California is digging out from the damage left behind by nine atmospheric rivers that passed in the last few weeks. The storms they created affected almost every region of the state with extreme flooding, massive mountain snowfall, mud slides, landslides and 20 deaths.
This came after 22 years of drought — the worst drought in 1,200 years — adding to the impact of these extreme rainstorms, with the soil too impacted to absorb the 32 trillion gallons of water that fell from the skies over three weeks.
Like a frog that jumps into a pot of lukewarm water and doesn’t notice as the water heats up to a boil, humans are experiencing the devastating effects of climate change catastrophe all around us — but failing to act with the urgency the situation demands.
