John Laumer
Polar bears drowning? ‘Who cares, we got some in the zoo.’
That pretty much symbolizes the general attitude of US citizens until recently. Somehow, a great many Americans became like Alfred E. Neuman zombies, whose heads were stultified by an increasingly worthless broadcast media and bought-off politicians spouting think tank talking points. With sometimes frightful, and inconvenient, signs of climate change intensifying, ears and eyes are opening to the possibility something new is going on with the weather.
Snow bound tomatoes and frozen flower petals.
Today, my dental hygienist, while making the small talk needed to build comfort, synchronized the shifting of her position to give me an opportunity to reply. “Yes” I said, agreeing with her last comment, “four inches of snow in October is very weird and people are unnerved to see a snow storm before the leaves have even turned color…to find tomato plants covered in ice long before the last fruit can be harvested, and massive power outages from the snow-burdened leafy branches falling on wires.”
Scrape.
Spray.
Poke.
Breath again.
I followed up with an explanation of how the Arctic Oscillation made the far north unseasonably warmer, bringing early cold here and turning the Nor’easter into a blizzard. She was quiet for a bit. Then nodded.
Dead tree shock.
Much farther to the south, in what seems to be ground zero for climate denial, Texas, as reported by the Huntsville Item:
“Pockets of brown, sickly trees mar the traditionally majestic pine woods in East Texas. Leafless oaks can be seen across the state. Even native drought-resistant cedars are dying off in some areas after proliferating during the last century.”
What may come.
As I think I mentioned before, the sale and installation of backup generators for one-percenters is about to become a boom business.
If the stock market does not calm down and resume a slow climb, many will wish they had set aside the money spent on slutty Halloween costumes and BMW leases for reliable backup power (though that wouldn’t help if they live in a high rise).
(Source: www.treehugger.com )