“Times are changing quicker than we are adapting.” This is a quote from Lt. General Russel L. Honoré during an interview on Tuesday with CNN’s Bill Weir. They were talking about the Louisiana drinking water supply being threatened as salt water “creeps into” the Mississippi River. The drought has weakened the mighty Mississippi so it cannot stop the ocean waters from slowly moving into the water supply of the state of Louisiana.

As I have stated before, climate change is cyclical but the accelerated rate of climate change can be traced to humans. According to NASA, 97% of actively publishing climate scientists agree “humans are causing global warming and climate change.”

Cornell University/Cornell Chronicle states that more than 99% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that climate change is mainly caused by humans. These are scientists who focus their studies on Earth science, which is important to note.

One of my grandson’s favorite books is “Climate Change for Babies” by Chris Ferrie and Katherine Petrou, which so simply explains the issue. They show that the Earth’s atmosphere is like a blanket made of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen. This mix is in perfect balance to protect the “Earth from the cold of outer space by trapping just the right amount of heat.” But through industry, heating, coal power, transportation, etc., humans are changing that blanket and making it heavier through greenhouse gases.

In one illustration it depicts the Earth’s blue oceans as getting darker and turning a little purplish, which is a great visual because kids recognize that when they have a fever, when they are sick, they look different, too. We are all hearing, seeing and experiencing different  effects of climate change, from increased droughts to flooding across the U.S. and the world, but soon we may be seeing a real visual ­– the oceans turning from blue to green.

Of all the studies and books I have read on climate change this study, which was released earlier this year, has really affected me. I think because it’s not only a scientific sign that the Earth is in trouble, but it reaches into our poetic hearts.

In a July news release of a peer-reviewed publication from Massachusetts Institute of Technology the findings were explained in “Study: The Ocean’s Color is Changing as a Consequence of Climate Change.”

“The ocean’s color has changed significantly over the last 20 years, and the global trend is likely a consequence of human-induced climate change,” states the article in MIT News.

The study appeared in Nature in July and the data came from observations over the past two decades. Now the changes are not necessarily seen with the human eye; they are more subtle and are occurring in over 56% of the world’s oceans.

“I’ve been running simulations that have been telling me for years that these changes in ocean color are going to happen,” said study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz, senior research scientist in MIT’s Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Center for Global Change Science. “To actually see it happening for real is not surprising, but frightening. And these changes are consistent with man-induced changes to our climate.”

“This gives additional evidence of how human activities are affecting life on Earth over a huge spatial extent,” added lead author B. B. Cael, PhD ’19, of the National Oceanography Center in Southampton, U.K. “It’s another way that humans are affecting the biosphere.”

The study’s co-authors also include Stephanie Henson of the National Oceanography Center, Kelsey Bisson of Oregon State University, and Emmanuel Boss of the University of Maine.

The color is going from blue to green and, although green is a wonderful color for the Emerald Isle, it is not what we think of when we visualize our planet.

The ocean’s color is a visual product of whatever resides in its upper layers.

Greener waters are a sign of the presence of ecosystems and mainly phytoplankton, the plant-like microbes that are in the upper levels of the ocean. This phytoplankton is made up of green pigment chlorophyll – hence the green water, according to the reports.

The study used satellite remote sensing. Satellites that measure ocean color, the amount of light radiating from the ocean and atmosphere from Earth’s surface have been collecting global measurements for decades.

The findings are interesting and not just scary but, to me, have brought so many emotions. First, let me just say I have seen a lot of science fiction and I really don’t remember green oceans. The water that covered the Earth in “Waterworld” was blue, “The Abyss” had angry waters that were still blue, “Leviathan” – blue, “Sphere” – also blue, all the “Sharknado” movies and heck even Pipeline (Peter Fonda) and Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) in “Escape from LA” surfed moonlit blue waves. So I am a little disappointed that this hasn’t been the center of a sci fi film.

Second, I grew up with the “Big Blue Marble” show. The photo that was used in the opening was taken in December 1972 by astronaut Harrison Schmitt. He was part of the crew of Apollo 17 and the photo was taken as they made their way to the Moon. The Earth appeared to the astronauts as a small blue marble and the most iconic photo of the Earth was titled “The Blue Marble.” This was a time when images of the Earth were new to humans.

The “Earthrise” photo taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in 1968 was another image that allowed humans to really see how beautiful and special the Earth is and inspired a lot of activism to help save it, which continues today.

I just can’t imagine a big green marble. I view the Earth as a blessing and a gift that is our responsibility to care for and respect. Although this color change is not yet visible to the eye, the fact that it is slowly changing is a clear sign to us that something is terribly wrong.

I am reminded of the “drowning man” joke, of which there are several versions. Basically it is about a man who is stuck on his rooftop after a flood. He prays to God for help. A rowboat arrives and offers help; he refuses help, saying he is praying and God will save him. Then a motorboat comes by and, again, he refuses help and then a helicopter hovers overhead to help him but he waves them on because he is waiting for God to save him. The water continues to rise and he drowns.

When he gets to Heaven he asks God why he didn’t save him. God replies, “I sent a rowboat, a motorboat and helicopter. What more did you expect?”

I think we are getting sign after sign that we are expected to help our Earth, and now see a bold visual change of our blue ocean … what more do we expect?

For us now, our Southern California weather will be more an echo of summer than fall, but the skies are expected to be clear … still blue.

NOAA does not predict any rain at least for the next seven days. Today through Tuesday of next week we’ll see highs in the low 90s/high 80s. Nights will be very comfortable in the mid 60s.

These highs are about 10 degrees over normal but this time of year we are getting into fall season when we see changes in cold and warm air masses, so not normal is … kind of normal, according to NOAA.

It may seem like it’s “another perfect day” but the temperatures rising creates dry conditions and although we haven’t yet experienced true Santa Ana winds that doesn’t mean they aren’t coming, so keep a watchful eye for wildfire and take abatement seriously.