Yesterday, I went to sleep with the bedroom ceiling fan on, and, during the night, had to turn it off and grab a light blanket. Ah yes – Colorado. It’s supposed to be cooler through Thursday and start warming up again Friday. We shall see.
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Letters from an American – July 24, 2022
Quote – On Friday, Axios began to publish a deeply researched and important series by Jonathan Swan, explaining that if former president Trump retakes power, he and allies like his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), and head of Trump’s social media network Devin Nunes are determined to purge our nonpartisan civil service and replace it with loyalists. In a normal administration, a new president gets to replace around 4000 political appointees, but most government employees are in positions designed to be nonpartisan. Trump’s team wants to gut this system and put in place people loyal to him and his agenda. Click through for more, including how much damage he did along these lines while he was in office, with Schedule F in place. Now imagine the damage he could do without it.
CPR – 6 fire agencies in El Paso County join together to form an interagency wildland fire team
Quote – Those involved include the Hanover Fire Protection District, Fountain Fire Department, Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District, Security Fire Protection District, Fort Carson Fire & Emergency Services and the Southwest Highway 115 Fire Protection District. The 18-member Wildland Fire Team is made up of volunteers specifically trained in wildland firefighting. While all of the locations have their own staff, Stratmoor Hills Fire Chief Shawn Bittle said the volunteer component will allow for increased manpower without impacting the agency’s restricted budgets. Click through for story. Of course the City of Colorado Springs has a Fire Department. It does not serve unincorporated areas of the county. All those fire departments named are funded by Special Districts with the authority to tax residents. Elections regarding these Special Districts are the elections I think I have mentioned which one may vote in without being a registered voter, or even a citizen, provided they own property in the District (because “No Taxation Without Representation”). Obviously, they have limitations. I consider this development really good news – as well as a model for others who own property outside of municipal fire departments’ service areas, wherever in the nation they may be.
Yesterday, I overslept, but it was pretty quiet so I could afford that lost time, and even manage to write a “thank you” note to an old friend from the military for a book that there is no way my eyes and shoulders will allow me to read – and I like and respect her too much to lie to her. So that was tough.. But the news – I do try to limit the outrage in the short takes and feature good news when there is some. Today there is mostly outrage. Take a deep breath and try not to get depressed.
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The 19th – How exposure to toxic chemicals in everyday products can impact reproductive health
Quote – PFAS is a developmental carcinogen. We have done a systematic review, which is the best practice for how to evaluate evidence, showing that PFOA [part of the larger group of man-made chemicals known as PFAS] can, through prenatal exposure, increase the risk of low birth weight [in] babies. It also looks like it could be related to maternal health effects; there is some evidence on preeclampsia and on gestational diabetes. It could influence fertility. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can influence estrogen levels. So in the state of California they have labeled it a reproductive toxin based on its effects on the female ovary. But, you know, there’s also been studies on metabolic disease like obesity and diabetes and on neurodevelopmental effects. There’s been studies looking at effects on fertility. There’s a number of different animal and human studies showing that it affects reproductive function, and it’s shown in animal studies to affect the quality of the eggs in the ovary. Click through for details. So what the article is saying is, the same white, wealthy, overwhelmingly male minority repomsible for imposing unpopular abortion bans is also responsible for saturating women (and men and children) with chemicals that make abortions more likely to be the only alternative to death. Got it.
NM Political Report – ‘Is your land for sale?’ Alarming offers to buy property in the burn zone
Quote – April Hoogerhuies got the phone call in the middle of packing up her home in Las Vegas, frantically trying to get things ready in case the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon inferno forced her to evacuate. “Is your land for sale?” the caller inquired…. “This isn’t the time or place for this,” she replied. The caller rattled off a company name too quickly to note, but it was clear she wanted to buy a plot of undeveloped property that Hoogerhuies and her husband Daniel own in Manuelitas, just east of Hermits Peak. The couple maintains a greenhouse on the land, where they plant crops like pumpkins, radishes and tomatoes. Hoogerhuies was in a frenzy, packing up papers and medications while also trying to find a place for her elderly parents, in case they, too, needed to evacuate. Click through for story. The race to the bottom continues.You know – yu just know – that if the vultures make enough calls, they will find someone who is willing to sell – and that that seller will be the person who can least afford to be swinf=dled. (And that there won’t be just one.)
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
I thought this was timely – and also something that didn’t require a lot of response from me – and if you have read the Open Thread, you know yesterday was rather hectiuc. Not that it’s especially timely for Lona – but it will be – in January or thereabouts – and she has an excellent filing system. For now, I want to keep everyone who thinks here safe and in good health Hence this advisory.
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How hot is too hot for the human body? Our lab found heat + humidity gets dangerous faster than many people realize
Heat waves are becoming supercharged as the climate changes – lasting longer, becoming more frequent and getting just plain hotter. One question a lot of people are asking is: “When will it get too hot for normal daily activity as we know it, even for young, healthy adults?”
The answer goes beyond the temperature you see on the thermometer. It’s also about humidity. Ourresearch shows the combination of the two can get dangerous faster than scientists previously believed.
Scientists and other observers have become alarmed about the increasing frequency of extreme heat paired with high humidity, measured as “wet-bulb temperature.” During the heat waves that overtook South Asia in May and June 2022, Jacobabad, Pakistan, recorded a maximum wet-bulb temperature of 33.6 C (92.5 F) and Delhi topped that – close to the theorized upper limit of human adaptability to humid heat.
People often point to a study published in 2010 that estimated that a wet-bulb temperature of 35 C – equal to 95 F at 100% humidity, or 115 F at 50% humidity – would be the upper limit of safety, beyond which the human body can no longer cool itself by evaporating sweat from the surface of the body to maintain a stable body core temperature.
It was not until recently that this limit was tested on humans in laboratory settings. The results of these tests show an even greater cause for concern.
The PSU H.E.A.T. Project
To answer the question of “how hot is too hot?” we brought young, healthy men and women into the Noll Laboratory at Penn State University to experience heat stress in a controlled environment.
These experiments provide insight into which combinations of temperature and humidity begin to become harmful for even the healthiest humans.
S. Tony Wolf, a postdoctoral researcher in kinesiology at Penn State and co-author of this article, conducts a heat test in the Noll Laboratory as part of the PSU Human Environmental Age Thresholds project. Patrick Mansell / Penn State, CC BY-NC-ND
Each participant swallowed a small telemetry pill, which monitored their deep body or core temperature. They then sat in an environmental chamber, moving just enough to simulate the minimal activities of daily living, such as cooking and eating. Researchers slowly increased either the temperature in the chamber or the humidity and monitored when the subject’s core temperature started to rise.
That combination of temperature and humidity whereby the person’s core temperature starts to rise is called the “critical environmental limit.” Below those limits, the body is able to maintain a relatively stable core temperature over time. Above those limits, core temperature rises continuously and risk of heat-related illnesses with prolonged exposures is increased.
When the body overheats, the heart has to work harder to pump blood flow to the skin to dissipate the heat, and when you’re also sweating, that decreases body fluids. In the direst case, prolonged exposure can result in heat stroke, a life-threatening problem that requires immediate and rapid cooling and medical treatment.
Our studies on young healthy men and women show that this upper environmental limit is even lower than the theorized 35 C. It’s more like a wet-bulb temperature of 31 C (88 F). That would equal 31 C at 100% humidity or 38 C (100 F) at 60% humidity.
Similar to the National Weather Service’s heat index chart, this chart translates combinations of air temperature and relative humidity into critical environmental limits, above which core body temperature rises. The border between the yellow and red areas represents the average critical environmental limit for young men and women at minimal activity. W. Larry Kenney, CC BY-ND
Dry vs. humid environments
Current heat waves around the globe are approaching, if not exceeding, these limits.
In hot, dry environments the critical environmental limits aren’t defined by wet-bulb temperatures, because almost all the sweat the body produces evaporates, which cools the body. However, the amount humans can sweat is limited, and we also gain more heat from the higher air temperatures.
Keep in mind that these cutoffs are based solely on keeping your body temperature from rising excessively. Even lower temperatures and humidity can place stress on the heart and other body systems. And while eclipsing these limits does not necessarily present a worst-case scenario, prolonged exposure may become dire for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with chronic diseases.
Our experimental focus has now turned to testing older men and women, since even healthy aging makes people less heat tolerant. Adding on the increased prevalence of heart disease, respiratory problems and other health problems, as well as certain medications, can put them at even higher risk of harm. People over the age of 65 comprise some 80%-90% of heat wave casualties.
How to stay safe
Staying well hydrated and seeking areas in which to cool down – even for short periods – are important in high heat.
While more cities in the United States are expanding cooling centers to help people escape the heat, there will still be many people who will experience these dangerous conditions with no way to cool themselves.
The lead author of this article, W. Larry Kenney, discusses the impact of heat stress on human health with PBS NewsHour.
Even those with access to air conditioning might not turn it on because of the high cost of energy – a common occurrence in Phoenix, Arizona – or because of large-scale power outages during heat waves or wildfires, as is becoming more common in the western U.S.
A recent study focusing on heat stress in Africa found that future climates will not be conducive to the use of even low-cost cooling systems such as “swamp coolers” as the tropical and coastal parts of Africa become more humid. These devices, which require far less energy than air conditioners, use a fan to recirculate the air across a cool, wet pad to lower the air temperature, but they become ineffective at high wet-bulb temperatures above 21 C (70 F).
All told, the evidence continues to mount that climate change is not just a problem for the future. It is one that humanity is currently facing and must tackle head-on.
============================================================== Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone are well aware that human bodies vary wildly on how they react to heat – or for that matter cold – since they vary so wildly in other factors. (And I use the term “wildly” deliberately – not a typo for “widely” – because some of the variations really are wild. Nevertheless, general guidelines such as these are valuable as guidelines if one wants to avoid the worst effects of seasonal phenomena, particularly when those are exacerbated by climate change. And the Furies, as I do, want everyone to stay well.
Yesterday, having done the research on who picks up donations and who doesn’t, I scheduled a pickup with the Vietnam Veterans of America. The earliest date I could get was August 25, but that will work out actually – I can add to it in bits and pieces. It’ll be the first pickup but I’m sure it will not be the last.
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CPR News – A 150-year-old San Luis Valley farm stops growing food to save a shrinking water supply. It might be the first deal of its kind in the country
Quote – Farmers and ranchers across the San Luis Valley face a deadline: Their underground water source is drying up from a combination of overuse and a decades-long drought driven by climate change. To restore a balance of supply and demand, farmers and ranchers across the valley need to drastically cut how much water they pump out of the ground, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources. If they don’t, the state has threatened to step in and shut off hundreds of wells, which local water managers say would devastate the valley’s agriculture-driven economy. Click through to understand the dilemma. When I first came to Colorado in 1976, it was to Alamosa in the San Luis VAlley. That is where Virgil and I met and got married. We only left because we couldn’t find work there. CPR says this story is “hopeful and heartbreaking.” I concur.
Robert Reich – How to handle radical Republicans
Quote – Can we get real? There is nothing conservative about these so-called “conservatives.” They don’t want to preserve or protect our governing institutions — the core idea of conservatism extending from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater. They are radicals, intent on wrecking these institutions to impose their ideology on everyone else. The Supreme Court’s Republican appointees have all but obliterated stare decisis — the conservative principle that the Court must follow its precedents and not change or reverse them unless clearly necessary, and with near unanimity…. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, are abusing the filibuster and undermining the legitimacy of the Senate. Clickt through for suggestions. I agree there is nothing conservative about “conservatives” – and there hasn’t been for decades. “Radical” is certainly more adequate, refernceing the “roots” of government and society (which they want to completely tear up.) But radical slao has a positive meaning – wanting to reform government and society from the roots up – so I’, loath to give that th them. “Reactionary” may be the most accurate. Or “extremist” – except that they like that one.
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Theodora” be George Frederick Handel. This is sort of the opposite of last week, when an opera traditionally staged was presented in concert. Theodora was written as an oratorio, intended to be performed in cocert – but the Royal Opera House (London) fully staged it. It actually stages well, including – maybe especially – in modern dress (which thet used). I have a VCR of it from the seventies, directed by Peter Sellars (not the Englishman who spelled it with an “e” and was then already no longer with us, but the Australian who spells it with an “a” and is still very much alive and quirky), also in modern dress. I believe he was the first to fully stage it, but staging it has since become relatively normal. Sellars is a phenomenon in himself, but I won;t go into that today. The story is about a Christian woman – Theodors – who is in love with a Roman soldier – Didymus – at a time when Christians were still being hunted down by the Empire This can’t end well – and it doesn’t. Of course ther are other characters, and plot twists and turns. Handel actually wrote a lot of Italan style operas in his younger days, and Theodira would probably have been one of them had not John Gay and John Rich come along with “The Beggar’s Opers which made Italian opera obsolete overnight. Of course, without that happening, “Messiah” might never have been written (neither would “The Threepenny Opera,” but I digress.)
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The Colorado Sun – Two Colorado students figured out how to clean an oil spill using human (their own) hair
Quote – Front Range Community College computer science instructor Diane Rhodes says the pair succeeded in part because they had a good idea, backed it with solid engineering and modeling work, and put in the time to overcome physical problems and fix broken parts. But their personalities also made a big impact, Rhodes said. Doing well at innovation competitions requires interaction, practice in public, and a bit of sales, Rhodes said. “They were very enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable. They were able to articulate their problem in a concise way. And they were not shy,… [a]nd I never once had to tell them to put their phones down.” Click through for story. Good news is always welcome. And human (and canine) hair is a renewable resource.
Robert Reich – The Republican Party: God, guns, forced birth, and strongmen
Quote – The connections between these strands of rightwing ideology are growing clearer and louder — theocratic Christianity, gun violence, the subjugation of women through forced birth, and strongman authoritarianism. Christian nationalism now taking over the Republican Party envisions vigilante justice — “good guys with guns,” neighbors eavesdropping on neighbors, and action to stop what they call “abortion trafficking” — women crossing state lines to access legal abortions. Widespread access to guns is essential to keep everyone under control, suppress protests, and fuel fear. To call this a “culture” war is to understate its true meaning and potential danger. Those of us who still believe in separating church and state, guarding reproductive rights, ensuring racial equality, ending gun violence, and protecting democracy must understand that much of the Republican Party now stands for the exact opposite of these values. Click through for details. Iam seeing many who write about American politics describe the nation as “asleep” – or “sleepwalking.” I fear that is accurate. REally, our best hope is that they have overstepped and that there will be enough outrage from liberals and other decent human beings to give us a Democratic sweep in both the House and Senate – preferably with no DINOs. If that doesn’t happen, this won’t end well.
Glenn Kirschner with Stephanie Miller: Trump Will Hold onto His Lies Until the Day He Dies.
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Olivia Rodrigo and Megan Thee Stallion SLAMMING Roe Decision
The Lincoln Project – He Wanted to Help
Dakota Water Wars Part 5 – Ignoring Tribes, Ignoring Laws (I would point out that when the speaker castigates the DOJ official opinion, that was Trump**’s DOJ)
Mrs Betty Bowers – The Not-So-Supreme Court
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s denials from the committee….
