Virtually the only thing we can talk about out here on the west coast these days is the weather — wave after wave of atmospheric rivers or bomb cyclones or whatever you want to call them have been battering us all year.
Trees are down, hillsides have slipped, roads have buckled, sinkholes have sunk. From that perspective, the place is one big mess.
And yet the rains just keep coming. It arrives in bursts as if some giant shower head in the sky has an urge to empty itself periodically. That’s not really much of an inconvenience in itself but when the winds gust in at 50 mph, driving the rain sideways, everything becomes a bit more problematic.
The ground, we are repeatedly reminded, is saturated, so the shallow-rooted invasive trees, like eucalyptus, simply fall over at some point, whereas the native redwoods generally stand their ground.
Wildlife mostly takes cover, though a few bold coyotes seem intent on walking the streets, perhaps less trafficked by vehicles than normal due to the storms.
Most of my kids and grandkids don’t mind the rain at all; some of them downright love it. They dance bare-footed through the puddles and send “ships” down newly flowing “rivers” that course through our yards.
Here on the western coast, the overwhelming portion of the rains will make their way through drains and pipes and ditches to streams, rivers and inlets to the large tidal estuary known as San Francisco Bay. It drains water from approximately 40 percent of the state of California.
It’s tempting to attribute this winter’s weather to climate change, but who knows if that’s true. In any event, there’s no real debate about the issue out here; we all accept that climate change is real, and if this what it’s like, so be it.
The only real debate is over how to mitigate the impacts.
I like the rain. It washes a dirty planet clean. I just wish we had a few more open “mouths” — reservoirs or other forms of catchments — to collect the rainwater for future use. In case you hadn’t heard, we are in the midst of a drought.
LINKS:
Trump Org. fined $1.6 million after conviction for 17 felonies, including tax fraud (CNN)
McCarthy says he will look at expunging Trump impeachment (The Hill)
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says his party is "moving past" ex-President Donald Trump, who has announced his 2024 candidacy to return to the White House. “I can’t imagine him getting the nomination, frankly,” Ryan said. Ryan also described Trump as a "proven loser" who has cost the GOP many election losses over the years. [HuffPost]
G.O.P. Leaders Stand by Santos as New York Republicans Call on Him to Resign (NYT)
U.S. Rep. Santos says he won't resign, only leave if voted out in next election (Reuters)
Biden approval rating highest since October 2021 (The Hill)
More classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home, White House counsel says (CNBC)
Furor over documents creates unexpected political peril for Biden (WP)
Idaho Murders Suspect Felt ‘No Emotion’ and ‘Little Remorse’ as a Teen (NYT)
Coastal residents fear ‘hideous’ seawalls will block waterfront views (Guardian)
California storms erase extreme drought from nearly all of state (Yahoo)
The coming post-Feinstein cascade (Politico)
U.S. and Japan's new defense strategy sends stark warning to China (LA Times)
China set for historic demographic turn, accelerated by COVID traumas (Reuters)
‘Burying Us Alive’: Afghan Women Devastated by Suspension of Aid Under Taliban Law (NYT)
Afghan girls and women who once played a variety of sports said they have been intimidated by the Taliban with visits and phone calls warning them not to engage in their sports. (AP)
Afghanistan: Erdogan calls Taliban ban on women's education 'un-Islamic' (Middle East Eye)
Taliban Say They’re Working to Resolve ‘Temporary’ Education Ban on Afghan Women (VoA)
The Pro-Bolsonaro Riot Is Part of a Global Contagion (Politico)
Rifts in Russian military command seen amid Ukraine fighting (AP)
Soledar: Russia claims victory in battle for Ukraine salt mine town (BBC)
Western Tanks Appear Headed to Ukraine, Breaking Another Taboo (NYT)
Sudden Surge In Russian Navy Ships And Submarines In Black Sea (Naval News)
Why Germany’s Olaf Scholz is reluctant to send battle tanks to Ukraine (Financial Times)
Russian Army Is So Degraded It Won't Recover in 'Lifetime': Ukraine Adviser (Newsweek)
Tesla turns up heat on rivals with global price cuts. Tesla has slashed prices on its electric vehicles in the United States and Europe by as much as 20%, extending a strategy of aggressive discounting after missing Wall Street estimates for 2022 deliveries. (Reuters)
Scientists Have Reached a Key Milestone in Learning How to Reverse Aging (Time)
Fathers Have Been Older Than Mothers For 250,000 Years, Study Finds (ScienceAlert)
Ancient DNA Charts Native Americans’ Journeys to Asia Thousands of Years Ago (Smithsonian)
UK Meteorite That Fell To Earth Contains Building Blocks For Life (IFL Science)
Risk of Autism Associated With When and Where Forebears Lived (Neuroscience News)
Extinct giant tortoise was the 'mammoth' of Madagascar 1,000 years ago (LiveScience)
New imaging finds trigger for massive global warming 56 million years ago (Ars Technica)
Traveling Back in Time Is Possible Inside Universes That Spin (ScienceAlert)
The Pentagon office studying UFOs released a report this week. Nearly 200 recently reported sightings were “unremarkable,” but 170 were left uncharacterized, some of which “appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics.” (WP)
Kamala Harris Assures Public No One Has Given Her Single Classified Document (The Onion)
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