Either With Eyes Open, or Not

From the pages of the National Post (founded by Conrad Black - remember him?):

Andrew Coyne: After his Charlottesville response, no excuses possible for TrumpThe case against Trump is so voluminous that by this time argument is pointless. You either have the judgment to see him for what he is, or you do not

When normally right-of-center publications go this far, it's time to remind Houston that we have a problem. 

Suffering Under Obama

Came across this article that provides some answers to those who complain how terrible times were under Obama.

Eight Years of Suffering Under Barack Obama

I wonder when we'll start seeing this one, but with a newer face....

Climate Change - The News Just Keeps Coming

There's really not much more to say about climate change that hasn't been said already, but here are links to more articles that highlight the unusual nature of 2016 and more reinforcement about what's happening.

The climate change deniers will say that scientists are exaggerating.  In fact, says this article, scientists are far too frightened for their jobs to talk about what they really know.  The article goes on to highlight moves China is making to secure land for crop production, around the globe.  Why?  Because China believes there will be serious food security issues related to climate change.

The Pacific Northwest and Europe have been sweltering under unseasonably hot, dry weather.  The Weather Underground has an interesting article about conditions in those places.  Interestingly, temperatures would have been even higher had it not been for all the smoke coming from those forest fires.

Then there is this article highlighting a report compiled by 13 US Agencies.  It starts out by noting that the report is awaiting approval....

"The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1,500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration."

 Climate Central also weighs in on how hot this summer has been.  The article has a web interactive feature, but it only works for locations in the USA.

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, discussed how unusual 2016 was and how repeated experiments and observations lead to the conclusion that this rapid pace of climate change is caused by humans.

Natural gas has been touted as one solution to our climate change woes, at least as a great transition fuel.  The BC Government was trying desperately to get an LNG project going until the company involved pulled the plug in mid-2017, citing poor prices and poor prospects.  However, this article says that Natural Gas will NOT save us from the perils of climate change.

Meanwhile, in BC, the fires keep burning.  It's well past time to connect the dots.

BC Fire Season 2017 - August 15

A fellow I know in town posted this earlier on Monday:

RAIN AT LAST

This is the first day in Kaslo that we have had rain since July 10th and the first day since July 22nd that the temperature will not exceed 30 degrees.
The average high in July was 33.5 and that for August so far 33.9, with a mean daily temperature of 23.3 in July and 24.3 so far in August.

We are also hoping that the smoke, that has not allowed us to see across Kootenay Lake for the last few days, will dissipate, but I see there are eleven new fires along the west side of Kootenay Lake including an evacuation alert at Kokanee Creek along Highway 31 to Nelson.

Yes, for all of Monday, the temperature didn't go above +18C.  That's lower than the temperature has been most nights for the past couple of weeks.

We have had some showers, but nothing substantial.  Cloud and some fog and enough precipitation to dampen down the dust and cool things down a bit.

Overnight on Monday, it dropped to +12C.  That's almost like fall temperatures, and it was cool in the morning, allowing me to go work in the woods for awhile and not feel like I was dying.

The smoke, though, is still here.  We still can't really see across the Lake, which is only a mile away.

Sunday, we decided we needed to get away, so we drove over to the Slocan Valley and camped at Slocan City.  It was almost cold that night.  Biked for a couple of hours on the Slocan Valley Rail Trail.  No smoke, cool and fresh after the rain Sunday night.  It was a nice break.

America in the News....Again

Y'all saw the news, probably heard it too.  So I won't bother delving into it again, not even just for the fun of it.  So, I'll just post this, which I would find quite amusing if it wasn't so troubling:

 As another commentator put it:

One is an extremist group that preaches violence, might is right, racism and freedom of speech (only for themselves) but would rather the blame for their actions go to anyone else but themselves (YOU'RE the racist!).

And the other is ISIS.

BC Fire Season 2017 - August 12

With the fires that are raging in some parts of British Columbia this summer, our little valley has been relatively quiet, so far.

There are over 140 fires burning across the province, but only a small number here in the West Kootenays.  The closest ones to us include the Harrop fire, which is south of Kootenay Lake's West Arm and one called, interestingly enough, the McCormick Creek fire, south of Salmo.

There is significant smoke in the air, though, and most days we can't see much of the other side of Kootenay Lake, about a mile distant.  I can't imagine how bad the air quality must be in parts of the province where the fires are larger and much closer.  This was the view looking west from our house late this afternoon.  Clouds are starting to appear, and they say there is a chance of cooler weather and some showers.

Air quality is noticeably bad and with the heat, which has been at or over +30C every day for a few weeks now, and not cooling down much below +20C at night, there is little incentive to work outside.  I usually spend the afternoons in the basement, working on other projects.

Some time ago, we put together an emergency plan of sorts and have some bags and boxes packed and stacked by the door.  We realize that if something happens, it could happen quickly, and we need to be ready.

Over the past couple of days, we had our twin grandsons visiting.  Being Kootenay Kids, they have heard about the possibility of evacuation, they've seen the smoke and they understand something of what that means.  One of the boys told us that if we needed to evacuate we had to bring the LEGO boxes with us.  He even carried them upstairs himself and put them with the other bags.  So three boxes of LEGO are stacked by the door, just in case.

There are, of course, a number of other areas around the globe where fires are raging.  This article has a number of good images and maps showing how extensive the fire situation is.

Even the Pacific Northwest has been covered with smoke.

So we wait.  And we watch.  And we try to prepare for what might come.

A Taxing Issue

The Fraser Institute is again trying to convince Canadians that we are being crushed under a tax burden greater than anywhere in the world.

According to the Broadbent Institute, though, we're not.  In fact, we're at the low end of global norms.  The article challenges the Fraser Institute's "tax freedom day", pegging the average tax load in the mid-20% range, far lower than the Fraser Institute's number of 40%.

Read the article to see the reasoning and the numbers behind this difference.

Of course, there is an agenda here.  If the Fraser Institute can convince enough Canadians that we're being crushed by taxes, the next step would be to convince us that our system of single-payer, universal healthcare is to blame.  Move to an American-style system, blindly ignoring the fact that the American system costs more than twice as much for far poorer results.

Remind me again why the Fraser Institute is still allowed to pursue a partisan agenda on the taxpayer's dollar through its charitable status?

Turning Up the Heat

It's been a hot summer in British Columbia's south this year.  Stories about this are very hard to ignore.

It's BC's second-worst wildfire season.  From earth-orbiting satellites, this is what it looks like out here:

It's been record-breaking hot in Europe too, with health warnings being issued in several locations.

Of course, this is exactly what scientists predicted several decades ago.  Now it's here.  And it's going to get worse.  If people thought refugees fleeing war were a serious problem, consider how it will look as 20% of the world population starts to flee parts of the world that will become uninhabitable over the coming decades.  Fleeing blistering temperatures and crop failures.

The wildfires in BC aren't only a symptom.  They are adding to the problem, by releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Last year, when a severe wildfire raged through Alberta's Fort McMurray, it wasn't considered proper to wonder if our fossil fuel use was linked to a changing climate which was causing such extreme fire events.

Of course, we know that it is.  We've been told for years.  A very small amount of research should be enough to make most sensible people think soberly about what needs to be done.  

Some will argue that a) it's a hoax and no action is necessary, or b) it will cost too much and will wreck the economy.  What such positions conveniently ignore is that we are paying already for our inaction, and it will only get worse.  Much worse.

We could start to connect the dots and start serious action now.  Or we could kick the can down the road a bit further.  At least now we have some idea what the future will look like.