A C. T U. A L. L Y

There is some good news, tinkering around the edges good news, but still good--President Biden’s climate-focused economic agenda, Wall Street’s tentative embrace of sustainable energy investments, and some Gulf States’ realization that their future does not lie in oil.  But, unfortunately, there is also some potentially transformative bad news. The first item is the substantial weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), otherwise known as the Gulf Stream.   The second is the rapidly accelerating melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.   And the third is the relentless increase in CO² levels.   The worst bad news of all, though, is that all three are related and mutually reinforcing.   AMOC The AMOC is a huge current of water originating near the Equator off the western coast of Africa.   From its point of origin, this warm, salty water flows northwest to South America; from there, it flows toward the Gulf of Mexico and along th...

The air temperature in Berlin on Wednesday was 23°C, which is a little over 73°F and the same temperature recorded in Rome that day.   The skies were cadet blue with not even a hint of a cloud.   In other words, WOO HOO!   As fellow Covid shut-ins, you can imagine the joy, the glee, the anticipation, and the sense of having pulled a Get Out of Jail Free Card from the pack.   But where to go?   Zero hesitation:   Schlachtensee, a lake surrounded by woods located in southwest Berlin, 25 minutes from our apartment. Normally, my husband and I would have taken the S-Bahn to Schlachtensee, as there is a station within 200 meters of our apartment and the train stops right above the lake, but we’re not using public transport at the moment, especially not with a fourth (!!!!) surge upon us.   So we took the car and headed out of Schöneberg, into Willmersdorf, and then took Clayalle into Zehlendorf, where the lake is.   The U.S. Consulate, recently re...