This past week in Southern California we got ourselves a sudden return to Summer weather. The month had started off cool, in early 70’s, but then out of nowhere over the last weekend, it jumped up to the 90’s. It got as high as 99 where I am on Thursday. It cooled down to 86 yesterday, and now we’re supposed to be back to the 70’s today and through the upcoming work week.

This is not normal. Not for the 3rd week of October. I know for those of you in the rest of the country you may have this image of California as always being sunny and hot year-round, but not like this. I’ve lived here my whole life, the summers are getting longer and worse. It was only the parts of the state that are up in the deserts and valleys that used to get the 90+ weather, not SoCal. It’s been getting hotter every year. And I acknowledge that I’m lucky that I don’t don’t live in the parts of California that are having unpredictable wild fires right now.

Not to go off on a political rant (maybe) but, damn, how can people still deny climate change?!? You don’t have to be a scientist or understand science to be able to just, y’know, look around! We’re seeing the effects everywhere! Whether it’s the hotters summers, which lead to fires and droughts, but in other parts of the country they’re increasingly having more devastating floods and hurricanes. Shit’s getting real!

But far too many folks, including elected officials, just be like…

It’s baffling. I’ve written before about the environment, and how I don’t understand how this became a “political” issue. Well, that’s not really true, I actually do understand it. Efforts to fight climate change, and clean the environment will cost money. Not only in things like raising taxes but, more importantly, affecting big businesses, and the rich people who profit from them. We don’t have a mass movement to switch to electric cars because some people are making a lot of money in oil. So they pay off politicians and pundits to protect their interests, which includes obscuring facts to confuse the average person. But this is stupid short-term thinking!

And, y’know, I don’t have children, and never plan to, and I’m no spring chicken. I may be fine the rest of my life, and be dead before the really apocalyptic changes kick in. But the folks who have the power to do something now, but aren’t, are the ones who tend to have children. And I wonder why they don’t give more thought to the type of world that their children and grandchildren are going to inherit? It just makes no sense to me.