Noach: environmentalism

Here it is, the deluge, the great ancient description of the consequences if global warming.  The ice caps and glaciers melt, sea level rises, the world drowns.  There is even a hint in the  Hebrew text: 

  חָמָֽס  a possible contraction of  חָמָֽ      heat and מָֽס     tax.  The carbon tax?

But this is a story of environmental catastrophe and the cause is the behavior of mankind.  The relationship seems to be interpreted religiously.   In the parsha, the flood comes because of human misbehavior, presumably people abusing one another.  A process has begun and its inevitable end is the destruction of all flesh ( 6:11,12) . But perhaps this interpretation is not so far from our own.   IN our modern, "scientific", conception of the global warming that leads to the flood,  we can also see  greed, leading to the degradation of peoples, leading to the catastrophe that is beyond any human control. 

We, moderns, live in a world  enlightened by Lyle and Darwin; and Smith's discovery of the tablets of Gilgamesh.  Our "understanding"  encompasses a far longer history of the earth, the concept that time is so long that everything will eventually  happen.  We have turned to Chronos who answers all questions: "given enough time, it will happen."   In our modern mind, Chronos battles with E: the creator of  the world and the executor of justice. 

There are scientific aspects to the Noah story.  Noach must intervene to maintain a human and animal presence: he builds an ark  There is also a strong sociological aspect.  E perceives that an irreversible downward spiral of human behavior has occurred that will, on its own, cause the destruction of all animal life.  The flood is inevitable.  Gd's intervention is purely a rescue.  this kind of [arrogant] certainty from the data is familiar and comfortable to us

Everything gets swept away.  The forces of the world are both beyond  control and beyond understanding

Noach (and his kin) are the sole survivors of the deluge. They will  restart humanity,  They will generate some combination of the old tradition and the new order.

My parents were such survivors.  Their world was destroyed, all of their kindred were murdered, the culture was killed, the land  of Poland evicted them.  They were replanted in America and spawned children to synthesize a new way of life.  Their old ways were important to them.  They are important to me. I hope that my ways are important to my children

We are all the children of survivors.  Our children are likewise.  Our charge is to help in the rescue.