A few recent notes on affairs under the Sun.
The number of airplanes in the sky is predicted to double in 20 years/
Climate worsening is causing 2 million people a week to need medical treatment, according to the Red Cross.
The rising sea level will cover far more land than scientists had thought. (Earlier satellite data confused the tops of trees and buildings with ground level.) By 2050, land in which 150 million people are now living will be below high tide levels. Accurate maps show most or all of southern Vietnam, Bangkok, Singapore, Mumbai, Alexandria, southern Iraq, under water. One can begin to imagine the effects on farming, politics, and migration.
California’s firefighters are battling fearsome wildfires. So Trump tweeted that he will cut federal funding for that, because Governor Gavin Newsom has done “a terrible job of forest management.” The major fires are not on forest land. And the state manages only a small fraction of forest land; most is managed by the federal government. Newsom replied: “You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation.” (A delightfully dignified version of “Shut up.”)
Trump claims credit for the successful campaign against Islamic State, and the killing of its leader Baghdadi on October 26. The campaign was begun under Obama, and the fighting was done mostly by the Kurds. The tracing of Baghdadi’s whereabouts was begun by the Kurds. They managed to plant a spy in Baghdadi’s entourage (very dangerous). The Kurds and the US intelligence services (so insulted by Trump) located Baghdadi. But on October 9 Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops, as promised to Turkey, allowing Turkey to invade Syria and attack the Kurds. Isis terrorists began to escape from the camps where the Kurds were holding them. These complications, caused by Trump, complicated and imperilled the secretly planned operaton against Baghdadi and it had to be delayed. Trump was notified of the plan a few days before it was carried out.
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