Fire and Ice

Recent unprecedented freezing weather is resolving to that beautiful clear warm pre-Spring balminess that makes life here such a joy.

But what is happening in the Europe, the floods, heatwaves, fires is horrendous.

Can't help thinking "what if" - what if there were sudden events when the rainfall or temperature produced off the scale results.

What if we had sudden 55-60 degree centigrade days. 2000 mm falls of rain?

The biosphere is reacting to the changes in the conveyor belt of ocean currents, which are influenced by the complex "world warming" impacts. How long before we are experiencing the really big nasties. Even England & Poland have had tornadoes recently.

One came thru my place in 2002 & ripped off everything above 25 feet height. The side of the house and all the verandas went. I now know what it is like to not be able to breathe while the banshees shriek & dust blinds your eyes. It cut a swathe about 40 feet wide from Casino, 100 km SW from here, across the caldera to my place. I went to check my nearest neighbors a mile away & they were unaware it had even happened, that's how precise & localised it was.

A few years ago, following a week of 38-40 degree C days, we had a 45 degree C day.
My neighbor & I fled our hot rock mountain side & sat in the ocean up to our necks for 9 hours. Even if we had wanted to we couldn't walk back to car across beach as sand was white hot.
What if it had gone to 55 that day?

How close to life support threshhold will these events go ?

Way beyond scarey.

I hear over 500 have died in the heatwave affecting Italy/Greece/Hungary area. We were told this as the 9th item on the news. The latest Iraq atrocities got 8th. The fact that our soldiers had killed someone in Afghanistan was about 3rd. Prime time was the PM stumbling as he walked on his vote seeking tour.

Apparently 500 dead far away, 80 dead a little closer but still not on our island, don't rate as importantly as whether or not John Howard is keeping his body balance, if not the nation's books as price rises in basic commodities send interest rates up & up & up again. It's all part of the Big Problem. Too many people, stressed resources, destructive climatic events.

More, more, produce, consume, breed. Keep it happening good citizens all.

Keep yr eye on the pointy end or you'll see the sharks feeding off the garbage astern.

I remember back in 70's someone saying we have evolved as a species now able to view its' own extinction in minute excruciating detail via the electronic media. Well I guess that's as long as electricity gets to them I guess someone, somewhere is working out how to bypass that too.

So just to show that I'm doing my bit for production quotas here's some crochet pix.