Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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postscript: a disclosure S 217<br />
was mostly bone dry. Throughout <strong>the</strong> Ozarks that summer, springs<br />
never known <strong>to</strong> go dry disappeared.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> summer days ticked by, <strong>the</strong> changes in <strong>the</strong> land, vegetation,<br />
animals, and people became daily more evident. Around<br />
<strong>the</strong> limes<strong>to</strong>ne bluffs that rimmed <strong>the</strong> valley, <strong>the</strong> red oaks turned<br />
brown by early August. The smell <strong>of</strong> smoke from dozens and <strong>the</strong>n<br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> fi res was constantly in <strong>the</strong> air. One <strong>of</strong> our cows died,<br />
most likely from heatstroke. Twice I saw birds fall from <strong>the</strong> sky,<br />
apparently from heat-induced heart failure. Rattlesnakes seeking<br />
water migrated from <strong>the</strong> ridge <strong>to</strong>ps <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> valley fl oor, leaving<br />
serpentine trails in <strong>the</strong> thick dust as <strong>the</strong>y crossed dirt roads. People<br />
became lethargic, and a few became violent. Heat madness was<br />
said <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> defense in a shooting nearby.<br />
Heat has a particular smell <strong>to</strong> it, not al<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r unpleasant. You<br />
can feel heat in your bones. Exposed day after day <strong>to</strong> high temperatures<br />
and humidity, with little relief at night and without <strong>the</strong><br />
luxury <strong>of</strong> air-conditioning, <strong>the</strong> body’s core temperature elevates.<br />
Heat can scour your mind, leaving only an obsession with coolness<br />
and water. If you work outdoors in extreme heat, you learn<br />
<strong>to</strong> linger in <strong>the</strong> shade, avoid midday sun when possible, move<br />
slowly, and drink lots <strong>of</strong> water. But if you work indoors under <strong>the</strong><br />
anes<strong>the</strong>sia <strong>of</strong> air-conditioning, it is possible <strong>to</strong> avoid <strong>the</strong> experience<br />
<strong>of</strong> heat or drought or <strong>the</strong> changes in <strong>the</strong> land. On a day that<br />
summer on which some rain was forecast, I heard a DJ on a Little<br />
Rock radio station complain that he might miss his golf game.<br />
I laughed, but not entirely in mirth. By late September temperatures<br />
were cooler, but <strong>the</strong> rains held <strong>of</strong>f for ano<strong>the</strong>r month. The<br />
fi rst measurable rainfall we had in <strong>the</strong> valley came at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong><br />
Oc<strong>to</strong>ber and felt like manna from heaven. The smell <strong>of</strong> rain on<br />
parched ground is still about <strong>the</strong> sweetest smell I know.<br />
There were o<strong>the</strong>r hot and dry summers in <strong>the</strong> 1980s, notably<br />
that <strong>of</strong> 1988. On a fl ight from Memphis <strong>to</strong> Little Rock I recall<br />
seeing a barge stranded in <strong>the</strong> Mississippi. The river was so diminished<br />
that it looked as if a person could jump from <strong>the</strong> barge <strong>to</strong>