I don’t have any excuses, but I was unable to land on one thoughtful topic for this week, so I thought I’d build a diary out of several topics, instead of one.
The West is on fire
Western states have approximately 65 (or 110 based on other reporting) large fires burning now, and those along with fires in Western Canada have produced smoke across much of the West and Midwest. Based on the expanse of the smoke, I know I’m not the only one here dealing with smoke. This weather.com site has some fantastic satellite pictures that really show how widespread the fires and smoke are across the country. weather.com/…
According to the Washington Post,
Through Aug. 13, about 5.7 million acres have gone up in flames, an area larger than New Jersey. The amount burned so far this year has already surpassed the total for 2016. It’s all consistent with a trend going back to at least the early 1980s: The amount of acreage consumed by fire is growing. Fires are getting bigger, and fire seasons are lasting longer. And as the planet gets hotter and parts of it get drier, it’s likely that these trends will continue for the foreseeable future.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
The article then sites a study that reinforces what we know about climate change — temperatures are increasing.
A 2016 Columbia University study found that average temperatures in Western forests have increased by about 2.5 degrees since 1970, which has led to the burning of about 16,000 more square miles than would have occurred had temperatures remained the same.
This dangerous increase leads to more land being burned. Not only should we not have dropped out of the Paris Climate Agreement, we need to be doing even more to slow the heating of the planet. In the short term, the residents of California, Oregon, and Washington deserve the aid that in the past has been provided during fire season. Sadly, this administration too often uses vengeance as a source of their “policy” and has withheld aid, and even verbal support.
Building the Blue Wave
There were some big turnouts in this week’s primaries, affirming what we’ve been seeing for months; that Democrats chances are looking positive for November.
Swing Left has created an event designed to GOTV on the critical weekend before the November election.
Rant
I’ve seen a lot of chatter on Twitter about 2020 Presidential candidates. I’m a big believer that we should not spend much time discussing potential candidates, and that a lot of the chatter is designed to divide us, which in turn can suppress support for Democrats. I also think that there will be other attempts to divide us, using other topics. I’m going to do my very best to stay above the fray, focus on the mid-terms, and the worst abuses of this administration.