Though climate change is often talked about in terms of ecosystems, sea levels, and extreme weather patterns, what is often overlooked is the terrifying impact it may soon have on human relationships.
When Bill Stevenson married Marsha Waller in 2014 he could not have known that he would be forced to spend more than 72 hours a year outside of proscribed holidays with his in-laws the Wallers.
‘I just didn’t know what I was signing up for, I guess,’ groaned the 38-year-old Peoria attorney at law, and how could Bill have known? In 2014 the impacts of climate change were still relatively underpublicized, and when studies were made public the focus was always on polar ice caps and greenhouse gases.
The real and lasting consequences for the humans in the picture, like large elephants in a room, were completely ignored.
‘Higher temperatures have led to an annual increase of an average of 1.5 weeks of pleasant, picnicable weather since 2010,’ confirmed Dr. Jenny Mijanos, chair of the State of Illinois Climate Research Panel. ‘I am sure don’t need to tell you the devastating spike this has produced in family gatherings and outings, not only in the nuclear, but also the extended family.’
In other words, unless these radical changes can somehow be reversed, and quickly, the in-laws might be here to stay.
