07-10-2017, 06:03 PM
Some of the catastrophes are more subtle -- like reduced life expectancy. To be sure, sugar-cane workers in the field need to drink more water. Not sodas, and not even coffee, and certainly not alcoholic beverages. Water.
As I write this I look at the grass outside in southern Michigan. Ordinarily the lawn is unmistakably green. But this year, early in July, it is parched. About half the lawn is yellow. The grass isn't growing so well this year. But this is nothing new. I saw this also in 2012, another "Year Without a Winter".
The ground water is lower because we had no blizzards, light snow when we had it, and long thaws. We had as much precipitation during the winter, but it was rain. The rain didn't sink in, and there was rarely snow cover to protect the ground moisture from evaporation.
But so what about the lawn? The corn crop isn't growing as well as usual. We will not have a particularly good corn crop, and if you like corn flakes -- you will pay more for them.
It would not take much for a part of America just north of the "You need air conditioning belt" to have lots of heat strokes.
As I write this I look at the grass outside in southern Michigan. Ordinarily the lawn is unmistakably green. But this year, early in July, it is parched. About half the lawn is yellow. The grass isn't growing so well this year. But this is nothing new. I saw this also in 2012, another "Year Without a Winter".
The ground water is lower because we had no blizzards, light snow when we had it, and long thaws. We had as much precipitation during the winter, but it was rain. The rain didn't sink in, and there was rarely snow cover to protect the ground moisture from evaporation.
But so what about the lawn? The corn crop isn't growing as well as usual. We will not have a particularly good corn crop, and if you like corn flakes -- you will pay more for them.
It would not take much for a part of America just north of the "You need air conditioning belt" to have lots of heat strokes.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.