Lemmings

I remember learning about lemmings while in a special science program in college. They are fascinating little creatures, really. People think of them simply as the rodents that sometimes march over cliffs to their deaths, but it’s just not so. Yes, they sometimes go over a cliff, but it’s to get into the ocean and swim to a new place; some get exhausted and die if the swim is a long one, but it isn’t deliberate suicide.

That being said, the lemming population does have huge swells and dips, and it affects the whole ecosystem of the arctic. After all, most artic carnivores eat lemmings, so when lemming populations go way down, the carnivores suffer as well.

So, how does it happen? Well, lemmings are burrowing critters, and they live under the tundra. In order to keep warm, they have a chemical similar to anti-freeze in their blood – cool, huh? (No pun intended). They are also a bit pugnacious, and tend to fight amongst themselves, especially when stressed. As the population grows underground, they get overcrowded, stress increases, and they start really duking it out. When this happens, the weaker lemmings are forced out of the burrow, and out into the sun (if it’s summer). But they have that wicked antifreeze…so their blood gets WAY too hot when they are topside for too long, and they kind of internally boil to death (Thank you, Jerry Smith from SJSU, for making science so INCREDIBLY interesting that I remember all this after 30 years!)

In fact, lemming populations sometimes dwindle to almost zero, but then they always recover, and since only the strongest have survived, the population comes back healthier than ever.

Why am I thinking about lemmings this week? My brother, Marc, who is one of the most intelligent people I have ever known (and, bless his heart, likes to impart his knowledge to others in an always-understandable way) sent me a newsletter he wrote, in which he talked about world population. There are way too many of us…way. I mean way WAY way. Seven billion people on an earth probably geared to sustain maybe two billion comfortably.

One of the things that struck me most about his column was the fact that, given a smaller population, and with the great technology we have, we’d all be really relaxed and have a lot of leisure time if we could use that technology to support 80% fewer people. But, given the growth rate of the last couple hundred years, and the fact that people ain’t slowing down in the baby-making department, we can make technology until the cows come home and it isn’t going to produce more fossil fuels, more land on which to grow food, or more potable water.

In other words, we are basically a bunch of lemmings waiting to see who gets booted up to the surface to boil first.

This could, conceivably, be a depressing thought. OR, this realization can be a catalyst for change. We don’t HAVE to be lemmings, fighting with each other and scratching for our existence.

Conserve where you can. Use common sense and do your part to keep the earth in good shape for as long as possible. But, most importantly, realize that every moment we have is potentially precious. Kiss your kids (hopefully, your 1.2 kids). Hug your friends. Do something nice for somebody. Stay in bed an extra 4 minutes and listen to your heart beating. Better yet, stay in bed an extra 4 minutes and listen to someone else’s heart beating. Smile. Breathe. Breathe some more. Never hesitate to tell people that you love them.

Peace,
Janine