolic sign that the Lebanese system was broken. Many internalized that message, just not the ones in power.
This week, thousands of Beirut’s residents took to the streets to demand government accountability - which a year on still has not happened.
Many faced tear gas and police, but that didn’t stop the crowds from being heard.
Has Lebanon reached the bottom? It is difficult to say. In all likelihood this is just the beginning of a new chapter in Lebanon’s painful history, with the only predictable outcome being the continued suffering of its citizens. That’s a depressing thing to accept, but imagine being Lebanese and watching your country sink into the quicksand.
It is normal to feel helpless in the face of cascading problems that lack obvious solutions. Yet I can’t help but think of Smokey Bear’s refrain: “Only you can prevent forest fires” and reflect on the essential role that human agency plays in addressing the fires - both large and small - in our world. Whether it be the challenges of climate change or the demand to build a more functional government, it all starts with the choices we make as individuals and how we chose to interact with our surroundings. I don’t care if that message sounds cliched and doesn’t resonate with you. I’ve seen it in practice and more often than not it works. We all need to give it a chance.
This week I’ve chosen to share some links relating specifically to the one-year anniversary of the Beirut blast, which garnered widespread coverage both by the international press and the policy community:
While I generally want to share content from less familiar sources, The New York Times composed a thoughtful and diverse reflection on the event. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out.
Ground zero of the Beirut blast was the port’s grain silos. Mari Jo Sader recounts the story of this iconic structure and its future for L’Orient Today.
The restoration efforts are also ongoing. I suggest Rebecca Trager’s piece for Chemistry World on the environmental clean-up around Beirut port. There was also a phenomenal piece in the Associated Press by Sarah El Deeb and Fay Abuelgasim on rebuilding Beirut’s only modern art museum.
If you have time for a podcast, I highly recommend this conversation with Beirut-based journalist Luna Safwan and Newslines Magazine editor Anthony Elghossain about the challenges facing the city one year onwards. Elghossain also penned a first-person reflection that I think is worth your time.
Hope you enjoy reading. I look forward to hearing from you.
-Gabi