The heat index has been in the triple digits all week with no relief in sight, unless you count a "cool front" with temperatures at 98 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit as relief. Technically, it is relief - negligible relief.
So far, my animals seem to be alright. Wally behaves as if he feels okay, but his hair is spiky and stiff from sweating. I hope this is normal Wally physiology. Ginger does not sweat in the heat unless she exerts herself, which of course she does not. Duke is allowed to sleep in the house at night and he falls into such a deep sleep that I check on him several times to make sure he is okay. My neighbor lost one of her cats to the heat yesterday. I assume if this terrible heat and humidity continue with no true relief in sight, livestock, crops, and human beings will begin to succumb. Already the machinery is failing, with cars and trucks stalled in both directions along I70 between my exit and Topeka.
I do not know if this terrible weather is the result of anthropogenic action. It would seem logical with a human population at such incredibly high numbers, the highest in the entire existence of the earth, that our industrial activities would make a significant and harmful impact. In the long history of the earth, the climate has dramatically changed causing immense die-offs of all manner of lifeforms. So, maybe it is a double-jeopardy of natural cycles coinciding with peak human activity that is going to deal homo sapiens and fellow lifeforms a punishing blow over the next centuries.
All I can do for now is pray for mercy and be thankful for air conditioning.
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