“The Mediterranean is not simply becoming drier in a smooth, predictable way. It is becoming more variable.”
Thank you Silvia for the care and restraint in this piece. What resonated most was your insistence that averages can obscure lived reality — that instability, not just decline, is what people are feeling. The way you let the trees speak without overstating their message felt deeply trustworthy.
One reflection this raised for me is how human systems are often optimized for efficiency under stable conditions, not resilience under volatility. Your work suggests that the real challenge ahead isn’t forecasting a single future, but learning how to live with wider margins of uncertainty. That feels less like a technical problem and more like a cultural one.
What species of pine is yours? Our bristlecone pines in the United States do the same thing here. These trees can live 5,000+ years in very arid conditions high in the mountains.
That humans have not learned from history?
https://cribb.substack.com/p/are-politicians-dumber-than-algae
“The Mediterranean is not simply becoming drier in a smooth, predictable way. It is becoming more variable.”
Thank you Silvia for the care and restraint in this piece. What resonated most was your insistence that averages can obscure lived reality — that instability, not just decline, is what people are feeling. The way you let the trees speak without overstating their message felt deeply trustworthy.
One reflection this raised for me is how human systems are often optimized for efficiency under stable conditions, not resilience under volatility. Your work suggests that the real challenge ahead isn’t forecasting a single future, but learning how to live with wider margins of uncertainty. That feels less like a technical problem and more like a cultural one.
What species of pine is yours? Our bristlecone pines in the United States do the same thing here. These trees can live 5,000+ years in very arid conditions high in the mountains.
Thank you, Dr. P-M for this perspective, and for sharing about your memories of youth in Spain! See also: https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/2205/2025/