When it comes to plant extinctions, if we can assist their migrations, it may not matter immediately if the climate continues to warm … slowly. Like a frog in warming water, serenity may rule until boiling occurs. The issue is the extremes. We might think of this as “tsunamis of cold or hot air.” We can complain of cold weather, but it was 1950 that this writer watched ice cycles drip off the house eaves from United Nations Day to Washington’s
Birthday. 1916 is said to have been even colder. Today we face the opposite, short stretches of extremely high temperatures. Research by the University of Arizona has had PLC modify the WWU SAM Project in that UA first reported that the summer daily highs, an average 2-weeks (and we assume the 2-week lows), correlate highly with plant and animal extinctions. This was reported at the start of COVID, February 2020 and most missed this report, but for PLC and WWU it changed the SAM Project’s course. Now, 3 years later, the world has recorded the “over-all hottest day ever” for the third time in four days. For the moderate West Coast Marine climate of the north Pacific Rim, the key may be if arctic air can protrude into our region for any sustained period. For the rest of America, it may be extreme heat for short durations. It has been a while since we have seen a tsunami of any type, although Seattle did have 3 of its 4 days (ever) on record of over 100 degrees June 26, 27, and 28th 2021 ending at 108 degrees. The die off in plants species in 2022 was very noticeable. Also noticeable is the widening of the extremes, most likely because of humans’ actions. Quoting EO Wilson, “one planet, one experiment.”
https://www.desertnorthwest.com/articles/global_warming.html
https://news.arizona.edu/story/onethird-plant-and-animal-species-could-be-gone-50-years
https://eos.org/articles/in-the-pacific-northwest-2021-was-the-hottest-year-in-a-millennium
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/07/climate-world-records-hottest-day-ever-for-the-third-time-this-week.html
http://www.oceansplasticleanup.com/Politics_Plastics_Oceans_Cleanup/Frog_Boiling_Water_Syndrome_Experiment_Jump_In_out_Metaphor.htm
The frog in the water does not recognize the water is:
Ice Cold
Becoming Colder
Becoming Warmer
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