And so it unfolds:
- Record flooding in Pakistan displaces millions, kills 1200, and cholera is starting to spread.
- It is 106.3°F in the Ukraine. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev reports that in 14 regions of Russia "practically everything is burning." A drought accompanying the heat wave has ruined 25 million acres of grain (about the size of Kentucky) with no end in sight. Fires have scorched more than 300,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, and killed scores of people. Burning peat fields on the outskirts of Moscow are making it hard to breath in parts of the Russian capital.
- The US Senate is placing the last nails in the coffin of efforts to even begin to address climate change.
Read all about on Climate Progress, the web's best climate blog.
The climate change debate that didn't happen in the Senate, that President Obama turned and ran from, can nevertheless be found as reality-TV-infomercial-hipster-greenwash-marketing-ploy featuring celebrities like Sara Silverman, climate researchers, and Tea Party nut cases. It is all part of the marketing campaign for the roll out of the new Lexus hybrid. Climate change as fashion event. The inane yammering of the "debaters" provides a hip ambiance for hipsters enjoying cocktails, and you can read all about who had the best dress, the best hair, and so on.
The fancy new hybrid, not even available until next year, can be expected to get slightly better mileage than a 1976 Dodge Dart Sport. Now that's progress.
The good news is that Carol Browner, the Obama administration's energy czar, has announced that 75% of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon blow-out "has been taken care of by Mother Nature." Whew.
