Controlling the Climate

IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS, in the lower midwestern mid south part of the United States, we are currently knee deep in a very serious drought. It rained not at all during December, and we had a few sprinkles, and nothing more, a couple of days ago. Meanwhile a drenching avalanche of an atmospheric river is dumping unwanted billions of tons of fresh water all over California, too much of a good thing. If only we could move some molecules around a bit, and redistribute all this hydro wealth, using human technology. That will likely be possible within a hundred years, famed scientist Michio Kaku said about a quarter century ago. The thought of the human species having complete control over the Earth's atmosphere, hence weather and climate,is at once awe inspiring and frightening. The "image" of waring countries using fabricated violent weather to destroy each other comes to mind. Over the past couple of decades our tendency here in lower mid America has been to have at least one, and sometimes too prolonged droughs each summer, but spring, fall,and winter have usually been adequately and reliably wet. A super dry December is new territory,as far as I can recall.In my neck of the woods, it is utterlly amazing hwo much the climate has changed over the course of my seventy year and counting lifetime. Around here, October used to be a cold weather month. Now, October is late summer, with temperatures in the mid eighties most days. It used to snow where I live, at least two or three times each winter, in amounts ranging from a fraction of an inch to two feet, snow which would usually melt rapidly and be gone within a few days, a feature particularly appealing to me. Now, it never snows, or hardly ever, and it seems to most of us that if probably never will again, or if so, only infrequently. I have started telling people that I predict that within my lifetime we will experience a summer in which the temperature rises to one hundred degrees on Memorial Day, and remains there until Labor Day. I am standing by that prediction while praying that it is wrong. We already have, as a matter of course, weeks on end of temperatures well into the nineties, so, we don't really have far to go. Those almost daily pop up showers in mid summer which used to briefly interupt our neighborhood whiffleball games are seemingly a thing of the past; now, when it rains, it pours, for days, and often, it doesn't rain for weeks, like now. The rain would stop, we'd have a few minutes of twig races in the flowing street gutters until the sun dried out the back yard ball field, then, back to baseball. Hopeful signs are that the world is becoming constantly more aware of and concerned about doing something about global warming, all except our beloved but recalcitrant United States of Amnesia. The world is converting to solar and wind energy at a break neck pace, thank heavens. Solar energy panels are flowing out of China and unto every human inhabited nook and cranny on Earth, while Trump's America ignores and tries to destroy this best hope for future economic prosperity. Take heart. Trump and his ridiculous cult movement will be gone not soon enough, but soon, and the U.S. can become, or will at least have a chance to become, a responsible partner in restoring the health of the planetary ecosystem. Its too late to prevent climate change made by humanity, but not too late to prevent its most disastrous consequences. As for now, we could, as usual, use a litttle rain.