The New York Times reported Tuesday that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the United States. But here in Seattle? Of course–OF COURSE–it actually got colder.
Mark Twain said: “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.” Not us!
In 2012, we started threading a tunnel for cars under our waterfront. We avoided the Sounder. We drove to the airport no matter how random the parking fees got. Some of us even stood up to the bicycle mafia! We spewed billions of pounds of greenhouse gases into the thirsty maw that is our atmosphere, and for what?
According to the Times, while the country overall was 3.2 degrees warmer than average, Seattle’s average temperature was one degree below normal. Am I the only one who feels fleeced?
Now I hear you, Bill Nye: “Annual temperature is cyclical and might have been even lower if not for the warming effects of greenhouse gases which, by the way, threaten to destroy natural ecosystems, sink highly-populated areas, and scorch millions of acres of prime agricultural land, causing worldwide food shortages, heightening international tension and threatening human existence itself.”
Perhaps, but I think I sum up the overall feeling of Seattleites when I say: WHATEVER DID YOU KNOW WE SOMETIMES HAVE TO TURN ON OUR CAR DEFROSTERS IN JULY? THAT IS RIDICULOUS GIVE US THE HEAT GIVE IT GIVE IT GIVE IT.
Obviously, God intended for Seattle to have crappy weather, and that’s what we’ll have until the end of time. In four billion years, when the Sun boils the oceans, some atmospheric anomaly will cause Steve Pool to confidently forecast 58 degrees with intermittent showers.
I’m throwing in the towel. In 2013, I’ll walk the four blocks to QFC instead of driving my car. I’ll support more and better bicycle lanes. And, if my friends need a ride to the airport, I’m going to insist that they take light rail.
