To Whom It May Concern: Texas Is Not THIS Hot
"In Texas, the average daily high temperatures in Texas have increased by 2.4 degrees — 0.8 degrees per decade — since 1993"
Micro Rage
Summer bedtimes. I crave a space between my children falling asleep and crawling into bed myself. That window is increasingly shrinking as summer wears on, while my youngest’s will remains steadfast and stupid daylight saving prolongs the already long days. On most days, I fundamentally understand that this is a season, but tonight, tonight I am too tired.
Macro Rage
I got into a brief communal rant this week with someone sharing how they hate when people shrug off the skyrocketing temperatures and say, “Texas is always hot.”I couldn't agree more. Yes, Houston is hot and humid. We have obnoxiously long summers. By the time you get to mid-May, you’ll frequently sweat through your clothes in 15 minutes. But this heat dome? Triple digits, especially consistent ones, in June? That’s climate change, and it’s making summer insufferable.
“In Texas, the average daily high temperatures in Texas have increased by 2.4 degrees — 0.8 degrees per decade — since 1993, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration amid concerns over human caused climate change resulting in rising temperatures.”
As an adult that is making part of my living freelancing, I can survive a summer with the shades drawn, busying myself indoors. Our kids? They need more, and there’s no respite in sight. Yesterday at 6pm the public pool water was the temperature of a warm bath, the forecast shows a low of 80, and we’re trying to figure out how to safely tackle a state park along the coast with the persistent heat advisory index.
It’s not safe to be outside.
“...doctors have assumed for decades that extreme heat is a problem only for kids who are exerting themselves through sport or children with a health condition that is aggravated by heat, such as asthma—but this isn’t the full picture. During a heat wave, all children are more likely to be affected by heat illness, which can cause respiratory and kidney disease, as well as inhibit cognitive function.” (The Atlantic, Summer Vacation is Moving Indoors)
I feel like we’re just emerging from the weight of a pandemic to the full force of climate change.
Rant with me - how are you handling summer with your kids? I’m starting to wonder if mine will ever experience the joy of an overnight camp.
A Small Thing
Junior Bake Off. We’re dusting off the latest season to stream on Netflix and whittling away the long, hot hours of the day watching the delightful chaos of kids baking in the tent.
A Big(ger) Thing
The Hollywood Actors Strike (NY Times gift link). I’ve been lightly following the writer’s strike, and when I woke up to videos of Fran Drescher popping up on my IG feed, I was not sad about it. Good for Hollywood. Boo to the greedy, heartless profiters of their talents that have said, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
Climate change and corporate greed. Two sides of the same coin, yes? One can only hope that the billionaire tech bros and their on-air friends will all bash each other to bits in their upcoming cage matches, and the mothers of the world will finally take their rightful place as head of everything.
I live in Vermont, typically imagined as a climate change refuge. But our summers are getting hotter overall, too,.and are cloaked in wildfire smoke. There have been days where the air isn't safe to breathe.for long periods, so we are stuck inside. And then last week, after a long period of drought, the rains and floods came. Many communities have been devastated by the damage, with entire blocks/areas underwater, homes flooded, and created dangerous landslides. It demolished a wastewater treatment plant, took out countless homes and businesses, and claimed at least 2 people's lives that we know of so far. This is all climate change.
It has not been a relaxing summer.