It's Hot! Hot! HOT!

Oh, my!  It's hot! Here I am, trying to get into the swing of winter, and this week, we're experiencing highs that screep up into the 80s!  That's party time for gnats and mosquitoes~

I like a change of seasons.  I don't have to have the intense change that I experienced in Michigan. Being able to walk the snow drifts onto the roof of my house isn't necessarily a big goal,  But a little bit of a chill, and a light dusting or two, wouldn't be so bad.

I also like wearing a jacket.  I like the way it feels, and I have this eccentric notion that it helps me look better, giving just the right accent to my Hitchcockian profile.

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.  They mean so much more when you get to experience them all. There are rare variations here, but they are a matter of a few days here and there, and not whole seasons.

Of course, what I'm describing above is weather, individual and eclectic.  It does not necessarily describe global warming.  No specific weather event does.  A hot day in South Georgia no more describes global warming than the fact that it  snows in Winter in Buffalo, New York.  Although, inevitably, sometimes the talking heads make a big deal out of it, as if the reality of climate change is a laughable joke and a silly hoax.

No, what demonstrates global warming is the rise in global temperatures worldwide.  Both NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)  have declared 2016 the hottest year on record.  It broke a long standing record that was set in ...... 2015.  Before that the record was ...... 2014.  In fact, 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000.  That's a pretty darn good streak for a hoax.

Glaciers are melting, Greenland is becoming greener, animal habitats are shifting, growing seasons are changing, pollution is increasing. But somehow this scientific fact has been swallowed up by the partisan paralytics of American politics.  And instead of  decelerating or halting the progress of this climate disaster, we have doubled down on an administration hell-bent on accelerating it.

There may be problems in other countries.  Some of the developing nations, with increasing mounts of industrialization, are making their fair share of carbon choking emissions.  But not all of them are simply contributing to the mess.  Many are leading the way with developing alternative energy resources.  Germany, for example, is approaching almost a  third of its energy from renewable energy. China is leading the way in producing solar panels.  While our new Nero fiddles, the rest of the world is trying to stop the world from burning.

What this means is that for the first time in more than a century, the united States will not be a leader in new technologies.  We will watch the world move forward without us.  The new jobs that these technologies will develop will go elsewhere.

As for me?  I'm going to have more and more days where I look longingly at my jackets, nostalgically remembering the days when I could slip one on and feel comfortable.  But you never know.  The ocean currents could collapse, making the weather even more fragile and unpredictable. In that case, maybe I should get some skis.