My letter to Supervisor Frost

Sue,

I've just read your newsletter that pooh-poohs climate "alarmism."

So...Global warming isn't that bad? Really? Have you seen this?

That's a cumulative map of all the fires in Australia in 2019-20. 

Incidentally, insurance offices in Sacramento are very busy because of all the cancellations of homeowners' policies here in California. Mine called me at 6:30 last night. We still haven't finalized a replacement for our homeowners' insurance.

Here's a NASA map of all the active fires from 9/14/20

Here are the more recent Canadian fires (6/18/23)

Then there are the reports that the North Atlantic current warming Western Europe (the "Gulf Stream") is on the verge of collapse.

Your comments favoring business viability over action on these serious problems remind me of one of the "helpers" at your "Better Angels" (now "Braver Angels") political conversation. He told me that if we did what I recommended, the stock market would collapse and his 401K would tank.

I'm no fan of elder poverty, but this remark was a symptom of "Midas Disease" -- more common than COVID. Alfred North Whitehead calls it the fallacy of misplaced concreteness. It mistakes symbols for reality. The commandments about idolatry are related. 

The "helper" believed that as long as his stack of dollars or stock certificates grows, then nothing else matters. There will always be something to buy. Hint: this is like going to a restaurant and devouring the paper menu rather than the food. If we burn up the planet in search of profit, then the height of that stack of stock certificates or dollars won't be able to save us.

Honestly, I don't expect to convince you of anything. You've made your mind up long ago. I can tell you that sleepwalking is not a winning life strategy. Heck, it's not even a good strategy for crossing the living room without barking your shins on the furniture.

Wake up!

Update:

Yesterday, Antarctic sea ice extent hit a new record statistical low of -6.65σ below the 1991-2020 mean. About a 1-in-70B chance w/o climate change.

This is not a graph of extent or anomaly. It is a graph of standard deviations -- a measure of how abnormal the year's data is. pic.twitter.com/CvnYLde9iD

— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) July 29, 2023