In an interview during his recent trip to Tai-wan, the Brazilian sinologist Ricardo Joppert said something that really got me thinking. On his one previous visit in the winter of 1958, accompanied by his mother, Taipei always seemed grayish and wet as it was raining most of the time. A child prodigy with a phenomenal memory, Joppert never forgot the rainy month he spent here. It was a typical Taipei winter for those times, brought on by the annual northeast monsoons.

But how long has it been since we last had one of those "typical" winters? I racked my brain trying to remember. Then it came to me, the cold, wispy mists I knew so well when I first moved here myself 20 some years ago.

The warm, dry winter we're having this year in Taipei is nice. In the old days it would have been a hugely pleasant surprise. Now no one gives it a second thought.

Has Taipei become old and jaded? Or has our climate changed, as in so many other places around the world? Instead of the unrelenting drizzle of yesteryear, now it's either deluge or drought, with springtime arriving ahead of schedule. Just last year Taiwan got sogged by the worst floods in living memory, yet now the reservoirs are running dry. Farmers are anxiously waiting for rain so they can spread seed and transplant rice seedlings. What's going on? Is the Earth trying to tell us something? Is there something we should be doing, or not doing? If we fail to heed the messages we're receiving, what consequences will we see tomorrow?

These are questions for all of Taiwan, and all of mankind. Climate change wasn't set in motion overnight, so we aren't going to bring it to a quick halt either. But we can be certain that if the human race keeps barreling ahead the same way it did in the 20th century, constantly seeking ever greater consumer comforts, our descendants may never see springtime at all in the next century.

But we humans are not noted for farsightedness. With the easy life we've enjoyed for the past several decades in Taiwan, we've become obsessed with material gains. Our education system puts inordinate stress on being number one. Are we even capable of hearing the call of Mother Earth?

As the entire island reels in a lottery-induced stupor, Sinorama has a duty as a government-funded magazine to remind readers that today's drought is not just a problem for the industrial park in Hsinchu, nor is it just for the farmers to worry about. It's a problem for everyone, in Taiwan and around the world.

When Taiwan's Nature magazine was launched in 1983, Han Han and Ma Yi-kung electrified us with their flagship statement: "We only have one Earth." The 1980s were a decade of tremendous social activism in Taiwan. Numerous environmental groups were established, and the news media gave extensive coverage to environmental issues. The non-governmental sector gradually gained power.

When and how did we begin to lose that freshness, that honesty, that ability for self-criticism? The end of New Wave Cinema seemed indicative that our society had turned a corner. It seemed to signal that we were tired of taking on challenges, and tired of questioning ourselves. Now it is political bickering, sensationalism, and dreams of easy money that command the lion's share of media coverage. The objective conditions for building a "green" homeland are better than ever, but the mainstream media that could stir us to action are focusing instead on their commercial interests, peddling vacuous entertainment and consumer-oriented news. Barely a single magazine survives that is capable of in-depth reporting on serious social issues.

What lies in store for news organizations that refuse to stoop to commercialism or cater to vulgarity? Can an outlet that provides important information and is capable of acting as society's conscience even survive? Titillating scandals make for fun conversation, but to develop a set of convictions about matters concerning society as a whole, one has to be truly concerned about the full range of social issues.

We only have one Taiwan. This beautiful little island of ours can't take the constant abuse we heap upon it. As we bask under the warm winter sun with Earth Day coming up soon, we should ask ourselves some important questions. Global warming is a problem faced by everyone on the planet. The average temperature at the North and South poles rose by five degrees Celsius in the last century, and the polar ice caps are melting rapidly away. The South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu will disappear within 50 years. What about Taiwan? What is likely to happen to the land we live on? What calamities will befall us as droughts and floods take turns pummeling our island?

The United Nations has called for nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Already, 165 countries have signed a protocol toward that end, and are acting to implement it. Taiwan may not be a member of the UN, but we are certainly a member of the global village. What should we do about greenhouse gas emissions? What should our policies be designed to achieve? What should each of us be paying attention to as individuals?

The issue of global warming is everyone's problem. It's not about politics. It's about survival. Will we survive? It's up to us to find the answer.