oh, in that case . . .

everyone could deal with melting ice caps, right? coastal erosion, elevations in dangerous weather patterns, species extinction--no sweat. no sweat. but no one told us that a side effect of global warming might be increased humidity! finally, though, the hideous truth that no one dared speak has come out. all of those hot gusts circulating in those expansive storm fronts and causing all that ice to melt and flood our beachfronts and waterways might actually lead to there being more moisture in the air. well, fuck. that's a whole other pack of tomatoes. i guess we'd all better buy bigger, more powerful air conditioners.

according to nathan gillett of the university of east anglia, humidity is "an important contribution to heat stress in humans." i'm not a climatologist or an epidemiologist or anything, but i'm going to tentatively concur with this statement. it is certainly a source of stress to me, particularly when it leads to the first thing out of every other human's mouth being,"god, it's so humid!" it has been my experience that humidity tends to increase in tandem with heat, as does human stress, and i'm made slightly more confident in my assessment by the fact that "the finding isn't surprising to climate scientists."

i find the whole bit almost seussian: humans' refusal to actually live in the climate has been one of the primary factors contributing to strongly negative shifts in that climate, which have led to an even more staunch refusal to accept the climate, thus worsening the climate, and wheeeeeee! around and around we go, until we land here in this ridiculous place where this perfectly plain pattern is revealed to us as shocking news. and it is still being presented as if nothing were at stake but the cleanliness of our armpits:

although it might not be a lethal kind of thing, it's going to increase human discomfort.

poor us. couldn't i just cry us a river. i would sweat us one, if any building in the world ever set its thermostat above 50 degrees. it is still pretty warm here in new york; i haven't even noticed any leaves starting to turn. i guess i'll have to wait until it gets cooler outside, when the buildings turn their thermostats up to 75 and i have to take my coat and sweater off the instant i pass through the door in order to keep from fainting from heat stroke. tomorrow we sweat; today, we weep.