No. 37 of 108
July 20, 2025
This is the summer of catastrophic flooding, and scientists believe they know why. Heat waves, wildfires and flooding are driven by the same atmospheric conditions. Unusually large amounts of moisture will result in localized heavy downpours. Lands saturated by downpours will suddenly flood. Sudden floods in areas scarred by wildfires will create landslides. Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York City, Kansas City, and Chicago are among the places in the U.S. that have had unusual flooding conditions. In addition to unusually warm ocean temperatures which create large weather fronts, scientists are examining a phenomenon they call “weather resonance”. The weather itself interacts with itself and keeps a “front” hovering longer over a particular place. In other news, today is National Ice Cream Day.
When does unusual become usual? As humans, even the eccentrics among us crave norms. A rapidly changing world requires human understanding and behaviors to more rapidly learn, absorb, figure out, and act. In other words, accepting rapid change as being the norm. This is indeed a tall order. A renown Polynesian navigator (who, though already an ancestor, is not named here to protect his privacy), said he doesn’t think about climate change much because climate changes. What he meant is that it was his responsibility as a master navigator to be maka‘ala (as in have his eyes wide open) to all changes, whether slow or sudden, expected or unexpected, and to plan and act in accordance with that which is unfolding, rather than that which has always been. As for National Ice Cream Day, celebrate responsibly.