Smoke gets in your eyes
"Creeping halfway across the Nation in a murky cloud extending 10,000 feet into the sky … bringing grime and discomfort" is how the Washington Post described a "black blizzard" that struck the nation's capital.
No, the article wasn't detailing the choking smoke from Canadian wildfires that is currently setting off air quality alerts in Washington, D.C., and much of the eastern U.S. The Post story described a March 1935 dust storm from the Midwest that was so large and powerful that it traveled all the way to the nation's capital, interrupting congressional testimony "about the urgent need for money and programs to combat the Dust Bowl."
The storm made it impossible for policymakers to deny a problem that was literally right in their faces and Congress speedily approved funding for an independent Soil Conservation Service.
Fast-forward to today and you have to wonder how much longer climate change skeptics in Congress can continue to deny the climate crisis while they are choking on the consequences of climate change. Establishing a link between climate change and the wildfires currently raging across Canada can be tricky, but as a recent BBC story put it, "scientists say that climate change is making weather conditions like heat and drought that lead to wildfires more likely."
The Canadian wildfires are the latest indication that our actions have had a profound impact on the climate. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Here's hoping there's a silver lining to the enormous smoke cloud currently enveloping our nation's capital and that we finally see Congress get serious about combating climate change.
Memes and tweets
