I hear you-and really appreciate your stamina in continuing to stand up for our planet.
This is the first year in three that we had a real monsoon season in Northern New Mexico. The Rio Grande River was in danger of drying out in Albuquerque in 2023…that was unimaginable in 1992…
When I lived in Bangaluru in 2021, we ran out of water in our complexes in many areas of the city. Farmers had to buy water for crops, while other areas were deluged and crops washed away.
When I first lived in NYC in the mid 90s, the wind off the East River made it jacket weather by mid of September or latest early October; when I left in 2015, it might not be winter cold at all before Thanksgiving. And now it rains at the Christmas markets, rather than snowing.
Yeah, like you I have lived all over, and everywhere weather has changed very noticeably. And it is so frustrating to live in a country where special interests have lied and manipulated shamelessly to convince people what they experience every day isn’t climate change, isn’t manmade or fossil fuel related, and isn’t something they can impact…
In the future people will read and study the history of our time. They will be fascinated that such an advanced society could fail so miserably on so many fronts: politics as well as norms and values. The lack of climate action will be a prime example, the lack of comapssion for horrors faced daily by farmed animals will be another one.
We have experienced very hot 🥵 weather here in the SE USA but not nearly as severe as others in our group here. It is often too humid and hot to work outdoors and power bills reflect the high usage of air conditioning , very little of it the green energy we are striving for yet. You say you have moved to Oslo? Is that a semipermanent assignment for this time of year? Will you not be returning to Ottawa? Do not intend to be intrusive. Just enjoy placing you wherever you might be in this world as home when not on your lovely island in the Netherlands. Believe you spoke of less travel to conserve “flight energy.” Very compassionate of you and selfless with so many still filling the air spaces with private jets guzzling fuel. Zoom seems to be a much more practical solution when possible for business. So sorry you are away from your morning swim routine. Sounded so very lovely. Enjoy the city when you can and do send stories and photos! 🕊️
Here in Montreal, Quebec - not far from Ottawa, the climate has been remarkably good so far this summer. Only a few really warm days of 35-37 C with humidity but that is typical for summers here and lots of sun. As well, there has been quite a lot of rain here...no floods however. So we seem to be having a more typical season - really much more "normal" than in many other places in the world. Will it continue? Hope so, but we will soon see. Winter will, I think, be milder again than last year ...
We live in a time when normal weather is increasingly celebrated. I spent the summer on the Dutch island that I considder my real home, even if I'm often elsewhere. The newspapers complained about the bad summer all the time. It was however, like you experienced in Montreal, a somewhat normal summer, where sunny, warm days alternated with some days of rain. It's sad to see when the media labels normal weather as bad weather and absurdly hot and dry summers as a good summer.
The struggle is real. From panoramic American Southwest with calcium rings at Hoover Dam; the small but mighty Colorado River, whose every cubic foot of water is spoken for by farmers, ranchers and 14 tribal nations to the surreal beauty of Norway, who I believe is the leading country in reforestation, has banned deforestation and has more standing trees than it did 100 years ago that is now setting a new national heat record. No one is exempt.
I like countries that get it. I like people that get it. So, I am sure I will like the stories and pics coming out of Oslo. Astronaut Commander Mark Kelly from Arizona tells a story of carrying 18 mice on his space shuttle. 17 of the mice freaked out. One mouse got it. He figured out how to fly and get his food and water. This story has now become a children's book called "The Mousetronaut" with the remaining 17 mice learning to work together and figure out how to survive.
We are all on this space shuttle called earth and as humans we need to figure out how to work together and survive. With desert temps setting a new heat record every week, no end in sight, our planet is burning; my native state is becoming uninhabitable, and no one is stepping up to course correct.
As the sun sets in the desert I try to say thank you to those watching over our planet, to those that get it. The older I become, the more I understand the ground I am standing on is sacred. Proteger la tierra esta en nuestras manos.
Thank you, Sharon. I'm eager to explore Norway's green innovations and share these insights with The Planet's readers. Mark Kelly's "Mousetronaut" story is a delightful metaphor for adaptability and cooperation that should inspire us to tackle our shared challenges on spaceship Earth. As you know, Arizona holds a special place in my heart, and I hope to return often to marvel at its wide open spaces and spectacular nature. I'm sad to see the reality of rising temperatures, making it harder to live in that beautiful state. It's a vivid reminder of the climate crisis unfolding before our eyes. You mentioned a profound truth: the ground beneath our feet is indeed sacred, as is all of nature on our planet. We are collectively responsible for protecting and nurturing this precious home we share. I'm always delighted to see there are people like you and other subscribers to this newsletter who truly "get it" and are committed to making a difference.
Thank you, Alex. Your platforms have given each of us a seat at the table, a voice and a cause. I am so glad Arizona & our rugged southwest hold you sway. Stepping out in the light this morning, there is a brief hope in the air of better days. I'll take it.
Good luck in Oslo! I was there and in Svalbard a year ago. I've recently moved to Vancouver, Canada, so am waving to you across the ethers and the oceans.
I needed a moment to get over my jealousy of you having moved to Oslo. I know you will enjoy it.
That aside, yes this summer Switzerland has been hit by massive thunderstorms. We've had those before but the frequency and destructive force is going to make people move down from those mountain valleys. A different kind of climate migration. We are lucky that we have great infrastructure and things are fixed (and fixed properly) very quickly.
Last Sunday night we had a thunderstorm that was more intense than I have ever experienced. It stayed in place more than an hour and did not move at all. There was an insane amount of lightning too. I struggled physically because of the intensity of it all - scary. I love thunderstorms and I can safely say that I've never experience anything like it. Short and intense, definitely. This long, definitely not.
One more thing. The first time I traveled to above the arctic cirlce. Just me and my backpack it was so hot. Northern Norway was hit by a heatwave. It was 31°C in Narvik. I think it was in 2005. Back then this was a one off. Now it's becoming the norm.
Enjoy Norway! Make sure you try the brown cheese - it's best on waffles. If you don't have a waffle iron - get one. Trust me on that. Also a proper Norwegian cheese slicer 😉
Scary, that thunderstorm. We, the Dutch, stole that cheese slicer idea from the Norwegians and branded it as Dutch. Now we sell them in Delft-blue porcelain version to American tourists as authentic Dutch. Call it a sharp business mentality or whatever you like. Oh, and those tulips... from Turkey!
I am so sorry this was your experience day one of this beautiful country :( And yes, I have personally experienced climate change with too many incidents in a number of US states to list here. 🌻
I sorted through a few things and came up with this little list.
In February 2021 Texas experienced a power grid failure during a freak winter storm (polar vortex with temps below -0°F). My home was one of more than 4.5 million homes and businesses without power for several days. At least 246 people lost their lives with estimates as high as 704 killed. When power was restored, pipes burst and it would be days before a plumber could visit. Republican governor Greg Abbott was warned for years to winterize natural gas infrastructure but instead chose to blame frozen wind turbines and solar panels. The grid came within 4 minutes of shutting down completely. Now Abbott is busy sending asylum seekers by bus to my current home of Chicago.
In a typical year, Illinois will experience 50 tornadoes. There were over 100 in 2024. A record 27 twisters hit the Chicago area on July 15 this year.
Last winter was mild. Chicago experienced the 5th warmest winter. Average temps 34.9°F, 6.8° above normal. 18.5” of snowfall 11.1” below average.
Summer temps averaged 74.6°F and 1.3° above normal.
The oddest event to happen to me was during a surprise rainstorm this spring. About 7-8 of us got off the bus when a downpour began. We took refuge in an apartment lobby. The rain had hit the pavement so hard it acted like a power washer, covering us in dirt.
A record number drownings in Lake Michigan occured this year due to high winds, high waves, and dangerous currents.
Bears repeating. Our leadership will not fully appreciate the impact of climate change until an emergency happens to them or someone for which they care. Many know full well what's at stake and have decided the money is more important.
Indeed. My real time experiences and your newsletter helping me keep track of what the world was experiencing, convinced me to change my life completely.
Alex, I wish your “take” on climate change could be read universally instead of us select few who feel the way you do.
I was struck by climate change last summer in a supposedly “cooler part” of Italy while travelling with my daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.
We spent a week in and around Lake Como and another in and around Lucca. It was almost unbearably hot 🥵 We had a wonderful vacation, but, sadly we realized that the heat bothered all of us (in different ways). There were days when the four of them went “exploring” our environs, but grandma stayed behind having difficulty walking in the extreme heat. It became difficult for me to breathe.
We’d been together in Italy a few times before, but this was our last summer trip there, sadly.
This summer I picked three Scandinavian cities figuring we should head North! We spent several fabulous days in Copenhagen, Stockholm and after a fun,
cool ferry ride, in Helsinki.
I had been to all three cities before (+ where you are, Oslo) and loved every one.
It was a wonderful choice for us with daily temperatures in the 60’s-70’s. No worries about climate change. HA.
Thank you Anne, I have family in northern Italy and hear their stories of how the climate has been changing in the past decade compared to all the years before since they moved there in the early 1970s. Scandinavia may become the new Riviera since I wonder, like you do, why people would still visit the Mediterranean countries in summertime. My preference is surely the north, even though I'm crazy enough to walk camino-routes in Spain in summer (leaving in the dark to escape the worst heat). Oslo is wonderful, I hope to write more about my first impressions very soon.
I hear you-and really appreciate your stamina in continuing to stand up for our planet.
This is the first year in three that we had a real monsoon season in Northern New Mexico. The Rio Grande River was in danger of drying out in Albuquerque in 2023…that was unimaginable in 1992…
When I lived in Bangaluru in 2021, we ran out of water in our complexes in many areas of the city. Farmers had to buy water for crops, while other areas were deluged and crops washed away.
When I first lived in NYC in the mid 90s, the wind off the East River made it jacket weather by mid of September or latest early October; when I left in 2015, it might not be winter cold at all before Thanksgiving. And now it rains at the Christmas markets, rather than snowing.
Yeah, like you I have lived all over, and everywhere weather has changed very noticeably. And it is so frustrating to live in a country where special interests have lied and manipulated shamelessly to convince people what they experience every day isn’t climate change, isn’t manmade or fossil fuel related, and isn’t something they can impact…
In the future people will read and study the history of our time. They will be fascinated that such an advanced society could fail so miserably on so many fronts: politics as well as norms and values. The lack of climate action will be a prime example, the lack of comapssion for horrors faced daily by farmed animals will be another one.
We have experienced very hot 🥵 weather here in the SE USA but not nearly as severe as others in our group here. It is often too humid and hot to work outdoors and power bills reflect the high usage of air conditioning , very little of it the green energy we are striving for yet. You say you have moved to Oslo? Is that a semipermanent assignment for this time of year? Will you not be returning to Ottawa? Do not intend to be intrusive. Just enjoy placing you wherever you might be in this world as home when not on your lovely island in the Netherlands. Believe you spoke of less travel to conserve “flight energy.” Very compassionate of you and selfless with so many still filling the air spaces with private jets guzzling fuel. Zoom seems to be a much more practical solution when possible for business. So sorry you are away from your morning swim routine. Sounded so very lovely. Enjoy the city when you can and do send stories and photos! 🕊️
I will send stories, struggling with wifi at the moment but that should soon get better I hope. I'll be back on the island later this year.
Here in Montreal, Quebec - not far from Ottawa, the climate has been remarkably good so far this summer. Only a few really warm days of 35-37 C with humidity but that is typical for summers here and lots of sun. As well, there has been quite a lot of rain here...no floods however. So we seem to be having a more typical season - really much more "normal" than in many other places in the world. Will it continue? Hope so, but we will soon see. Winter will, I think, be milder again than last year ...
We live in a time when normal weather is increasingly celebrated. I spent the summer on the Dutch island that I considder my real home, even if I'm often elsewhere. The newspapers complained about the bad summer all the time. It was however, like you experienced in Montreal, a somewhat normal summer, where sunny, warm days alternated with some days of rain. It's sad to see when the media labels normal weather as bad weather and absurdly hot and dry summers as a good summer.
They were ready for you
Climate seems to follow you.
yes, but I fear climate change follows all of us; it's hard to escape its reality
The struggle is real. From panoramic American Southwest with calcium rings at Hoover Dam; the small but mighty Colorado River, whose every cubic foot of water is spoken for by farmers, ranchers and 14 tribal nations to the surreal beauty of Norway, who I believe is the leading country in reforestation, has banned deforestation and has more standing trees than it did 100 years ago that is now setting a new national heat record. No one is exempt.
I like countries that get it. I like people that get it. So, I am sure I will like the stories and pics coming out of Oslo. Astronaut Commander Mark Kelly from Arizona tells a story of carrying 18 mice on his space shuttle. 17 of the mice freaked out. One mouse got it. He figured out how to fly and get his food and water. This story has now become a children's book called "The Mousetronaut" with the remaining 17 mice learning to work together and figure out how to survive.
We are all on this space shuttle called earth and as humans we need to figure out how to work together and survive. With desert temps setting a new heat record every week, no end in sight, our planet is burning; my native state is becoming uninhabitable, and no one is stepping up to course correct.
As the sun sets in the desert I try to say thank you to those watching over our planet, to those that get it. The older I become, the more I understand the ground I am standing on is sacred. Proteger la tierra esta en nuestras manos.
Thank you, Sharon. I'm eager to explore Norway's green innovations and share these insights with The Planet's readers. Mark Kelly's "Mousetronaut" story is a delightful metaphor for adaptability and cooperation that should inspire us to tackle our shared challenges on spaceship Earth. As you know, Arizona holds a special place in my heart, and I hope to return often to marvel at its wide open spaces and spectacular nature. I'm sad to see the reality of rising temperatures, making it harder to live in that beautiful state. It's a vivid reminder of the climate crisis unfolding before our eyes. You mentioned a profound truth: the ground beneath our feet is indeed sacred, as is all of nature on our planet. We are collectively responsible for protecting and nurturing this precious home we share. I'm always delighted to see there are people like you and other subscribers to this newsletter who truly "get it" and are committed to making a difference.
Thank you, Alex. Your platforms have given each of us a seat at the table, a voice and a cause. I am so glad Arizona & our rugged southwest hold you sway. Stepping out in the light this morning, there is a brief hope in the air of better days. I'll take it.
Good luck in Oslo! I was there and in Svalbard a year ago. I've recently moved to Vancouver, Canada, so am waving to you across the ethers and the oceans.
A wave from one of the most beautiful spots in the world to another top one on the same list. I wave back!
I needed a moment to get over my jealousy of you having moved to Oslo. I know you will enjoy it.
That aside, yes this summer Switzerland has been hit by massive thunderstorms. We've had those before but the frequency and destructive force is going to make people move down from those mountain valleys. A different kind of climate migration. We are lucky that we have great infrastructure and things are fixed (and fixed properly) very quickly.
Last Sunday night we had a thunderstorm that was more intense than I have ever experienced. It stayed in place more than an hour and did not move at all. There was an insane amount of lightning too. I struggled physically because of the intensity of it all - scary. I love thunderstorms and I can safely say that I've never experience anything like it. Short and intense, definitely. This long, definitely not.
One more thing. The first time I traveled to above the arctic cirlce. Just me and my backpack it was so hot. Northern Norway was hit by a heatwave. It was 31°C in Narvik. I think it was in 2005. Back then this was a one off. Now it's becoming the norm.
Enjoy Norway! Make sure you try the brown cheese - it's best on waffles. If you don't have a waffle iron - get one. Trust me on that. Also a proper Norwegian cheese slicer 😉
Scary, that thunderstorm. We, the Dutch, stole that cheese slicer idea from the Norwegians and branded it as Dutch. Now we sell them in Delft-blue porcelain version to American tourists as authentic Dutch. Call it a sharp business mentality or whatever you like. Oh, and those tulips... from Turkey!
😂
😂😂
Wishing you all the best in Oslo!
Thanks, Micha!
I am so sorry this was your experience day one of this beautiful country :( And yes, I have personally experienced climate change with too many incidents in a number of US states to list here. 🌻
I sorted through a few things and came up with this little list.
In February 2021 Texas experienced a power grid failure during a freak winter storm (polar vortex with temps below -0°F). My home was one of more than 4.5 million homes and businesses without power for several days. At least 246 people lost their lives with estimates as high as 704 killed. When power was restored, pipes burst and it would be days before a plumber could visit. Republican governor Greg Abbott was warned for years to winterize natural gas infrastructure but instead chose to blame frozen wind turbines and solar panels. The grid came within 4 minutes of shutting down completely. Now Abbott is busy sending asylum seekers by bus to my current home of Chicago.
In a typical year, Illinois will experience 50 tornadoes. There were over 100 in 2024. A record 27 twisters hit the Chicago area on July 15 this year.
Last winter was mild. Chicago experienced the 5th warmest winter. Average temps 34.9°F, 6.8° above normal. 18.5” of snowfall 11.1” below average.
Summer temps averaged 74.6°F and 1.3° above normal.
The oddest event to happen to me was during a surprise rainstorm this spring. About 7-8 of us got off the bus when a downpour began. We took refuge in an apartment lobby. The rain had hit the pavement so hard it acted like a power washer, covering us in dirt.
A record number drownings in Lake Michigan occured this year due to high winds, high waves, and dangerous currents.
Bears repeating. Our leadership will not fully appreciate the impact of climate change until an emergency happens to them or someone for which they care. Many know full well what's at stake and have decided the money is more important.
Thank you for all you do.
Sad to read of one person withnessing so many extremes in just a few years. Now multiply with 8 billion for a full planet-wide picture.
Indeed. My real time experiences and your newsletter helping me keep track of what the world was experiencing, convinced me to change my life completely.
P.S. I’m so sorry that your stay in Oslo brought climate change to you so unexpectedly, and so different from your home in
Holland. It’s more than a fact of life now. It’s downright dangerous for us and the rest of the planet.
It makes me very sad 😢
I hope your stay in Oslo gives you some joy and that you find solace in the beautiful woods, fjords
and forests that Norway has to offer.
I hope to see more of the nature here and write about it in The Planet newsletter :-)
Alex, I wish your “take” on climate change could be read universally instead of us select few who feel the way you do.
I was struck by climate change last summer in a supposedly “cooler part” of Italy while travelling with my daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters.
We spent a week in and around Lake Como and another in and around Lucca. It was almost unbearably hot 🥵 We had a wonderful vacation, but, sadly we realized that the heat bothered all of us (in different ways). There were days when the four of them went “exploring” our environs, but grandma stayed behind having difficulty walking in the extreme heat. It became difficult for me to breathe.
We’d been together in Italy a few times before, but this was our last summer trip there, sadly.
This summer I picked three Scandinavian cities figuring we should head North! We spent several fabulous days in Copenhagen, Stockholm and after a fun,
cool ferry ride, in Helsinki.
I had been to all three cities before (+ where you are, Oslo) and loved every one.
It was a wonderful choice for us with daily temperatures in the 60’s-70’s. No worries about climate change. HA.
Thank you Anne, I have family in northern Italy and hear their stories of how the climate has been changing in the past decade compared to all the years before since they moved there in the early 1970s. Scandinavia may become the new Riviera since I wonder, like you do, why people would still visit the Mediterranean countries in summertime. My preference is surely the north, even though I'm crazy enough to walk camino-routes in Spain in summer (leaving in the dark to escape the worst heat). Oslo is wonderful, I hope to write more about my first impressions very soon.