This has so far been the hottest year since records have been kept, and it's also the driest, with 63% of our land mass experiencing drought conditions, hence the wildfires. And if you watch the news, it seems like the other 37% is flooding. Things are just completely upside down.
Want more proof the end is near? The official NOAA forecast for Dallas over the next five days calls for a 30-50% chance of rain every day, with the high temperatures in the upper 80's. Pinch me!
And now we have an invasion, caused by an abnormal amount of rain earlier in the year, of mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus. It's become so bad in Dallas County (I'm in Collin County, north of Dallas) that they have brought in a private air force to fog the area with an insecticide that will kill the nasty little buggers. Now if there are any more mysterious deaths the medical examiner will have to decide if it's from the WNV or from ingesting the insecticide that is supposed to kill the WNV. (Better living through chemistry!)
OK, now follow closely: Very unexpectedly, scientists have found that the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the US has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years. That's good, right?
Hmmmm....I'm wondering if maybe our atmosphere has undergone some sort of evolutionary change and has actually become used to CO2, so taking 20% of it out has actually pissed off the atmosphere, and now it's retaliating. Maybe all these droughts and fires and floods and mosquitoes are just the consequence of a cleaner atmosphere.
Maybe its time we park all those Prius's and plug-ins and pull the covers off our beloved big block Chevy's. Let's muck things up a little! Fresh air is SO overrated. ;)
S
