The Year Climate Change Took Its Gloves Off

Heat exacerbated fires in Canada, Spain, Greece and Switzerland. More than 4,000 forest fires raged in Canada in the first six months of 2023. Smoke left people gagging in New York and Chicago, then drifted all the way to Europe. And, the talk of the town was all about how Britney Spears got her hands slapped away for trying to tap some extra tall basketball player on the shoulder.

Three months worth of rain in a single day pounded down on Nova Scotia. "Biblical proportions," A mayor there called it. And, yet many people sat around talking about how old Joe Biden was.

In Death Valley, temperatures reached an unbelievable 128 degrees. (But, don't worry, water doesn't boil until it reaches 212 degrees, and there's not a whole lot of water in Death Valley, anyway.) Meanwhile, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling made the news explaining why Barbie and Ken didn't kiss in some new movie.

In Phoenix, temperatures reached at least 110 degrees for 25 consecutive days. Hospital beds in Arizona filled with burn patients, many of who simply fell on the scorching hot ground. And, all the while, the talk on people's lips was about who Kevin Costner's and Tom Brady's new girlfriends were. 

Oh, they spoke of the weather, but not of the cause. And, along came a report saying the extreme temperatures were made possible by . . . 

Climate change. Who would've thought.

Look at 2023. Extreme weather is to it what Covid was to 2020. Except, Covid was all the talk, while the extreme weather is but in the middle of the mix when it comes to the news and people's chatter. People have more important things to talk about. The Year 2023 will go down as the year climate change came out of hiding. Well, okay, it has been around for years, and it's hardly been hiding. But the Year 2023 has been the year it took it's gloves off. It has been the year electric cars gained traction, sales taking off and new models hitting the market. But, climate looked down from its skies and said, Too little, too late. You guys just wouldn't listen then, and you're still not listening. 

The Year 2023 is the year climate change tapped us on the shoulder. And, like Victor Wembanyama, we just kept on walking. 

(Index -- Climate change)