Tuesday, July 13, 2021
The Heat
Earlier this summer, just a few weeks ago, I was in Death Valley. It was an overwhelming, purifying dry heat that day-- between 107 and 110 degrees. The sweat evaporated right off my skin, so it did not even seem like I was sweating.
This weekend, it was 20 degrees hotter than that.
The West, especially, is consumed with heat and fire this summer. Yes, I think it is connected to climate change. But whether you believe that or not, there is no doubting that this is happening. And that raises some important questions.
A big one is about water. Reservoirs like Lake Powell are only at about 36% of capacity, and shrinking fast in the heat and drought. The wisdom of more and more people moving to places like Phoenix seems questionable. That part of the Earth just doesn't have enough of what people need in its natural state, and our artifices and constructions are coming apart. As with people who choose to live on barrier islands that inevitable erode and shift, the rest of us will end up subsidizing their choices.
Of course, buying a home in Phoenix or Miami Beach is what rich people do, and we usually DO subsidize their bad, bold choices in a way we often refuse to consider when the people making the choices are poor (or even when it is not their choice at the root of the tragedy, actually). That's wrong-- and something we need to think about when things go wrong. Should we help them find a new house? Sure... but only if we are willing to help the people who lost their house when they lost their job.
