Bit warm, aint'cha?

[asthfghl]

I was in Greece a while ago. Vacation, you know. It's very close to home, you know... the beaches are fine, they've got islands, and cold frappe, and delicious salads and ouzo. Anyway, I digress. One thing that annoys tourists, mostly those coming from "organized" societies in the north, is how the Greeks seem so lazy. We've heard all sorts of stories, the Greeks don't give a damn about a thing, all they care about is drinking their frappe, eating their gyros, and chatting about soccer and politics. Oh, and getting all those euros from the stupid Euros.

Same goes for Italy. I was there recently, too. And in Spain as well. Saw the same thing there (we've all heard of their siesta, it's world-famous). Come noon-time, you won't find a single shop working. You won't be even able to fuel your car, because everything is closed, and the locals seem to have vanished somewhere. And this goes on until the sun starts setting.

But really, think about it. It's 40+ 'C outside. We have a saying here, when it's 40'C, the only ones walking on the streets are the stray dogs... and British tourists. Haha, funny, right? But it makes sense. Nothing can survive outside when the asphalt is melting. People are not that stupid, as to put their health at risk for my convenience. And I understand them. Are we sure they're really lazy, or it's more like they've got a sense of self-preservation?

And the problem has started shifting northwards now, what with climate change and all. We might soon need to introduce the siesta here as well - a thing no one would've imagined around these latitudes. And this is potentially one of the many ticking time bombs that climate change is presenting us with. Aside from the more obvious ones, like the various manifestations of more extreme weather (droughts are alternating with huge floods these days, more than ever in recorded history). It's starting to be felt everywhere. We've had heat waves before, of course. We even have a period in mid July that we traditionally call "Heat days" (this year they happened to be rainy and cold, but then 43'C followed).

We're now able to grow plants like citrus fruits that we weren't able to, until a few years ago. Sounds nice, eh? But in the meantime, we're losing our traditional crops now. And we're only now getting acquainted with pests that we never heard before, with which people in Egypt and Israel are more familiar. Mosquitos, big scary-looking bugs that bite like piranhas, etc. Only, we don't have the immunity to those because we never needed to develop it. Our health-care system sucks even without those threats, now it'll have to cope with them too. And don't forget the huge electricity consumption for air-conditioning.

The list could go on. My point is, we're like the frog in the boiling pot. Literally. He never notices he's boiling, because it's all happening too gradually. Well, maybe not too gradually any more. Not at this point.

But of course, it's all China's FAKE NEWS baby. Their plot to make America un-great again. Never mind that China is now the most ardent advocate for "doing something", and is about to become the biggest investor in renewables. But it's their fault anyway. Also, THANKS OBAMA! Or something.

Comments

[garote]

A few weeks ago in Sacramento (about an hour and change from where I live) the temperature hit 106. People were still out and about - it's just how summer is. Meanwhile in Oakland, with the constant wind off the sea, it was in the mid-80's. Heat wave? What heat wave? Head just a little bit South to San Jose, and wooop, temperature's back into the high 90's, especially on the East side. Go 45 minutes South from there to Santa Cruz, and hey dude, surf's up and it's 80 degrees.

Despite this schizophrenic weather, people are busy as hell most of the time. I'm pretty sure it's cultural, yes. Americans may clamor for better health care and all kinds of city- and state-level social services, but their attitude at core is still, essentially, "Can't work a job? Then fucking die; fuck you."

Even after all these years I'm still not decided how much that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know it's some of both. But it sure gets people out and about, and ready to do business, even when the temperature is 106.

What is it about Greece that's created such a different behavior? Is it an economic policy? Some collection of laws? A certain kind of outlook, or historical sense of place, or a religion??

[fridi]

Essentially, this:



Do you see anyone working? That's beneath them, they've got such an ancient culture, and stuff...

[kiaa]

Behold! The personification of Greekness.

[kiaa]

More CO2 is good for plants, you know. So we'll have more food now! Thus sayeth one Rep. Lamar Smith (R), who happens to be in charge of the... wait for it... the committee on science, space and technology. Go figure!
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/top-republican-says-climate-change-might-benefit-the-world/

[airiefairie]

https://phys.org/news/2017-07-earth-resource-spent-week.html
This year will mark the earliest day of the year that Earth has spent its "resource budget", i.e. the day when we have consumed more resources than the planet could restore in a year. The rest of the year beyond this day will be "borrowing from the future" resource-wise, so to speak.

This year the day is August 2.

Food for thought.

[garote]

Hahahaa! Sitting so long his feet have disintegrated!!

P.S.; in the US version, he's on a toilet, holding a phone

[garote]

Yeah that line went floating around the lab where I work a couple of years ago... people were like, "WTF? So deforestation is a myth??"