Letters: Putting weather in perspective; Lead by example on Veterans Day

Putting weather in perspective

When will weather reports start telling us what really is happening? How many excessive wildfires will it take? How many Greek named hurricanes will it take? How many droughts will it take? Weather reports need to make it clear that the weather we are experiencing is not merely “unusual” or “first-time ever” or “extreme heat” or “rare melting” or “record setting.” This is the climate crisis upon us and causing deaths, health problems and costs.

We need to act now. It is hard to think about more than one crisis at a time, but we are faced with at least two right now. The climate crisis is generating crises in economics, health and housing. We know cumulatively how many people have caught COVID-19 and how have many died from the virus.

We should have a cumulative number of homes lost and the cumulative number of displaced people from the climate crisis. We should have a cumulative number of lives lost and hospitalizations (e.g. smoke inhalation) from the climate crisis. Cumulative numbers on the costs from each climate crisis event are needed because isolated reports do not provide perspective.

Acknowledgment of these patterns would generate support for action and move bipartisan bills like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) up on the House and Senate agendas.

Full impact of pandemic still unclear

Both my maternal grandmother and an uncle on my father’s side survived the 1918 influenza as youths and both developed Parkinson’s disease later in life. There is significant evidence that viruses that infect the brain, as does SARS-CoV-2, can cause Parkinsonism later in life. Viral Parkinsonism is often difficult to diagnose due to the length of time, decades often, between infection and appearance of Parkinson’s symptoms.

Those who say that COVID-19 has little effect on the young are considering only the short-term acute symptoms. Many think, as Nietzsche wrote, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but it is rarely a good thing to be infected by a lethal pathogen. We may not know the full impact of the 2020 pandemic until those that survived the initial infection have a stroke, heart failure or, God forbid, dementia. Probably best to protect everyone now.

Lead by example on Veterans Day

As a retired active duty service member, every year I see some veterans enjoying going from place to place taking advantage of the free meals and offers that are given out on Veterans Day. I love that businesses do this as a thank you for our service. What I find sad is the fact that these few veterans go to places where they normally never spend money and take advantage of their gratitude. It just isn’t the right thing to do. In this time of all the hatred that is going around and the discontent, I just feel we, as veterans, need to lead by example. This is something that used to be “the norm” and is now the exception. Instead of going and taking their free breakfast or lunch or dinner, I suggest that you insist that you pay for the meal. Let us, as veterans, return the gratitude and thank the business owners for their generosity, and show people that leading by example is still alive in our society this Veterans Day. This is what I have always done and I feel great doing it.