Many places in the world--and more particularly, in the United States--are in the midst of harsh object lessons about the chain of climate disruption effects. At the moment, the combination of high heat and huge wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota are causing dangerous air pollution in a number of northern US cities, which currently have the worst air quality in the world.
The forecast is for this swath of heat and pollution to inundate the mid-Atlantic states, including the hot air capital of the world, Washington.
The heat and deadly air usually affect the old and the young disproportionately, so the political impact is somewhat doubtful. But this time it is going beyond that, as Bloomberg News reports that the pollution is "emptying the streets" of major northeastern and upper Midwest cities. None of this is going to improve the image of government, either cowed into ignoring all this or ideologically rigid in its denial. Though often on the local and state level, officials are forced to deal with immediate crisis.
Bloomberg also reports that high heat has been straining the electrical grid, particularly in the Midwest. This is an area where the combination of high heat and high humidity has in the past come close to lethal levels. And I mean lethal--and without air conditioning due to grid failure, lethal to a lot of people, not just the poor.
With its high heat, Europe is having its own air conditioning crisis this summer, but at least there (as well as India and other vulnerable areas) the so-called plug-in solar devices are becoming popular. Yet in much of the United States they aren't even legal. They would power at least some cooling in homes, even if the grid were down.
Meanwhile, a cyclosporiasis outbreak related to produce is making headlines. An oped in USA Today by Dr. Tyler B. Evans notes that this outbreak is not due to a more virulent strain or anything particularly unusual. It is easily detectable in produce by ordinary food inspection. Unfortunately under the Chaos administration those inspections are fewer, due to lack of interest and personnel.
All of this--climate and health related alike-- is completely predictable, but instead of planning and paying attention, we will go through a cycle of suffering and political controversy before cooler heads actually effectuate remedies and safeguards. And in this climate (physical as well as cultural), cooler heads are at a premium.
Commentators wonder why the US electorate is so down on the political establishment, while political cynicism among officeholders has reached critical heights. Witness the lavish funding of ICE and the cynical excuses, while an entire federal police agency is utterly cynical and irresponsible, turning a blind eye to its thugs continuing to murder people (in Maine, which may have doomed Susan Collins chances no matter who the Democrats select, as well as Houston and Memphis), and a labor crisis is only beginning due to the demonization of immigrants. When will these lessons be learned?
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