Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Rhiannon12866

(202,970 posts)
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 01:11 PM Dec 2018

The day I tasted climate change

Every one of us will have a moment when global warming gets personal.

In early November, gale-force winds whipped a brush fire into an inferno that nearly consumed the town of Paradise, California, and killed at least 86 people.

By the second morning, I could smell the fire from one foot outside my door in Berkeley, some 130 miles from the flames. Within a week, my eyes and throat stung even when I was indoors.

Air quality maps warned that the soot-filled air blanketing the Bay Area had reached “very unhealthy” levels. For days, nearly everyone wore masks as they walked their dogs, rode the train, and carried out errands. Most of those thin-paper respirators were of dubious value. Stores quickly ran out of the good ones—the “N-95s” that block 95% of fine particles—and sold out of air purifiers, too.

People traded tips about where they could be found, and rushed to stores rumored to have a new supply. Others packed up and drove hours away in search of a safe place to wait it out. By the time my masks arrived by mail, I was in Ohio, having decided to move up my Thanksgiving travel to escape the smoke.

Climate change doesn’t ignite wildfires, but it’s intensifying the hot, dry summer conditions that have helped fuel some of California’s deadliest and most destructive fires in recent years.

I’ve long understood that the dangers of global warming are real and rising. I’ve seen its power firsthand in the form of receding glaciers, dried lake beds, and Sierra tree stands taken down by bark beetles.

This is the first time, though, that I smelled and tasted it in my home.


Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612658/the-day-i-tasted-climate-change/



A firefighter searches for human remains in a trailer park destroyed in the Camp Fire last month.
JOHN LOCHER | AP

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The day I tasted climate change (Original Post) Rhiannon12866 Dec 2018 OP
It is real. It is here. And it ain't going away. Global warming democratisphere Dec 2018 #1
Sad to read... but thanks for sharing. InAbLuEsTaTe Dec 2018 #2
Meanwhile on the East Coast, they endure record amounts of snow and rainfall and.. CousinIT Dec 2018 #3
And we're not getting much snow 2naSalit Dec 2018 #4
Christmas in North Myrtle Beach, SC where last week mountain grammy Dec 2018 #5
In NC they're 40 inches above normal rainfall for past 5 years. CousinIT Dec 2018 #6

democratisphere

(17,235 posts)
1. It is real. It is here. And it ain't going away. Global warming
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 01:20 PM
Dec 2018

and climate change is the greatest threat to the continuation of this planet as we know it. We need leaders that believe in reality, not alternative reality! I feel the pain and reality of the Paradise, CA region.

CousinIT

(9,151 posts)
3. Meanwhile on the East Coast, they endure record amounts of snow and rainfall and..
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 03:08 PM
Dec 2018

....a record number of Cat 5 (+) hurricanes.

Dry as a bone in the West. Almost constant flooding and HellStorms in the East.

mountain grammy

(26,568 posts)
5. Christmas in North Myrtle Beach, SC where last week
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 04:15 PM
Dec 2018

they hit 100 inches of rainfall for the year and another soaker expected this weekend. Unprecidented rainfall. 87 inches was the previous record.

Drowning in climate change.

CousinIT

(9,151 posts)
6. In NC they're 40 inches above normal rainfall for past 5 years.
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 06:27 PM
Dec 2018

Over a foot of snow before XMas, then 3 days of straight rain, then dry 3 days then 3-4 more days of straight rain, then dry a few days and then this weekend, the crap that's soaking SC will be soaking NC for FOUR SOLID DAYS.

It's damn RIDICULOUS.

If humans were at all wise, they'd collect all this damn precip in the East somewhere - a reservoir or a bunch of them and pipe that crap to the West coast where it's needed!

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»The day I tasted climate ...