This year it will become even more difficult to ignore climate change and the impending climate catastrophe.
Yesterday, as I was out around town, I noticed a few people with their jackets partially off, or on their arms, or not wearing jackets at all. The outdoor temperate must have been 50° F, or close to it.
It’s not unheard of to have a warm day or two in January. But the rain today sounds like summer rain, or at least it did when I woke up. However, there is still some sense that this is January after all. Now the sound, as I was writing these words, suggests the rain is changing to freezing rain. From Channel 4 weather:
Alerts for ice and flooding dominate Detroit and all of Southeast Michigan through our weekend!
Saturday morning will be wet with rainy conditions through breakfast-time. Temps start in the 40s and 50s and will fall quickly later.
…
Closer to lunchtime, temps drop to the 30s. Rain and freezing rain will fall and ice will accumulate. ...
Saturday afternoon will be colder, wet, icy and windy. There's a chance of rain and freezing rain. Temp will be in the low and mid 30s.
Use extreme caution while driving and walking. Stay away from downed power lines and fences near them. Secure items in your basement.
Secure items in your basement that you don’t want floating around if you have the misfortune of getting flooded.
And if you’ve got one of those water heaters whose genius designers designed to have the flame close to the ground, well, now you have to worry about floodwater knocking out your water heater. You might have to boil water to be able to take a bath.
Anyone who’s lived in Detroit for more than a couple of decades ought to remember snow that could pile up to six feet. Now it seems that six inches of snow would be enough to close schools. It wouldn’t have been thirty years ago.
Sure there have been some very cold days these past few Januaries. But the overall trend is for weak winters with a few freakishly cold days. The evidence in front of us is hard to ignore. Though there are people with a talent for ignoring the evidence, like flat-earthers.
Take a committed flat-eather on a cruise of the Detroit River and get ready to hear a convoluted explanation of why ships disappear over the horizon hull first. Like maybe angels encase the ship in a bubble and sink it, then bring it back up when it’s out of view.
And maybe you could take a cruise today, I doubt the river (actually a strait) is frozen right now. Except that the cruises are out of season. The soonest you can charter a Diamond Jack’s cruise is May 1, according to the company’s website.
Though maybe they’ll consider expanding the cruise season, which this year is slated to end October 31. In ten years, Michigan will have the kind of weather Missouri had ten years ago.
And what kind of weather will Missouri have in ten years? Maybe weather like Louisiana. If we’re lucky. Weather like Mexico or Guatemala is also possible. That could mean climate refugees from Missouri going to Michigan or Canada.
Indeed Michigan might be one of the best places in the world to try and survive the upcoming climate catastrophe. A couple of days ago I met an Australian refugee. I don’t know the specifics of how he came to be relocated here, but I know from the news why he had to get out of Australia.
EDIT: I originally wrote about “6-foot snows,” and apparently that’s my remembering incorrectly. Commenters pointed out that there hasn’t been a 6-foot snowfall in recorded Detroit history. This should not distract from my point that there’s a lot less snow in Detroit now, and what does fall does not stick around for long.
Saturday, Jan 18, 2020 · 7:43:02 PM +00:00
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Alonso del Arte
One Saturday later and I wake up to see almost six inches of snow outside. But before any dumb Michigan Republicans can bring a snowball to the state capitol (Lansing’s just a tiny bit further up north than Detroit), there’s probably going to be some freezing rain.
Such a slushy mess would probably stick around for a week or so. This means kids won’t get a chance to enjoy the snow. Just another one of the simple pleasures that the pathologically wealthy don’t understand or care about.