But first, from Time magazine: $100 The price of oil hit $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May. It comes after the Houthis of Yemen struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, enforcing a long-threatened blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another shipping route crucial to the world’s energy supplies. From the New York Times (Sam Sifton) this morning: The Trump administration has imposed new tariffs on goods from more than 80 countries . The tariffs, along with the war in Iran, are threatening the U.S. economy . For my readership, here are some upcoming journeys. August-September 2026:   Total Eclipse of the Sun . Ever see a total eclipse of the Sun?   This is the one where you will feel that extra chill, gets almost dark and some animals think it is the end of the day.   My one experience was on 11July1991 over the Big Island of Hawaii on by wife's birthday .  To quote that posting, it is pretty amazing that the coverage is...

Nearly 24 years ago, NASA researcher James Hansen said:   The greenhouse effect had been detected.  And it is changing our climate now .  It was at that time the hottest 12-month period scientists had ever seen. Returning to the present, 2021 was only the fifth or sixth hottest year, even though July was the hottest month humanity has recorded.   Further, the seven hottest years on record have happened in the last seven years. Further : Since 1981, average global temperatures have increased at a rate of about 0.18 degrees Celsius (0.32 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. In the same period, the warming of oceans — which have absorbed about 90 percent of the additional heat trapped by human carbon pollution — has gotten eight times faster. Finally : The United States endured at least   20 weather disasters costing $1 billion or more   last year, the second most on record, NOAA announced this week. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and floods — almost al...