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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, July 15, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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Circulation Manager
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Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
A big gulp of things to come
J
une’s genuinely shocking
heat wave wasn’t by itself
proof of global warming,
any more than one Texas bliz-
zard disproves it. Single events are
weather, not climate. And weather
is perfectly capable of being
extreme, even without we humans
pumping our atmosphere and
ocean full of greenhouse gases.
That being said, there is near
universal agreement among nor-
mally argumentative scientists that
heating up Earth’s thin protective
layer of atmosphere is an acceler-
ating catastrophe. They also agree
that human-generated heat pollu-
tion made the Pacific Northwest’s
punishing heat dome a bit worse
than it would otherwise have been.
Overall, our region’s summers
are three degrees warmer on aver-
age now than they were in the
1920s. This might not sound like
much, but additional heat punch-
ing into the West year after year
after year is enough to some-
times tip us into deadly wildfires,
droughts and heat. Eight hun-
dred and still counting is this heat-
wave’s suspected death toll.
We can’t take comfort in asser-
tions that such disasters are only
“once in a century” or “every
1,000 years.” This summer has
only started. More heat certainly
lies ahead. Only in October will
we know whether we’ve escaped
additional roasting emergencies.
One epic heat wave doesn’t say
anything about global warming.
But two in one summer would cer-
tainly ramp up concerns. Even
another next year or five years
from now will start to feel like
compelling evidence that time is
running out for us to get ahead of
the runaway climate train.
Think of the climate as a bell
curve, Texas Tech University pro-
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
People searched for creative ways to cool off during the record heat wave in June.
fessor Katharine Hayhoe told the
Washington Post, with tempera-
tures distributed according to
how common they ought to be.
The center of the bell curve may
have shifted just three degrees,
but the area of the curve now in
the extreme zone has increased
significantly. A 2017 study pub-
lished in Science Advances found
a 150% increase in deadly heat
waves for every nine-tenths of a
degree increase in the Fahrenheit
temperature.
We can’t count on Earth’s cli-
mate changing in predictable
ways. In a system of such gargan-
tuan complexity, there are sure
to be factors and feedback loops
we don’t currently understand. It
would be nice to think that maybe
some benefits will accrue from
our accidental tinkering with the
air. For the most part in the past
30 years, the Northwest coast cer-
tainly is trending toward weather
that can be considered “nice.” It’s
been years since we had a good
old 80-inch winter — something
we may come to regret if saltwater
begins intruding into our rain-re-
charged coastal aquifers.
For the nation and planet as a
whole, the coming surprises are
more likely to be unpleasant than
welcome.
Besides contributing to the
premature deaths of vulnerable
people, one of the heat wave’s
unwelcome — and unforeseen
— consequences was rapid wide-
spread damage to heat-sensitive
vegetation. Tender young conifer
shoots, landscaping plants, ferns
and untold other species came out
of those extraordinarily hot days
looking in some cases like they
had been singed all over by blow-
torches. Some damage is likely
to be transitory or only cosmetic.
However, added to dry recent
summers, many trees will be even
more susceptible to insect invad-
ers and diseases.
Other harm isn’t immediately
apparent but is nevertheless con-
sequential. Some local tidal flats,
creeks and ponds are likely to
have become hot enough to hurt
aquatic life, which in turn nor-
mally feeds many creatures fur-
ther up the food chain. The poten-
tial for wildfires has increased
throughout the region. Condi-
tions were so hot in some places
that asphalt surfaces melted into
sticky goo, raising the specter of
expensive repairs and toxic run-
off. Other heat and drying impacts
are bound to emerge. The U.S.
Drought Monitor found that more
than 93% of the West is in moder-
ate to severe drought.
Even in America’s herky-jerky
back-and-forth political system,
such dangers will certainly man-
date a transformation in how we
live our lives. All partisan poli-
tics aside, pragmatic reality will
dictate shifts in everything from
how we heat and cool our homes
to how much we can continue to
rely on fossil-fueled vehicles. The
sooner we commit to adapting to
such actions, the less unpleasant
and costly they are likely to be.
Beyond this, we must all look
at our life situations and alter the
course of coastal living. This may
entail finding heat-tolerant shade
trees that can also put up with
wet winters. Landowners will be
under an increasing obligation to
maintain cool stream buffers. As
our cars and trucks reach obso-
lescence, switching to electric
will become both necessary and
more feasible as the technology
improves. Ductless heat pumps,
thermal-pane windows, better
home insulation and solar panels
are all available right now, some-
times with significant tax incen-
tives. There is much we can do.
The heat wave was a big gulp
of things to come, even if it can’t
be convincingly pinned on climate
change. Imagine future summers
when such events are common.
Act accordingly.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Trouble
W
e are going to be in trouble in the
future. We are thinking of scrapping
future power plants, due to “warming.”
China is building more coal power plants.
Our auto companies are coming on line
to supply us all with electric cars. Ques-
tion: Where do we get the electric power
to charge all these? Windmills covering
the whole country? Solar panels? (In your
dreams!)
Our illustrious lawmakers better get out
their calculators before it’s too late. Maybe
China will charge our cars for us?
DICK DARBY
Astoria
Do the right thing
was watching Astoria’s patriotic fire-
works display this past July 4, when two
thoughts occurred to me.
One: The courage the Founding Fathers
showed by risking their lives and signing
the Declaration of Independence July 4,
1776.
Two: What in the (blank) is taking the
U.S. Senate so long to pass the For the
People and John Lewis Voting Rights acts?
In yours and my country, the right of all
eligible citizens to vote is guaranteed in
the Constitution.
Today our country apparently needs two
more legislative acts to uphold this consti-
tutionally guaranteed right. Say what?
In our 245-year history, America has
faced many threats to our democracy and
freedoms (9/11, Pearl Harbor, etc.), but
this threat to voting may be the most dan-
gerous of all, because it’s coming from
within our shores.
Officially, it’s called voter suppres-
sion. Slang translation — some Americans
think, for no logical reason, other eligible
Americans shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
What?
To survive, a democracy needs free and
fair elections for every eligible citizen.
Please don’t say, “It’s not my vote being
suppressed,” because if one vote can be
suppressed, all votes can be suppressed,
I
and that’s a dictatorship. Didn’t we learn
that in World War II?
Voting for these two acts is not cou-
rageous, it’s putting our democracy first.
Courage is the Americans who shed their
blood for our democracy and freedoms.
This vote should be a 100 to 0 slam
dunk. USA! Any and all senators can be
messaged at 202-224-3121.
CARL DOMINEY
Astoria
Shudder to think
W
ho is running our country? You
answer back, “Why Joe Biden, who
garnered the most votes ever for a presi-
dential election in our country.”
Really? He can barely answer a ques-
tion from the press corps, even in a relaxed
one-question format, without replying in
an incoherent manner. If he takes questions
at all, he limits it to three or four questions
at most, and complains he will get in trou-
ble if he takes any more questions.
This is the most powerful man in the
world? I shudder to think what will happen
to us in the event of a major crisis. I do not
believe he will be in office for another 3.5
years, let alone be able to run for reelec-
tion in 2024.
I have questions for you voters who
voted for Joe. Did you think it was accept-
able for him, when he campaigned, to
mainly stay at his home in Delaware, and
not really make any speeches or campaign
nationwide?
Did 81 million voters cast a vote for
him because he had a D behind his name,
or you thought he was a nice man?
So, who is making all the decisions, and
giving Joe postcards with answers written
out to read if he receives any questions?
I would like answers to these questions,
because whoever is running the country
was never elected by the voting citizens of
the U.S., and we deserve to know who that
person is!
GREG KENNEY
Astoria