I wish Jeff hadn’t moved this thread out of the more heavily trafficked Off Topic forum. More people need to see this temperature chart. It’s disheartening and frustrating to see so many posts denying or minimizing the changes. |
I grew we up in DC without a/c. It was really hot, snd showering in humid days was just awful. It’s not that different. School would be cancelled if it was over 90 by 9 am. No a/c in school either. Just one box fan per class. |
I also grew up in West Texas. As my parents are having major health problems, I’ll probably be moving back soon. The water situation scares me. We’ve been depleting the aquifers for decades and population continues to grow in a location that doesn’t have enough water to maintain it (even without global warning). While I expect water shortages in West Texas, I didn’t expect them in Maryland. I was shocked, yesterday, to read that Montgomery County is under a drought watch. https://news.maryland.gov/mde/2023/07/10/maryland-department-of-the-environment-encourages-water-conservation-with-drought-watch-for-portions-of-the-state/ Frankly, I think we’re past the point of no-return and the problems that have been small enough to overlook will start to compound each other and have a cascading effect. I think relatively soon, climate change will be impossible to deny because we’ll be surrounded by disaster (fires, floods, famine, disease, water shortages, etc.). |
I live in New England. It’s the nights not cooling off that’s the bigger issue. Oh and it’s not normal for Vermont to get monsoon level rains either.
September is now a hot month. In the NYT, there was a good article about a new paint (engineered at Purdue) that can reflect sunlight back and cool buildings. At least that is some good news. We’ve got to do something effective and it’s not going to be quitting fossil fuels. Interesting though, how the Texas grid is still functioning with the help of solar. |
It's too late to do anything. Humans are too spoiled and you can't expect enough change from behavior. This chart isn't enough to stop people from buying what they want, or to get politicians to do anything, or the industry to be "more green". I have tried very hard to consume less, but then you go out to dinner and they only serve plastic, over serve the plastic, and it all ends up in the trash. What is the point of even trying? I am too small to do anything. The DMV is too small. It's too late, just accept it. |
We are moving to New England for this very reason (among others). It's hotter there of course, but not as hot as it is here. |
Yeah huffing in all that oil heat in the winter will be excellent for your health and the environment too. |
We are burning, the earth is burning. |
Use their generous incentives to put in minisplits. |
Yes, we will do that. No oil heat planned. |
There has been only small average temp increases. You are confusing weather with climate change. The hot weather is not evidence of climate change. |
Weather (pun intended) you think it is man-caused or natural cycles, I don't think there is any debate that we have to face the fact that it is going to hurt millions of people. I also do not get the resistance to a more climate-friendly lifestyle. The knee-jerk reactions don't really make sense and IMO are driven by decades of O&G energy-industry PR that people don't even understand. (Texan here.) |
Good thing none of you were alive during the 1930s heat wave! |
OP here.
My point is not whether climate change exists. My question is what if anything are we doing to manage the effects that I believe within 5 years (certainly 5-10) we will see. Vegas today suggested not to be outdoors between 9a-6p due to heat. So my question is, why do people still debate and argue about climate change instead of figuring solutions to how we are going to adapt? Or am I wrong and there is a lot of new tech on the horizon to help us in this context? PP mentioned about paint repelling heat - that sounds really neat. What I'm suggesting is why aren't more scientists/people engaged in figuring out the how are we going to deal with this rather than why is it happening? Cause I believe we are already at the point of no return and I don't know if climate change exists because of global warming caused by humans or not but I do know and am confident that the summers will continue to be hotter and longer moving forward. So what are we going to do about it?? Is moving to norther latitudes best? I mean Canada is burning so you know... ![]() |