Yesterday, I conjured imaginary newsroom discussions between veteran journalists trying to cope with the turbulent 2020 news cycle. It's not like the news isn't always changing in the best of times -- that is why it's called the new(s). But this is the year the pace of change may have finally overwhelmed our ability to cope with it.
You know how you can tell that wishes don't come true? When for 46 years since you first heard of the hole in the ozone you have wished climate change would not prove to be real.
That's a lot of years coming and going for one wish.
But the wish didn't come true. Climate change is here.
As I soak myself in the daily news much as others enjoy warm baths (I presume), it occurs to me I could easily focus only on the stories and reports of climate change to the exclusion of everything else.
Today's list is mostly like that with a few political and entertainment items thrown in like nutmeg in your eggnog.
* The direct costs of the fires in California could exceed $20 billion this year, according to Tom Corringham, a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. That's not counting health care bills, costs of disrupted business, lost tax revenue, decreased property values and what Corringham described as “reverse tourism” — people fleeing smoke or not visiting certain areas because of it. (NYT)
* How Climate Migration Will Reshape America -- Millions will be displaced in the coming decades by fires, hurricanes, extreme heat and rising seas. Where will they go? (NYT)
* Thick, hazardous smoke from wildfires continues to smother West Coast -- While rain began to fall in Oregon, officials warned that air quality will be poor throughout much of the week. (WashPo)
* The smoke from the wildfires devastating California and other parts of the western United States have started reaching Northern Europe, scientists said Wednesday. (CNN)
* Tons of space debris is threatening to destroy the ISS and make low-Earth orbit 'too perilous for humans' (MailOnline) Just like on earth, we've made a mess of space. (DW)
* There’s only one name left on the National Hurricane Center’s alphabetical list of storm names and that, improbably, is Wilfred. After him, it'll be time, for names based on the Greek alphabet. And with a good two months left in the formal hurricane season, it’s likely that Tropical Storm Alpha will make an appearance sooner than later. (Miami Herald)
* A ‘Crossroads’ for Humanity: Earth’s Biodiversity Is Still Collapsing -- Countries have made insufficient progress on international goals designed to halt a catastrophic slide, a new report found. (NYT)
* Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson dismiss scientists’ determination that climate change is a key culprit in West Coast wildfires. (NYT) Of course, they both flunked science in 8th grade. (DW)
* An undecided voter confronted Trump over his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act during a town hall event on Tuesday, asking how the White House planned to protect those with preexisting conditions while actively fighting to undermine protections already in place. Ellesia Blaque, an assistant professor, pressed Trump during a tense moment, detailing her experience with a lifelong disease that costs her thousands of dollars annually in insurance co-payments. [HuffPost]
* Barr Told Prosecutors to Consider Sedition Charges for Protest Violence -- Attorney General William P. Barr was also said to have asked prosecutors to explore whether to bring charges against the mayor of Seattle for allowing a police-free protest zone. (NYT)
* Journalist Bob Woodward, whose new book "Rage" about Trump has sparked outcry in the last week, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that his interviews with Trump left him doubting whether the president can distinguish between what’s real and what is just in his own head. [HuffPost]
* Senator Kamala Harris met with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a longtime political ally, and other emergency service workers to tour damage left by the still-burning Creek Fire: “When we’re talking about the climate crisis, we are talking about a public health crisis.” (NYT)
* Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the roots music festival in Golden Gate Park, would have been celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Now it’s doing so online and supporting local artists through its pandemic relief fund. [KQED]
* The Big Ten will kick off its football season the weekend of Oct. 24 after the league's presidents and chancellors unanimously voted to resume competition, citing daily testing capabilities and a stronger confidence in the latest medical information, the conference announced Wednesday morning.Each team will attempt to play eight games in eight weeks, leaving no wiggle room during the coronavirus pandemic before the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 19. That date will also feature an extra cross-division game for each school, with seeded teams in each division squaring off. (ESPN)
* For the first time in 65 years, a California man can see clearly without eyeglasses. "Eisenhower was still in his first term as President the last time I could see this well," he says. (DW)
***
My interest and belief in peer learning received a boost this week, courtesy of my two oldest grandsons. Our 13-year-old is helping a classmate in science and the boy's mom says he is really making a difference.
Our 12-year-old is coaching his 9-year-old sister and her friends in soccer. No better way to learn the sport himself than to teach it!
For the first time in a long time, our skies cleared along the California northern coast Wednesday. The skies were blue and cloudless, reminding us what the pre-dystopian world looks like. Despite the ignorance of the climate deniers, do we still have a chance to avoid destruction by fire?
An early rainy season would help in this regard, but I've heard no predictions of that so far. But even if the smoke lifts for only a while, it's allowing people to resume gathering in safe numbers, masked, at distance under clear skies.
That in itself is a blessing.
***
You're not alone in this story's pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in, yeah, I'll try to hold it in
Tap into the water, try to bring my share
Try to bring more, more than I can handle
Bring it to the table, bring what I am able
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
I don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone
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