LibertyBell

there's that Saharan dust that has been causing me horrible allergy problems the last few days

Yes, and it's enough to talk on the political forum, no need to replicate the same stuff here.

existential threats top the list. also, the economy isn't a monolith, there is "long term" vs "short term"- and I generally go for long term sustainability over anything short term. Thats why I advocate for green energy, universal healthcare, a better diet (no processed or sugary foods, etc.)

I love them in my fruit salad, along with pears, peaches and pineapples (as well as bananas and tangerines lol.) Excellent relief from the heat served ice cold!

but without good healthcare and a better environment the rest doesn't really matter. I believe we can find creative ways to deal with our new reality because we need to face facts....the old reality isnt ever coming back. I would have 4 day work weeks (this may be coming based on what companies are now doing) and more shifts, for starters. I've wanted a 4 day work week for almost 3 decades lol. A less stressed society does come from a better economy but it also comes from more time for relaxation and being able to enjoy life rather than working oneself to death. If that means we need to place a cap on how expensive living is...so be it. I'd rather have cost controls in place than see costs increase ad infinitum without a concomitant rise in salaries.

indeed, even with massive fossil fuel reductions which I believe we will see in this decade, it simply will not be enough and people will be migrating away from the coasts....with the melt offs occurring over both poles.

Did you read about this incredible heat and forest fires in Siberia? They've been +20 F in heat for like six months now and just hit 100 F- first time ever north of the arctic circle! Unprecedented heat in Siberia which the media isn't really talking about. I've noticed hotter temps occurring farther north this year, seems like the attic fire that started in the high Arctic has spread farther south and has now reached northern VT and Maine with temps approaching 100 there, all time records. https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/1274880733052469249 https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1274757559216476160 https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/1 ... 3052469249 that has videos of the fires in northern Siberia here is the official record of the 100.4 temp at Verhoyansk https://twitter.com/capitalweather/stat ... 9216476160 We've already seen the negative effects of a snowless winter here......nasty explosion of bugs this year, with a horde of gnats near my Poconos home that makes working in my garden impossible. I thought it was just this community but when I went down the mountain to a nearby town, they were mobbing people there too! I've also had to spray bug barrier throughout my other home on Long Island, where I now have wolf spiders along with their eggs (eek), I saw one in my bedroom and could not sleep there for a week! They are hairy, with warning stripes on their legs, black and grey (to warn others of being poisonous) and I haven't had these in a decade or so. I sprayed so much bug barrier to get rid of them that my throat and nose were burning! I just hope I dont get any centipedes later on, because I haven't had them in a long time either.....it's the combo of a warm wet winter followed by a warm wet spring and now this hot humid weather that has caused this population explosion of bugs. I wish all the birds I get in both gardens would eat them all up, but they seem to be content singing and taking baths in my pond! We also have a 50% reduction in monarch butterflies (an important pollinator) because of pesticides killing their favorite food, milkweed, as well as the changing climate. But now everyone is planting milkweed along the roads and highways, so maybe they will have a comeback?

we'll probably have a S flow with cooler weather at the coast, that has been the theme so far.

I dont know, the 100.4 at Verkhoyansk was pretty exciting.....if they ever have a really cold winter again they could become the only place in the world that has seen -100 and +100 (current cold record is -90).

I decided my blueberries are for the birds it's fun to see them get hyper after they eat them lol. Especially the robins.

how do you keep deer away from your flowers? I put up a large fence but they just jump over it. None of the repellent stuff is working either.

grapes are FAR better and healthier too

I have a huge list of things that are more important than the economy. also 50% capacity can work well if you change work hours and employ a different kind of work week schedule....time to get creative....

hopefully it will result in universal healthcare, needed reforms happen after terrible events....

Just look at whats going on in Siberia, never thought I'd see 100 degree temps in the high arctic and forest fires next to sea ice!

cant link you to a TV press conference It was one of Cuomo's pressers (I think the one on Thursday?) where he listed the Finger Lakes region at 3% infection rate, while NYC was 0.9% and Long Island was 0.7%. NYC and Long Island were down from 1.3% and 1.1% respectively and the Finger Lakes was up from around 1% Good thing I still have a (near) photographic memory, because I dont save links

I suppose washing everything thoroughly does the job too The reason I quit eating strawberries was because I read that chlorpyrifos was sprayed on it, which was supposed to be banned, as it's been convincingly connected to brain damage, but needless to say there was an administration change in 2016 and the ban was rescinded.

will this result in more colorful sunrises and sunsets for us?

Better stay at Phase 2 until a vaccine is developed- the parts of the state that have gone into Phase 3 have seen a tripling of the infection rate.

do you eat any of the stuff you spray pesticides on? I stopped eating strawberries because they're on many lists for having the most pesticides on them. Half of the pesticides sprayed in this country need to be banned (and are banned in Europe and Canada- unfortunately the chemical industry is in bed with American politicians, just like most other industries are.)

what about those devices that trap insects? I have one with a blue bulb that traps gnats- I had a large swarm of them over the weekend following me around!

high humidity is a type of air pollution and causes breathing difficulties

was that 2017 when JFK had like 42 75+ dew point days?

I hate how so many mets are botching the pronunciation of the storm- it shouldn't rhyme with "noble"- it's a Spanish name and should be pronounced that way.

I thought there was a report that there was a 6% reduction? Still just a drop in the bucket. Of more interest is this: Some good news coming out of all this (after being condemned by the UN) is both China and Vietnam are starting to close down those unsanitary wet markets. Axios and PBS interviewed world renowned biologist Sir David Attenborough and he talked about the connections between biodiversity, pandemics and climate change and how poaching of elephants and other imported animals from Africa to Asia impacts deforestation (because these animals move seeds from one place to another in the African forests). He is now 93 yrs old and he said that when he was growing up in the 30s, about 67% of the planet was wilderness, which was down to about 50% during the 90s, and now is down to only 25%. These forests are integral because they act as carbon sinks. He also mentioned that pandemics are becoming more common because of people cutting down more forests and venturing into areas where exotic animals live and coming into contact with new viruses. Also mentioned was the release of once dormant microbes from under melting sea ice in Siberia. He said that he thinks this pandemic will teach us lessons about how quick changes need to be made to thwart the oncoming climate crisis. He also mentioned that giving urban areas access to more nutritious food is vitally important (less processed food, less sugar, etc-- sugary food and fast food can become addictive because of the release of dopamine and has been implicated in the quick rise of diabetes type 2, obesity and high blood pressure in young people, which, along with asthma from air pollution, have been shown to be major pre-existing conditions involved in covid19 deaths) and reducing air pollution by continuing the switch to electric vehicles (no NO2 emission.) Update on the death figures- Johns Hopkins Hospital thinks that the number of people who have died from this virus in the US might be double the reported figures, because the number of people who have died at home has not been reported. The estimate of 25% infection rate in NYC may also be an underestimate. Research out of California indicates that if we loosen restrictions over the summer, the infection rate will become higher than it ever was by August. They say if we keep the restrictions as they are now, the infection rate will rise to above 30% but if we loosen restrictions the infection rate will be around 95% in August. The UK being slow to close things down, looks like PM Boris Johnson has changed his tune from being cavalier to much more cautious about opening things back up now that he's been hospitalized for the infection himself and is a newly minted father. The nations that shut down fastest did the best (like New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Germany, South Korea, Finland, Iceland, etc.) The most likely scenario and the one which China and Vietnam are now starting to shut down are the unsanitary wet markets and the importation of exotic mammals with exotic viruses that humans haven't come into close contact with before. 60 Minutes did a great piece on this last Sunday and China has started to shut them down after the UN singled them out these wet markets as a source for exotic viruses.