IS THIS THE HOT SUMMER THAT FINALLY SCARES DECISION MAKERS TO TAKE GLOBALLY WARMING SERIOUSLY?

I'll answer that question at the beginning. NO! I've long felt that someday, some cataclysmically hot summer will finally convince the world to be serious about global warming. While there is no doubt temperatures are continuing to go up, this summer is not showing that decisive sign.

Sure, London finally hit 104F, the highest in recorded history. I remember I one day landed at Heathrow when the temperature was only 100F. And there were problems. I went on to Dublin, and it was only 98F, but the hot topic of the day there was a warning for farmers to place sunblock on cow udders. To quote:

Of course, I thought about protecting myself, too, so I went to a department store but couldn’t find any for humans. After much scurrying around, I finally was able to purchase a small tube of Johnson and Johnson for a ridiculously high price. It went on fine, although it seemed to stain everything white, but just wouldn’t come off, even with soap. I think I bought something for cows.

I needed sunblock because I had a golf outing. This too deserves a quote:

Well, back to the Royal Dublin, Grant and I each rented a golf set, while the Matsunaga’s had brought theirs. We were going to buy golf balls, which were very, very expensive, but Tadashi said, we could use his, for he brought a lot of them. We teed off, but by the fifth hole, were down to one ball each. The rough grass just consumed our balls, and Tadashi had not brought that many, maybe only 35.

Back to today, all over Europe record temperatures are occurring, causing unusual wildfires.

Authorities predicted that perhaps 1000 people were likely to die as a result of this current hot spell. Will this be sufficient for decision-makers to be convinced that global climate change is serious? Hardly, for any kind of significant response will come only when world-wide many millions perish from heat. However, only 10% of homes in Europe are air-conditioned, so this is partly why they are taking the leading role in climate control.

The USA too is suffering, as 100 million in as many as 20 states will be under a heat alert today where temperatures will reach 100F. The entire state of Oklahoma will hit 103F today. This has never before happened. 265 million Americans will see a high above 90F over the next week.

But remember last year when Portland, Oregon reached 116F? That was nothing compared to Lytton, British Columbia, which hit 121.3F. This portion of North America is especially vulnerable because air-conditioning is not prevalent.

84% of homes in the U.S. have air-conditioning. While a really hot day is rare in most U.S. cities, hot cities like Las Vegas see 74 days/year of at least 100F, while Phoenix has 110 of those days/year. Yet, maybe not climate warming, for Las Vegas had 110 days at 100F or higher in 1947 and Phoenix had 143 days at 100F or higher in 1989. 99% of newer homes sold in Vegas are air-conditioned, and 97% of those in Phoenix. This year 17 have died in Phoenix's Maricopa County, but most were homeless.

I recall staying at my brother's home one summer day in Las Vegas. The city had a brownout. The temperature outside was 113F. So we just went to a casino. They all can generate their own electricity for emergencies.

Thus, the U.S. Senate will just not pass any kind of major climate change legislation this year. President Joe Biden just gave a major policy statement on this problem. But he is handicapped by another Joe, Manchin.

A NEXT COVID SUBVARIANT?

By now most know that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has become the dominant infectious agent, now accounting for more than 80% of all COVID-19 cases. Very few are aware that a new one, BA.4.6, is sneaking in and steadily rising, now accounting for 13% of sequenced samples . However, as BA.4.6 has emerged from BA.4, while there is uncertainty, the scientific sense is that the latest bivalent booster targeting BA.4 and BA.5 should also be effective for this next threat. One concern is that Evusheld--the only monoclonal antibody authorized for COVID prevention in immunocompromised individuals--is not effective against BA.4.6. Here is a reference as to what this means. A series of two injections is involved. Evusheld was developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, and is a t ixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab . More recently, Los Angeles County reported on subvariant BA.2.75.2 . which Tony Fauci termed suspicious and troublesome. This strain has also been spreading in

Part 3: OUR NEXT AROUND THE WORLD ODYSSEY

Before I get into my third, and final, part of this cruise series, let me start with some more newsworthy topics. Thursday was my pandemic day for years. Thus, every so often I return to bring you up to date on the latest developments. All these subvariants derived from that Omicron variant, and each quickly became dominant, with slightly different symptoms. One of these will shock you. There has been a significant decline in the lost of taste and smell. From two-thirds of early patients to now only 10-20% show these symptoms. JN.1, now the dominant subvariant, results in mostly mild symptoms. However, once JN.1 infects some, there seem to be longer-lasting symptoms. Clearly, the latest booster helps prevent contracting Covid. A competing subvariant, BA.2.86, also known as Pirola , a month ago made a run, but JN.1 prevailed. No variant in particular, but research has shown that some of you will begin to lose hair for several months. This is caused by stress more than anythi

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These are held every five years, and there have only been

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