Immigration Math: 150,000 People + 86,000 People = 236,000 People** “Duluth’s infrastructure can accommodate 150,000 more people, but the current population is just 86,000. Only 56 people moved to the city from 2010 to 2016.” –Photo caption, The New York Times. Jesse Keenan, the Harvard lecturer who’s been touting Duluth’s manifold, climate-change virtues (cool climate,...Read More
Dependent on the Kindness of (Foreign) Strangers One of the more disturbing images in “American War,” Omar El Akkad’s debut novel about a dystopian U.S. 50 years hence, is the presence of the Red Crescent on American soil. Of course, to early 21st century Americans, it’s the Red Cross that gets dispatched to war zones abroad to...Read More
Global Warming Fallout “High and Dry”: being in a helpless or abandoned position. –Definition, Merriam-Webster Dictionary Once upon a time, “high and dry” — as in being left high and dry — was decidedly a bad thing. Today? In an era of looming global warming and rising seas, “high & dry” seems likely to take...Read More
Second Home Selector, or “Hello, Palm Springs!” That’s not just a map (above) of how much February, 2015 global temperatures departed from global averages the last 30 years. If you live in Minnesota, it’s a 2nd home (or winter vacation) selector. So, if your principal residence is in a purple area experiencing temps -5º below...Read More
THERE It Is! (Almost) no one was complaining about the unseasonal 40’s (and 50’s!) lingering well past Thanksgiving, mind you. Still, to die-hard Minnesotans, it’s slightly discombobulating to see December on the calendar, and not be hunkered down — at least a little bit — contending with snow, ice, and subfreezing temp’s. Thanks to yesterday’s (mild)...Read More
Minnesota: Global Warming Winner According to scientists, which of the following are associated with global warming? A. Drought B. Floods C. Tornadoes D. All of the above. Answer: D. According to Weather Underground found Jeff Masters, “the 2011 Mississippi and Missouri River floods were higher than any other year, the 2011 Texas drought drier than...Read More
