Change in Temperature

We had our taste of climate change last week -- 8 or 10 days of high 80s and high humidity made everyone fussy and very uncomfortable. Like this little quilt showing the heat of the sun--its overwhelming dominance in the sky, I was miserable with sweaty skin. I slept at night with only a sheet which was simply there to maintain some habit of modesty. Our usual afternoon sea breeze sometimes blew in some comfort, but not enough. I thought of the many thousands elsewhere who were  enduring heat in the 100s and felt grateful it was not that here. 

I'm doubly aware of how lucky we were to endure only a few days of the discomfort.  For the past couple of days the temperature has dropped into the 70s and yesterday I was happy to sit in the backyard at Rachel's house wearing  jeans jacket and long pants.  I go to bed and am happy to pull the sheet and quilt up and find them as comforting as usual.  Summer is a magnificent season ... when it is the reasonable summers we're used to. Probably future summers will be even less comfortable for even longer times.  We are living in a greatly changing world. Today's issue of National Geographic that I  glanced at when I was having dinner is largely about the melting of the ice in the arctic and the disintegration of the tundra. Massive changes worldwide. Plus a really horrifying set of photos about the plastic stuff that washed up on the ocean beaches.

I am grateful to be a little cool, to get ready to settle down for my evening's reading wearing a robe and possibly with a throw over my legs and feet to keep me comfy.

W

KELP, forget kale

At a large gathering of a current events discussion group called WHAT on Friday one of the men talked about work being done by WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanic Institute) -- one of the world's leaders in oceanic studies. He quoted a scientist who believes kelp (sea weed to most of us) can be farmed in almost all ocean areas. It can feed millions (even if, like me, they have to get accustomed to the taste) (and I admit I'm not yet a fan of kale but maybe I can forget about it).
However, kelp is not merely a food -- for humans, fishes and probably animals -- but it is an emitter of oxygen to replace that which is being lost in the atmosphere. I Googled it just now and find that is is being farmed several places and processed for consumption. I know it has been part of the diets of Japanese people for a long time.

What good news that is, if it catches on around the world! The Sunday paper is full of bad news so some good news is much appreciated. I had previously read that climate change could be reversed if we would plant 2 billion trees. Well, good luck with that! However an encouraging note in yesterday's paper said that either Eritrea or Ethiopia (neighbors, once a single country) planted 2 Million (a long way from Trillion) trees in the past month.

Meanwhile young white men are taking up guns and going to public places and shooting randomly at innocent people, including children. I cannot imagine what is going in their minds. I can understand anger at someone or some institution but I cannot imagine taking a lethal weapon and pointing it at strangers in a public place and shooting.  But who doesn't remember being a child, making a  pistol of your hand (thumb up, index pointing) and saying "bang, bang, you're dead'? in play ... and sometimes in anger and sometime in jokey way. But ... So I read many things and grasp at little threads of hope, like kelp and trees,getting rid of mini plastic bottles of shampoo.  I would also hope they'd add the "nips" --  mini bottles of alcoholic beverages. Those little bottles are the most prevalent litter in local parking lots and roadsides.