As I write this disturbing story, it’s raining outside.
As far as the eye can see, green trees and green grass.
Much less visible are the mosquitos, who seem to thrive in a damp climate.
You can say, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ But that does not apply to mosquitos. They are still out there, planning their attack.
I did not move to Pagosa Springs to live in a rainy climate. I moved here for 300 days of sunshine… as was promised on the ‘Weather Page’ of the Pagosa Daily Post, no less.
If I wanted constant rain, I could live in Seattle. But then I would probably have to work for Microsoft, so forget it.
I’ll suffer the rain here in Pagosa, and keep working for the Daily Post, despite their obviously outdated Weather Page.
The mainstream media has been full of stories about a ‘millennial drought’ in the American Southwest. Don’t these guys ever look out the window? It’s been raining every day for at least the past three weeks. Last I looked, ‘drought’ means ‘lack of rain’.
We can cut them a little slack, I suppose, because the scientists warned us about ‘climate change’… but they never told us ‘what kind of change’, exactly.
‘Change’ can mean pretty much anything.
More rain? Yes, that’s certainly a kind of change.
More wind? Ditto.
More lightning? Check.
More mosquitos? Yep.
They warned us change was coming, but I didn’t believe them. Until now.
My attempts to understand why this happening to me led me to a couple of information sources. One was the ‘Climate Reality Project’ in Washington, DC. Washington DC, being the source of almost everything wrong with America. Including too much rain.
Here’s a quote from the Climate Reality Project website. (Advisory: some readers may find the following quote disturbing.)
As the atmosphere gets warmer, it can hold more moisture. The intensity of downpours (and therefore the risk of floods) depends in part on how much water the air can hold at a given time.
The rate of evaporation from the ocean is increasing as the world warms. Think about heating a large pot of water on your stove – the higher you turn the dial, the faster the water evaporates. Pretty much the same thing happens with the planet, and globally, this higher rate of evaporation contributes to more extreme rain and snow events.
I’ve noticed this effect, in the mornings when I make coffee. (I make pour-over drip coffee, if you were wondering.) When the tea kettle heats up, steam (water vapor) comes bubbling out of the spout. I immediately turn off the kettle, of course, because water vapor is, ultimately, the main culprit. But actually, very little steam escapes if you’re being careful. I’m pretty careful about climate change.
The other information source was Phys.org. Not to be confused with Physics.org
Phys.org serves up shorter, less intimidating articles, for the average non-scientist who’s looking for the level of information you can share at the Pagosa Bar, over a beer. From their website:
After extreme rainfall that led to floods in the Dutch region of Limburg, but also in neighboring countries Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, many people wondered whether similar rainfall events are now more likely due to rapid climate change.
According to a rapid attribution study by an international team of climate scientists, extreme weather events like the one in July are between 1.2 and 9 times more likely to happen.
That’s a pretty wide range: “between 1.2 and 9 times”. You might almost think the international team of climate scientists wrote some numbers on a dartboard and took turns tossing darts.
Speaking frankly, I think I could handle “1.2”. If we have a choice.
The article doesn’t mention, however, whether mosquitos are expected to increase at a similar rate.
Scientists theorize that insects, and other animals, evolve and adapt to their environment… with each successive generation producing mutations that help the species survive environmental changes. Some species of mosquitos mature from egg to egg-laying (and blood-sucking) adult in less than 20 days, meaning that mosquitos can produce multiple adaptive generations in a single season.
The studies suggest that mosquitos will have no trouble at all, adapting to climate change.
Basically, we’re all screwed.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.