Bruce Ratcliffe - 7/2017 unpublished - Vanilla?

Vanilla?

     Today’s Reader Challenge: Which headline doesn’t belong?
A)  “Drought pushing toward fifth year”
B)  “Fresno sets record for heat, this time 108 degrees”
C)  “Sierra snowpack expected to be smallest on record”
D”  “California snowpack at drought-busting 173 percent”
E)  “Vanilla bean shortage in Madagascar drives up prices in U.S.”
ANSWER: None of the above.  NASA scientists have predicted that extreme
weather will be an inevitable consequence of rising CO2 levels.  This
prediction was made in detail in the highly respected journal, “Science”
in 1981.  Yes, climate scientists got it right 36 years ago. Since then,
they’ve been filling in the frightening details of human-caused climate
change.
     So what does climate change have to do with the price of vanilla? 
Scientists have long predicted more extreme storms (think:  Katrina,
Sandy, Enawo).  Enawo? This year, cyclone Enawo rendered half a million
people in Madagascar homeless. But who cares about Madagascar? Well,
climate change will cause unexpected, unpleasant consequences
worldwide.  In this case, the vanilla crop was severely damaged, causing
the price of vanilla on the world market to rise 600%.  Top quality
vanilla ice cream in Fresno now sells for $9 a pint.  Global climate
change has global consequences.

Bruce Ratcliffe
Fresno
July 2017