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This is the New Normal [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-06-09
Around 1:30 PM this past Wednesday — practically high noon at a time of year when the sun is brightest and most closely overhead — the lighting level in my apartment diminished dramatically, to the point that I needed to turn on most of my lamps. It was shortly after this that I stepped out onto my terrace to take this picture.
What is visible? An eerie, suffocating orange haze enveloping everything in its midst.
What is not visible? The RFK bridge — which I can normally see even on the foggiest or rainiest days.
I could not stay out long, as the smell of smoke and the tingle of particulate matter in my throat made it clear that it was not healthy for me to be out here.
What’s Going On?
Wildfires, raging across parts of Canada and only recently beginning to subside, have blanketed a good portion of the U.S. — particularly the East — with smoke. As someone who lived in Southern California for many years, I am no stranger to forest fires and the pollution they cause. But only quite recently have climatic changes affected the (historically) wetter East Coast to the point that this is becoming “a thing” here as well.
Why Now?
The answer, of course, is out-of-control climate change fueled by (pun intended) Big Oil and the fossil-fuel-industrial complex — an industry that for the longest time has denied that anthropocentric climate change is a real thing. We can thank them — as well as the lack of zeal on the part of the POTUS and Congress to forcefully advocate for a green energy program and the mitigation and eventual elimination of fossil fuels.
And yes, I am implicating Biden as well as TFG in this missive. Our current president, who campaigned on the end of Arctic oil drilling, broke his promise to his base by recently approving same. Given that drilling in the Arctic circle has not yet commenced, he is not directly responsible for this week’s conundrum, it nonetheless sets the stage for future activity that will further cement what we are experiencing as the new normal.
Is This Really the New Normal?
Many scientists indeed feel that it probably is.
Don’t be lulled into thinking that what happened this week was a freak occurrence — any moreso than the COVID pandemic was a one-time event. As with the relationship between climate change and pandemics, we are likely to see more events like this in the foreseeable future, and in places that typically haven’t been subject to extreme droughts.
Furthermore, such a phenomenon is self-perpetuating. The carbon-rich byproducts released into the atmosphere by wildfires hasten global warming…..which in turn provides more fertile ground for more forest fires. As well, the loss of lush forestry means fewer carbon sinks and fewer sources of oxygen.
Smog. Fires. Pandemics. All brought to you by the fossil fuel industry and their bought-and-paid-for enablers in government.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/9/2174432/-This-is-the-New-Normal
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