Remember "An Inconvenient Truth?"

I sit in the comfort of my air-conditioned room, hiding from the bright sun, and gloomily read the 10-day forecast.  North east of us, residents might experience a rain storm.  We’re not supposed to be so lucky.  It’s supposed to be hot, humid and miserable all next week.  Our front windows face west, so every afternoon I have to close the drapes to keep the sun from beating in.  We have special drapes that are made to reduce the hot sun’s rays.

It seems that each year, the summer gets longer and hotter.  TB’s been looking at the lawn, wondering if he’ll ever have to mow it again.  We haven’t had much rain to keep the grass growing and green.  It’s mostly dried up brown stuff and some kind of crab grass.  I water my flowers less frequently than I have in years gone by because of the potential of the aquifer’s level falling too low.

Imagine!

Today I saw Dan Rather’s newsletter about “An Inconvenient Truth”.  It was a film and book by former Vice President Al Gore.  He knew his stuff and was right on the money with his predictions.  I remember being concerned when the film was released 16 years ago.  I also remembered the first Earth Day in 1970, when we were all supposed to be more conscious of taking care of the Earth.  We didn’t do it in the 36 years between 1970 and 2006, and Gore warned of dire consequences if we didn’t start addressing climate change sixteen years ago.

Of course, nothing was done.  Oh, people like my husband and I tried to conserve and recycle but legislators didn’t  do anything about the environment until now – and maybe it’s too late.  They were under the impression that Americans didn’t care about the environment.  Maybe we were at fault for that belief.  We didn’t make enough noise.  We were too busy being concerned with work, raising families, and the economy.  Maybe even if we had spoken up, Big Oil and other polluting corporations would have paid the legislators to keep postponing doing anything to help the Earth.

All that is changing, and it’s because the weather has become wilder and more unpredictable over the last few years.  I remember four seasons as a child.  Now there just seems to be two, summer and winter, with short days or a week of spring and fall.  The summers have been unbearably hot with multiple and prolonged heat waves.  Winters have been ridiculously mild.  I can’t remember the last time we had a good snow storm.

How do you feel in a heat wave?  It affects me negatively now that I'm older.  I get very fatigued and cross.  Even with the air on, the house gets hot inside because of our energy in-sufficient windows.  Any outdoor activity has to be done before the sun comes up.  Katie Couric posted an article about how extended hot weather affects us here and abroad.

I believe all the wild fires in the west and all the flash flooding/heavy downpours across the country finally inspired Congress to pass a bill President Biden could sign to address climate change.  It doesn’t go far enough, of course, but it’s the first major piece of environmental legislation in years and years.  It’s a start.

Now, as uncomfortable as I am here in New Jersey, it’s hotter than Hades in the West.  Next week, in celebration of Labor Day and that week, temperatures there may go up to 110 degrees.  I know it’s usually warmer in the western states but isn’t 110 close to what temperatures would be in Death Valley?

There have been incidents of flash flooding and other problems caused by torrential rains recently.  There is no potable water in Jackson, MS.  I guess you could say it was a perfect storm of an aging infrastructure that was never fixed properly and a sudden onslaught on heavy rain.  Residents are told not to drink the water.  The National Guard is supposed to help get drinkable water out to the communities in Jackson.  So far it's been an epic fail.  They haven't been able to supply all the water that's needed.  People waited for like 2 hours in the hot sun for a case of water and the National Guard quickly ran out.  It's freaking summer, people, and it's HOT.  Those people need more than a case of water!

Other states that experienced devastation after exceptionally heavy rainfall recently were Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois.

It’ll probably get a lot worse before it gets better in spite of the environmental piece of the Inflation Reduction Act.  It’s going to take time to implement.  It’s a shame because we sure need to do something NOW.