Trip Switch

The great deadpan comedian Steven Wright used to joke: “In my house there’s this light switch that doesn’t do anything. Every so often, I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman in Germany. She said ‘cut it out.'” Humanity has been turning the dial on climate change for years. The changes have moved from gradual to rapid. But these changes will seem remarkably slow compared to the changes we’ll experience if one or more of Earth’s great systems doesn’t just change, but collapses. And like that Steven Wright joke, the switch that’s being flipped in one place will have impacts across the world. And it may be too late to cut it out. NYT (Gift Article): How Close Are the Planet’s Climate Tipping Points? This brings to mind another Wright quote: “Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.”

+ These days, you can hardly accuse Death Valley of misleading labeling. It’s hot. Almost inhabitable. That makes it a curiosity for visitors. It makes it a, well, Death Valley, for residents. “In July, the hottest and driest place in America outdid itself. Last month in Death Valley was the most sweltering ever recorded, with an average temperature of 108.5 degrees, a figure that includes overnight lows, which rarely dipped below 95. For a punishing nine consecutive days, the mercury hit 125 or higher. Six of Death Valley’s hottest summers have come during the past decade, and as the climate continues to warm worldwide, the region’s recent record-setting month could be a postcard from the future.” WaPo (Gift Article): Death Valley keeps getting hotter. How do residents survive?

+ Greece’s wildfires underscore global need to adapt for extreme heat.