The Face of Climate Change

You've heard the statistics, the warnings, but what does it mean to us? Really. People can talk all they want, but it seems a distant threat, not a clear and present danger. Or so people may think.

This winter for the first time I had my roof shoveled off. Oh sure, we've always used the snow rake to try to clear some off the edges, even though we've never had problems with ice dams. But this year seemed different. The snow was deep, very deep, all the way to the edges of my roof. So during one snow storm when someone drove by offering to shovel off my roof I took him up on his offer. You see, we were on track for another storm the next weekend, with the heavy wet stuff. I was actually concerned about the weight on the roof, even though everyone says that trusses can hold a lot of weight. The result was huge piles of snow, not just along my driveway from snow blowing, but also around my house. It almost looked like an igloo. This was a winter that was unusual in the current scheme of things, not just for precipitation, but for temperatures. I don't ever remember another winter where we had snow every other day for a long stretch, which is what we were seeing.

So what happens when all of that snow melts, which it has been doing? The ground is still frozen so it runs into the rivers. Yes, we have always been at risk of spring flooding. But obviously the more snow we have the more runoff. It's not just Minnesota that is at risk.

When the talk revolves around the details of climate change it's hard sometimes to picture what it will look like.

I spoke to someone this weekend who mentioned the large amount of flooding happening in Nebraska.

So I have today some pictures...

predictions...

and what some climate scientists have been thinking about their region of the world and their future...

In that last video the temperature in her home is referenced as 39C.  This translates to 102F.

It's not just that sea levels will rise or that global temperature is rising, it is what that will result in that is of major concern for our future life on this planet.  The pictures out of Nebraska should be a warning. 

A Choice

There was murder done in New Zealand. A man took a gun and shot and killed, as of this writing, 49 people. They were worshipers at two mosques, people who were simply going about their rituals of worship. He did not know these people, only that they were different from him. It was an act of hate and fear, and ultimately, cowardice. And it was wrong.

There are those who believe that white nationalism is of no threat. That's its beliefs are of no danger. But it is ultimately a belief system based on hate. It twists facts to lure in those who do not look too closely at the veracity of those facts. Its hate is no different than that espoused by those who are called Islamic fundamentalists.

Today I have another book recommendation for you. The book is “Rising Out of Hatred” by Eli Saslow. It tells the story of Derek Black, son of the former Klan leader and founder of the website Stormfront, Don Black. Derek was raised in a white nationalist household and home schooled from the fourth grade on, until he went to New College of Florida. Among other things he believed in overturning the Fourteenth Amendment which granted the right to birthright citizenship and reinstating a European-only immigration system. His method? Somehow pack the Supreme Court with justices who would support this. The book chronicles his journey of awakening to a world that shook the beliefs he was raised on. When Mr. Saslow first approached him he really wasn't interested in speaking out, he just wanted to put his past behind him. But he changed his mind after he realized that some of the very things he had argued for during his time as a white nationalist, which he now disagreed with, were becoming more mainstream.  He felt a responsibility.

He has chosen to speak out.

800 Pound Gorilla

You know, the one sitting in the corner of the room? That 800 lb gorilla. The one who is waiting for just the right, or wrong, moment to fall? In this case it's China. A couple weeks ago, before I got sidetracked with snow issues, I decided to look again at China's economy, as we are so closely linked.   Coincidentally a friend was also doing the same thing.  And, of course, with this trade war we have going on it seemed a good time to do so. When thinking of China people tend to immediately think of their manufacturing capability and how it affects us. But they have an Achilles heel. Something that does not bode well for their future prosperity. Something that is causing a huge property bubble that is slowly deflating.

First lets look at the surface:

Now lets look at the cause, or their Achilles heel:

So you have many people investing in real estate, so much of which is sitting empty. Now lets look at some of that investment real estate. Hat tip to a friend for this video.

And another tour:

Is the bubble bursting? There are those that think so. Again a hat tip to a friend for this link.

The pitiful state of the Chinese economy

So what will be the fallout if China tanks? Are we ready?