“Southern Europe was on heat wave alert faced with baking temperatures and drought conditions…….”
“Despite refreshing morning rainfall in Madrid, much of southern and central Spain has been sweltering in temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for weeks, though the weekend did bring some respite.”
Unfortunately I’m in Barcelona. The temperatures aren’t much cooler, but there’s no sign of the rain here. Fires, and dehydration victims are going to be the main problems. And, of course, lethargic bloggers :).
Gotta head down to the basement for a pre-chilled Cherry Coke, but I’m feeling not lethargic at all. Then again, I’m a sub-tropical life form who first really starts to feel good when the thermometer tops 25C.
“to feel good when the thermometer tops 25C”
Me too, but I tend to choke of again when it pushes through 37/38. It’s the humidity more than anything here that gets to me.
La mer, la mer, toujours recomenc?e…
Je suis lasse.
Your comment does contain geopolitical implications. To the extent that politicians allow themselves to be influenced by the weather that they have recently experienced (which is atrocious science, I know), this does not augur well for any climate agreement at the G8. The eastern seaboard of the US has had a relatively mild summer until a few days ago. Compared to summers past, people would think that getting almost to July before the first heatwave is good. In other words — global warming may be perceived as a net gain for the US, whereas the Western Europeans have more of a case for seeing the downside over the last couple of weeks. And of course Bush loves Texas so it’s not like he’s that bothered by heat anyway. So chalk up the divergent weather as another bad G8 signal.
“so it’s not like he’s that bothered by heat anyway.”
Not a good time to he head cook though, since it’s getting very hot in the kitchen :). Also don’t forget there is a net population migration south in the US. This is made possible by the invention of air conditioning. But of course the extra air conditioning use drives up energy costs (and possibly has a climatic knock-on). Nothing these days seems to be entirely without geo-political risk.
Then, of course, we have the old stalking chestnut about climate and character…..
Ah, well…The Yorkshire Ranter is a northern creature that likes the long days and short nights but begins to sweat like a rapist above about 20C, which makes the Tube such a joy at the moment. I also can’t work out how I used to put up happily with temperatures in the high 30s while doing things like digging holes in northwestern Australia, but London in summer reduces me to a pool of stink. No doubt the fact I rarely if ever wore a suit to dig holes in Australia helped:-)
Frankly, what with the oil price, climate change, global financial imbalance, bird flu and Iraq-trained jihadis running about, I’ve exhausted my capacity for worrying and can only now calm down…