Future generations will ask what we were doing while the planet overheated, and we’ll be forced to admit that we were all distracted by stories of imploded submersibles and ships trapped in canals. But the planet won’t wait for us to pay attention, we’ll simply realize that certain areas are too dangerous to support human life. This week has provided a wake-up call for those skeptical of how fed up Earth is with our antics.
Parts of the American South, particularly Texas, are in the midst of a record-breaking brutal, longer-than-expected heat wave that shows no sign of letting up. Earlier this week, six all-time heat records were broken or tied in Texas, and summer is just getting started. Many cities in Texas and the surrounding states have been cooking under temperatures hovering between 90 and 110 degrees all week. Yesterday, heat alerts were in effect for 18 million people across much of Texas, parts of New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is an excellent example of the challenges some areas are facing, as they're wrecked by extreme weather. First, heavy storms struck over the weekend, damaging hundreds of homes and knocking electricity out for hundreds of thousands of people. Then on Monday, the Tulsa area experienced its first medical heat alert of the year, while more than 100,000 people remained without power. Climate change is increasing the odds of states like Texas seeing longer, more frequent and more intense heat waves. And just in time for the start of hurricane season, how convenient.
Side Items
Submersible Implosion: Spoiler alert! Turns out they were dead all along. Any lingering sliver of hope for finding the five passengers alive was wiped away early yesterday, when the submersible’s 96-hour supply of oxygen was expected to run out. But the coast guard also announced that debris had been found about 1,600 feet from the wreckage of the Titanic in the remote North Atlantic. Meanwhile, this tragedy is an excellent illustration that if we so desired, governments could absolutely mobilize resources to prevent migrants from drowning at sea. The problem is that governments could not care less
Contaminated Water: Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of hundreds of public drinking water systems across America with polyfluorinated substances. These chemicals, known colloquially as PFAS, are used in firefighting foam and consumer products like non-stick cookware. Two phrases you never really want to hear in conjunction with one another; “drinking water” and “forever chemicals”. PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally in the environment, and they’ve been linked to a wide variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and cancers. It’s nice to know that as the world falls apart, we’ll all be drinking toxic water
Scumbag Grudge Match: Two of the richest men in the world want to organize a cage fight, and I for one think we should allow it. Get Zuckerburger and Muskrat in a cage and then push that cage into the deepest depths of the ocean. Let the elephant seals battle for the scraps of their carcasses the way these billionaires force humans to battle for the scraps of their wealth