The Jury Is Still Out on Climate Change

[Content Note: Climate change; fat bias.]

Here are two things I read today:

1. Drought Now Covers Every Last Inch of California: "According to the April 22 release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, every last inch of California is in a state of 'moderate' to 'exceptional' drought—the first time in the monitor's 15-year history that's occurred. Indeed, the vast majority of California's territory is now either at 'extreme' or 'exceptional,' which are the two most severe levels."

2. The First Week of May Will Be Decidedly Un-Springlike for Much of the Country:

A significant multi-day severe weather outbreak is looking increasingly likely for this weekend. The powerful low pressure system associated with those storms will push temperatures up into the 80s (or even 90s) across much of the south until Monday or Tuesday.

After the storm system slowly moves through, blocked in place by an impressive blob of high pressure over Canada, a sharp north-to-south elongation of the jet stream will usher in some seriously frigid weather. The first week of May is looking decidedly unspringlike, especially for the Gulf Coast. Low temperatures on May 1st could be in the 30s from Dallas to Birmingham—challenging hundred-year-old record lows—with cold weather of nearly that magnitude spreading to the East Coast by next weekend.

There's even a (slim) chance of snow as far south as St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and Boston next week. There hasn't been measurable snowfall in St. Louis in May since 1929.

If we have snow next week, I am going to— I'm gonna— well, there's nothing I can really do about it, so I'm prolly gonna do this!


[Video clip from Pretty in Pink of Duckie, having just tried unsuccessfully to beat up Blaine, bouncing off a locker and then running down the hall, tearing down a prom banner.]
Rrrwahh!

Meanwhile, this article about #1 climate change activist Al Gore starts out with an observation about how much weight he's lost: "Al Gore is richer and skinnier than ever." I'm sure that's definitely what Al Gore was hoping would be the lede of an article which later describes him as "steamed...about the lack of clear progress in combating global warming, a failure that clearly eats at him."