This trailer is a compelling brief look at a film that may eclipse An Inconvenient Truth in relevance right now. I am not a celebrity cause fan but by all reviews de Caprio has made a very important film that is frightening, provocative and relentlessly positive in its belief that we can change the world for the better. I can’t wait to see it.

I was watching the local weather report yesterday when they put up one of those national temperature maps. I was struck by the fact that a very large area of the southeast had 100’s plastered over it’s bright orange shading. This caught my attention because there was what looked like a massive storm in the Gulf of Mexico that they did not mention.
Well, it turns out that that storm is now Tropical Storm Erin which will hit the Texas coast in the next 12 hours. This will be followed by Dean, a Tropical Storm in the eastern Caribbean that is projected to be a Cat 3 hurricane by the weekend, before it hits the extremely warm waters of the Gulf. This may be the first serious hurricane weekend of the season.
The first indicator will be gas and oil commodity prices- traders tend to watch these weather reports like hawks as these storms are dead aimed at refineries and oil platforms.
I’m glad I’m not living in the steamy south these days!

It is hot here today and the weather across the planet is alarmingly extreme- NYC subways flooded, my friend told me today she had to walk 20 blocks to work this morning in stifling humidity and heat- no cabs available.

WSJ has an article (behind the paid wall) about how people have started buying summer homes in Newfoundland: Oceanfront average house goes for $40k, average temps up 4 degrees F, 123 days with average temps of 77F. They’re marketing to Brits because it’s faster to fly there from london than it takes to get to similar coastal properties in the UK and Ireland- similar summer climate.

I’ve been up there- it is a long way from everything! Nice in a barren Atlantic storm-beaten way.

Update: The first tornado ever recorded in the NYC area hit Brooklyn yesterday.

The Star in Toronto has a front page article about the dire water situation in America’s Southwest, the fastest growing region in the country. They predict a mass exodus to the water-rich areas of the Northeast as these new Southwesterners discover that, while they’ve built 300 golf courses and endless housing developments, they have been ignoring a basic fact: there is no water to support the huge population of this region.

The article is comprehensive and a must-read if you live in our area. Water is going to be the most valuable commodity on Earth, replacing petroleum products. Mass migrations have always followed water since the beginning of time. In spite of all our technology, we cannot make the Colorado river rise and water the entire Southwest (including Mexico which is being shortchanged drastically by our growth).

You think we have immigration issues now? Wait till people realize where the water is….

Tip of the the hat to Franke, our erstwhile Canadian correspondent! (that’s all the links you get this week!)

Add-on: New Scientist cites a study that amalgamates 92 computer simulations using 14 global circulation models and compares these with actual rainfall data from around the world to conclude that changes in water distribution are the major effect of climate change:

‘The findings are important, Zwiers says, because “as humans, our activities are much more constrained by limits of water than by temperature (italics mine). In places where agriculture is marginal, it will become more marginal in the future”.

From the article:
‘Seager’s own research has shown that, in addition to the trends shown by Zwiers’ team, there will also be a significant drying of areas in the northern subtropics, including the US southwest and the Mediterranean.’