It's very very hot in California, Texas and Florida. More states than that, but it seems rare to have all 3 states, spread from far west to the middle to the far eastern part of country be threatened by climate forces all at once.
Temperatures in California, Nevada and Arizona are over 110. In Phoenix the temperatures were over 110 degrees for 14 days in a row and are headed back up again.
But at least it is dry heat. Texas and Oklahoma are baking under heat (over 100 degrees in every city in Oklahoma yesterday) but all this with humidity in the high 75% plus. Heat in Florida is not quite as high, only the 90s (F). But with humidity often above 80%, it is deadly.*
Wildfires in Canada are so out of control they create massive air pollution in Canada, the mid-west and eastern United States. In Hawaii another hurricane is headed their way, once a rare occurrence it is now unremarkable. New high temperature records have been set in Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. The glaciers in Glacier National Park have shrunk by 75%. Alaska isn't getting enough snow and ocean side communities are now threatened by rising sea levels.
The deaths of 61,000 people last year could be attributed to the brutal heat in Europe, according to one recent study, with children and older people especially vulnerable to conditions.
I'm not saying this to be heard or change minds. Those that believe in climate change, believe it already. And the Political Ostriches have buried their heads so far up their ass in the sand, they pretend they don't know what's going on.
I guess what I am trying to say is that we have passed the tipping point. Whenever this ends, however it ends, it is building momentum that cannot be stopped. We have enabled negative effects we cannot slow down, only speed up with continued bad policies.
Hi ho.
* Medical doctors found that internal body temperatures over 104 F will kill you over a fairly quick period of time. Sweat, particularly quickly evaporating sweat, can keep the body temperature lower. But high humidity prevents sweat from evaporating and cooling the body down. We have seen a lot of deaths in places with heat waves that are not used to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment