true:
may 2019 proved rainier than any other month in kansas history, but lawrence experienced more rain in 1915; this may was only #5! plus which – plus which: only 2 record hi’s for june have happened in the 21st c. – so maybe things look better than we thot hurrah topeka: avg hi june: 84.7f month to date avg: 84.6 avg lo june: 63.7 month to date avg: 62.1 lawrence: normal rainfall month to date: 3.77 actual rainfall month to date: 2.25 (hmm) weather ≠ climate; for that, you’ll need 20 yrs worth of this “poem”; but this week – this week – it has to be right in front of our face i won’t write about what’s happening to the himalayan glacier, as that’s actic-y; nor what will happen to the billion people who depend on it for water, as that’s a mere prediction; i’m trying to stay focused on the present. so: drought now: chennai, city of 4.6 M: “floor of the chembarambakkam reservoir is cracked open, dry and sun-baked”; city’s three other reservoirs “nearly all dry” water trucked in: “every day, hundreds of thousands of residents have no choice but to stand in line for hours in soaring summer temperatures, filling cans and plastic containers” w/only 30 liters/day, while the rich have tankers bring it to their door; 9 states hit record temps; (again, i’m not going to repeat predictions – or gossip) & heat this week: s. yemen (7 dead); video of polar bear, sluggishly foraging on a city dump will play after ad in 12 seconds; 9k evac’d so far in alberta: “The wildfire is advancing quickly” & “The two largest of the wildfires – we’re expecting that it would be unlikely for them to be labelled extinguished before next year”; more record highs in hawai’i; & parts of central and southern africa, s.e. asia, s. brazil, w. pacific, barents sea, n.w. canada, n.e. alaska: warmest 1st 5 mo. of year on record; top 5 warmest months of may worldwide happened in past 5 yrs famine this week: s. korea sends n. korea 50k m. tons of rice – 10 M need immediate help due to drought floods this week: s. uruguay: 7,400 people forced to leave their homes; some refuse: fear of looting; midwest u.s.: fear of west nile; “so far this year’s heavy rains are a perfect illustration of what scientific models of climate change predict for the region” – “too much too early and not enough late”; (& what is to be done, if when tulsa overhauls its storm drainage – political blood & huge investments – it still gets swamped . . .) “monsoon” rains deal body-blow to British businesses; & in s. africa, 70 dead from heavy rains & port of durban covered in plastic, wood, and other flotsam therefrom; after tennis-ball-sized hail, wichita suffers flooding, road closures – s. central kansas’ wettest year ever, so far; algal dead zone in gulf grows and grows: runoff from midwest fertilizer, flooded sewage systems: "i think there's less focus on it in chicago because the (sewage) water is going the other way. we don't interact with the water that we're shooting toward the gulf of mexico. if we're not bathing in it, we're not going to the beach in it, and we're certainly not drinking it, there's less of an awareness." (there’s no sea-level rise here) no cyclones/hurricanes (yay!) – tho 72 M tons of rotting timber remain from michael (remember him?); only 13% cleared so far; florida timber industry busted (the stuff you just don’t think of): “with the amount of bugs that are coming to feast on all of the dead decaying material here, there is a really good chance that you'll lose the green trees that are still standing as well” in front of your face q. to james lovelock, mr. gaia hypothesis: what is to be done about climate change? a.: enjoy the next 20 yrs. that is, don’t worry, be happy for tomorrow we die. so why can’t i? ----------------------- * As always, sources available upon request. And comments, objections, etc., encouraged.
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June 2021
Kristin Prevallet Author/Editor
I'm a writer & teacher in Lawrence, Kansas who actually believes the scientists. I wrote a book of poems called Of Some Sky that seems to have something to do with all this. |