When I was a kid back in the 1950\u2019s, most homes in Cincinnati weren\u2019t air conditioned. We were lucky; our house in Clifton (just north of the University) had a giant attic fan that would pull air throughout the house. In the summer we always had that fan going, the windows open, and other smaller fans as well. But Cincinnati is a \u201criver city\u201d. Like sister cities Louisville and St. Louis, the river valley holds the heat and humidity. Eighty degrees feels oppressive because of the high humidity. And the \u201cdog days\u201d of ninety-plus degrees August were miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was always the \u201cfallback\u201d position \u2013 the Esquire Theater.\u00a0\u00a0A few blocks away in the Clifton business district on Ludlow Avenue, there was the old movie theater with that marvel of modern living, air conditioning.\u00a0\u00a0When the August heat got too much to bear, Mom would walk us up Clifton Avenue to Ludlow and we would go watch the matinee at the theater.\u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t say I really remember the movies, though there were always cartoon features at the beginning or end.\u00a0\u00a0It was the age of Disney \u2013 Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and Donald.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And on those really hot days the movie was followed by Graeter\u2019s ice cream, only a couple of doors down the way. For me \u2013 a chocolate mint soda (made from mint ice cream with chocolate syrup, not chocolate with mint syrup) would fully cool me down. Then it was the hike back up Clifton to home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure that\u2019s the old, \u201cIn my day we walked to school in three feet of snow, uphill, both ways\u201d kind of story. But it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today there\u2019s no need for the Esquire to Graeter\u2019s expedition just to get cooled down. I\u2019m sure you can still find a house in Cincinnati, or here in Pataskala, without air conditioning \u2013 but there are very few. Regardless of the outside air temperature (it\u2019s already 83\u00b0 at 10am today) it\u2019s a cool 65\u00b0 here in the house. Sure we like it cool \u2013 but the dogs are the thing. They, and especially our eldest dog Buddy, don\u2019t tolerate heat. Even at 65\u00b0 we are still chasing Buddy out of the bathtub \u2013 the coolest place he can find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are other parts of the nation where air conditioning is still considered a luxury. More than twenty years ago, I took a group of track athletes to the Northwest for a series of meets. We ran the National meet in Seattle during a critical heatwave. The temperature was pushing 90\u00b0, and Seattle was miserable. The track officials debated changing the schedule to avoid the heat, running earlier and later. The TV and radio were full of messages to take care in the heat, drink plenty of fluids, or get out in the water all around the Seattle area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To us \u201cmid-westerners\u201d 90\u00b0 wasn\u2019t a big deal. It was a lot less humid than the same temperature we\u2019d been practicing in back home. But, with many homes unairconditioned and folks unaccustomed, it was a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what the Hell are they doing about 110\u00b0? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seattle, Portland, all of the \u201ccool Northwest\u201d places are caught in a massive heatwave.\u00a0\u00a0If you need to gain a grasp of global warming, here you go.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not just that it\u2019s hotter than it\u2019s ever been before (it is).\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s that weather anomalies, from storms to droughts, heatwaves to blizzards, are becoming so much more common.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cworld\u201d doesn\u2019t change overnight \u2013 but the world is changing, and the evidence is right before our eyes.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s something to consider.\u00a0\u00a0Lytton, British Columbia, Canada\u00a0\u00a0is located north of the entire continental United States.\u00a0\u00a0Monday, they set a national heat record \u2013 hottest ever in the recorded history of Canada.\u00a0\u00a0It hit 47.9\u00b0 in Lytton on Monday.\u00a0\u00a0Oh \u2013 wait \u2013 that\u2019s Celsius.\u00a0\u00a047.9\u00b0 Celsius is 118\u00b0 Fahrenheit \u2013 in Canada.\u00a0\u00a0You can cook that Canadian bacon right there on the sidewalk \u2013 fast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure it topped 100\u00b0 in Lytton once before \u2013 in 1941. And those who deny global warming will cling to that sweaty fact \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s just a freak heatwave, like back in \u201941\u201d. But if you are keeping track of what\u2019s happening in the world, those \u201cfreaks\u201d are getting more and more consistent. In fact, \u201cfreak weather\u201d is now the norm. Ask the drought plagued folks of California, or the constantly flooded folks in Houston, Texas. And while we\u2019re on Texas, what about the freeze that \u201cbroke\u201d the Texas energy grid last winter. Just another \u201cfreak\u201d, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our political divided nation, it\u2019s always difficult to get something done. We couldn\u2019t even agree on how to combat a world pandemic. But this looming crisis in our world is growing critical. The time to \u201cdodge\u201d permanent climate change is growing short. And, like a lot of other \u201cfacts\u201d today, the evidence is right before our eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We just have to believe them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"