Weather Bane
By TIMOTHY EGAN
NYT
A few days ago, a carbon-emitting, climate-controlled 737 whisked me from one Washington to another, leaving the naturally air-conditioned paradise of a summer in Seattle for a plunge into Hades on the Potomac.
During a stroll around the capital, I sweated through two shirts, drained a liter of water, asked a guy who was hosing his dog to give me a spray. The humidity stung, like fevered hornets on the skin. As a lifelong West Coast weather wimp, I kept thinking: how does anyone live here in summer?
Around Capitol Hill, I could not find what I was looking for: agitprop from the number one global warming denier, Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma. In February, remember, during a record snowstorm, Inhofe’s family constructed a primitive igloo.
“Honk if you love global warming,” was one of the signs placed in front of their snow cave. “Al Gore’s new home,” was another.
The snowy winter day was followed, all too quickly, by the hottest spring in Washington history. And then, early summer brought a spate of grim heat records around the globe. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, much of Africa, Russia — all posted their hottest temperatures of all time, accompanied by forest fires, water shortages and crop failures.
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded worldwide, and 2010 is on course to be the warmest year since record-keeping began, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(More here.)
NYT
A few days ago, a carbon-emitting, climate-controlled 737 whisked me from one Washington to another, leaving the naturally air-conditioned paradise of a summer in Seattle for a plunge into Hades on the Potomac.
During a stroll around the capital, I sweated through two shirts, drained a liter of water, asked a guy who was hosing his dog to give me a spray. The humidity stung, like fevered hornets on the skin. As a lifelong West Coast weather wimp, I kept thinking: how does anyone live here in summer?
Around Capitol Hill, I could not find what I was looking for: agitprop from the number one global warming denier, Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma. In February, remember, during a record snowstorm, Inhofe’s family constructed a primitive igloo.
“Honk if you love global warming,” was one of the signs placed in front of their snow cave. “Al Gore’s new home,” was another.
The snowy winter day was followed, all too quickly, by the hottest spring in Washington history. And then, early summer brought a spate of grim heat records around the globe. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, much of Africa, Russia — all posted their hottest temperatures of all time, accompanied by forest fires, water shortages and crop failures.
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded worldwide, and 2010 is on course to be the warmest year since record-keeping began, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(More here.)
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