Weather, or Not category archive

. . . and the price, it is being paid.

Published in the September issue of Climatic Change, a scientific journal, the researchers’ peer-reviewed analysis suggests climate change contributed to about 27% of heat-related ER visits in the U.S. during warm seasons from 2018 through 2025.

Heat-related illness is on the rise across the United States. Yale School of Public Health researchers found that heat-related deaths increased by more than 50% between 2000 and 2020.

Scary stuff at the link.

. . . and the American West, it is a dryin’ up.

Water, water, used to there,
But then Lake Powell did chrink.
Soon there will be nothing but hot air,
Not any water to drink.

Last night, we got a tornado warning on our phones.

I grew up in these parts. Tornados are things that (at least used to) happen in Kansas and Oklahoma, not here. Hurricanes were more our thing.

Anyone who denies that the climates are a-changing is a liar, an ignoramus, a charlaton, or a combination thereof. (Mostly I’m betting on lying charlaton, but ignoramus is a strong second.)

. . . and west, it is a drying.

. . . and the Colorado River, it is shrinking.

And pretending won’t make it stop.

Mark Gongloff hears a rhyme that sounds like

I’ve heard of the Dust Bowl. You have too.
Now get ready for Dust Bowl v. 2.

____________________

*Mark Twain.

. . . and pretending that they aren’t won’t change that.

When I was a young ‘un, growing up not far from where I sit as I type this and reading the Pilot as my daily newspaper, headlines like this would have been unimaginable.

And pretending isn’t going to make the changes go away.

At the Colorado Sun, Michael Booth offers “10 signs we can see right now” from his home state. Here’s one item that my eye, probably because I live next to a gold course:

Loveland banned golf carts and ordered duffers to walk because the dried-out turf couldn’t handle any more damage from tires.

. . . and the occasional snow storm doesn’t mean that they aren’t. A snippet from the report by WHYY, my old NPR station in Philly:

In fact, it may seem like a paradox, but (UMass Professor Matt–ed.) Barlow said that scientists think the biggest winter storms — like the one that hit a large swath of the U.S. this past weekend — are becoming more intense due to climate change.

A warmer atmosphere can hold more water, so that increases precipitation overall, Barlow said.

When conditions are right, snow is still possible. And in some cases, climate change can even drive heavier snowfall.

As an aside, we got off easy, a little bit of snow washed away by rain with highs in the low 40s F yesterday.

It’s the night before Thanksgiving
And all through the place I’m living,
I had to turn on the A/C–
The climate ain’t what it used to be.

And I know. I grew up about 40 miles north of here. By this time of year, I’d have been wearing my heavy coat and gloves and looking at frosts in morning, not a wearing a short-sleeved shirt and opening windows to let in warm fresh air in in the afternoon.