Gorge Patched Link

Climate change presents a new danger. In alpine gorges, glaciers are the source of the rivers. As glaciers retreat, summer water flow drops, which slows erosion and changes the ecosystem. Furthermore, intense rainstorms (increased by climate change) cause more violent flash floods that strip the walls of vegetation faster than nature can regrow.

A few yards further, the gorge opened into a small, impossible chamber. The walls were smooth, like polished glass, and in the center sat Theo, cross-legged and wide-eyed. He was unharmed. He was also staring at a point in the empty air, his lips moving silently. Climate change presents a new danger

The village elder asked what she had done. Lena just looked back at the scar in the earth, now just a hole in the ground, emptied of its mystery. He was unharmed

There is a strange poetic link between these two meanings. Just as a river carves a gorge by taking more than the land can hold, a person who gorges attempts to take in more than the body or mind requires. Both involve a breaking of boundaries. The river breaks the boundary of the flat earth; the glutton breaks the boundary of temperance. Because they are narrow

Gorges are fragile. Because they are narrow, any pollution or disturbance at the top of the rim eventually flows down to the river below. Human litter, sunscreen, and even noise pollution (which echoes and disorients bats and birds) are serious threats.