[Local_activists] The heat wave hitting most of U.S. and many other areas too.

[Wanda Ballentine]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/temperature-of-105-sets-all-time-high-at-dulles-international-airport/2011/07/22/gIQAhzbPUI_story.html
Heat index hits 121 as punishing temperatures grip D.C.
.... The combination of heat and humidity 
produced a heat index in Washington of 121 
degrees, the highest since July 1980. The 
suffocating conditions stemmed from a sprawling, 
moist tropical air mass — described as a heat 
dome or heat bubble — that reached the region 
Thursday and is expected to remain into 
Sunday.... Local authorities had reported no 
heat-related deaths, but at least 25 people 
nationwide have died in the heat wave.  (Why not the Gang of Six?)
Check out the heat that's hitting much of the world.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/heat-wave-hits-washington-but-its-men-remain-armored-in-their-suits/2011/07/22/gIQASMvMUI_story.html
Heat wave hits Washington, but its men remain armored in their suits
He does not fear Sunpocalypse. He’ll laugh if you 
call it that. He does not shop on London’s Savile 
Row, but his stiff upper lip makes it seem so. He 
does not begrudge his uniform. He relishes the 
corporate noose. He admires, never envies, a 
woman in a red tank top. He does not hog the 
Metro fan.  His cuffs stay buttoned. His jacket, 
unruffled. His handkerchief, his only shield.... 
Washington men do not bow to Apollo. Our sun kings never relinquish the suit.
(So are they brain-fried?  Oblivious in remaining 
heat-resistant and refusing to see climate change everywhere ?)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070902341.html
Dept. of What If - In the heat wave, the case against air conditioning
This isn't smart. In a country that's among the 
world's highest greenhouse-gas emitters, air 
conditioning is one of the worst power-guzzlers. 
The energy required to air-condition American 
homes and retail spaces has doubled since the 
early 1990s. Turning buildings into refrigerators 
burns fossil fuels, which emits greenhouse gases, 
which raises global temperatures, which creates a 
need for -- you guessed it -- more air-conditioning.
A.C.'s obvious public-health benefits during 
severe heat waves do not justify its lavish use 
in everyday life for months on end.... Best of 
all, Washington's biggest business -- government 
-- is transformed. In 1978, 50 years after air 
conditioning was installed in Congress, New York 
Times columnist Russell Baker noted that, 
pre-A.C., Congress was forced to adjourn to avoid 
Washington's torturous summers.  {And,if the A/C 
blows -knocking out fans as well...)
Stan Cox is the author of "Losing Our Cool: 
Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned 
World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer)." better check it out.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-extreme-weather/2011/07/21/gIQAcjZaTI_story.html
Five myths about extreme weather
     Challenging everything you think you know

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/08/AR2010070804271.html?sid=ST2010070904277
On climate change, let cool heads prevail
It's odd how little we've heard lately from the 
skeptics who deny that climate change is real. 
What's the matter, people? Heat stroke?

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0721-hance_seaice.html
“Heatwave' in Arctic decimating sea ice