Mukilteo Musings

Shocking!

When I was in the midst of this ridiculous storm on Monday and feeling like I was inside a washing machine, I got mad. I was mad at my window. I was mad at my gutters. I was mad that I do not even own 15 towels to soak up water so I had to rinse them in the washing machine and put them in the dryer to reuse them.

But now I feel so selfish. Eventually, the window will be fixed if someone can figure it out. It may take my brother coming for a visit from Montana. He could probably solve the problem. So the window is minor.

Seven people have lost their lives in this storm and scores more have lost homes and suffered property damage and loss. I-5, our sole major freeway and the only reasonable route between Portland and Seattle is covered in water and closed. It was seven to ten feet deep in places yesterday. Detour routes have changed the three to four hour trip into seven hours. Ironically, my daughter had been planning to drive home for Christmas from Walla Walla through Portland and on I-5 to Seattle to avoid the massive snow on the mountain passes. The water may be subsided but at this moment they have no idea about road damage. Trucks delivering goods as you can see in the photo are stranded.


STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

For the people who say, "Who cares about global warming? We won't even notice a couple of degrees." Well, folks. This is the face of global climate change. It is manifesting itself with extreme weather such as huge storms and temperatures ranging from ultra cold to ultra hot. Global climate change is now killing people in the United States, destroying property and affecting our economy. Washington and Oregon are now subject to typhoons which we experienced on Monday.

An article in today's Seattle PI discussed the link between global climate change and these storms. Scientists do not like to make pronouncements without absolute proof. I know this; I am married to one of these people. They say safe things out in public and then in the privacy of their homes with spouses and children and after a couple of glasses of wine, they say, "This is damned freakin' scary! We are doomed if we don't pay attention to this--like yesterday!!"
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342268_stormwater05.html

According to today's paper, "Climate change could mean more massive downpours"
By Lisa Stiffler and Tom Paulson:

"Record-setting storms like the one Sunday and Monday that flooded the Northwest could become more of the norm as climate change skews our region's rainfall patterns and leads to more of these massive deluges as compared to the typical drizzle......

'There is a risk under climate change of having more storms of this nature,' said Eric Salathe, a research scientist with the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group....

'Given that this is also a La Niña year, I'd be very surprised if this is the last such storm you get up there this year,' said Kelly Redmond, a climate scientist and interim director of the Western Regional Climate Center. The center, in Reno, Nev., is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

'The bigger question is whether the Northwest is seeing more of these kinds of events," Redmond said. "It isn't just a matter of increased rainfall. It's also about the form of that precipitation ... whether you are getting more 'typhoon' moisture out of the tropical regions.'...

'The thing that's interesting about this report is that certainly no single weather event can be tied directly to global warming, but the fact that we're seeing a greater frequency of these events is evidence of global warming in Washington state,' said Bill LaBorde, program director for the environmental group [Environment Washington]...."

The bottom line is we are having more of these catastrophic events. Everyone is in agreement. Regardless of the cause, reducing CO2 emissions will help curb the effects. Furthermore, we need to learn how to predict and manage the disasters when they strike. Our Wal-Mart lives are too comfy to handle major disruption.

The future is here and this is what it looks like.


Seattle PI/AP


Seattle PI/AP


Seattle PI/AP


Seattle PI/AP

Noah is calling us to the ark, folks. It is time to get on board.