Off the map

It's been awhile since I wrote one of these little pieces. I felt less able to focus on the larger questions & topics related to climate change when a lot of my attention was going toward the details of relocating back to the mid-Atlantic region from New England. Though it's rarely a topic far from my mind, I was often able to temporarily 'relocate' it to some other section of my brain. Adjusting to Philadelphia's constant heat & humidity was even becoming a new 'normal routine' for me in July. Yet I don't think I will ever forget the day I opened my work laptop, scanned some news headlines with my coffee, & then almost teared up at an article that jarred me completely: it was one of several that week that focused on tourists who were smiling and excited to have photos taken in Death Valley by thermometers showing the temps were around 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Even with all of the extreme weather events in recent months- from floods in Vermont to wildfires in Hawaii- it was something about the level of disassociation from reality with how these tourists treated that heat that brought me a spike of sadness. It was so far off the map of how the concept of record breaking high temperatures makes me feel (which in a word is: disturbed)- so surprising to see people treat a situation where being outdoors is life-threatening, instead as a fun photo opportunity- that I literally sat there blinking back tears for a minute.  

It was hard to know how much those stories were fueled by a feedback loop of media attention- with more tourists arriving to get in on the novelty aspect- as well as the obvious social media aspect of the tourists' selfies. But these were not teenagers out there looking for thrills. These were adults making light of extreme heat as if it was a show they were in- the tourist version of 'Survivor'- rather than a scary indicator of what climate change is facilitating. It felt like these adults were so out-of-touch with reality that they were being disrespectful of it: the reality that our bodies have limits and that record breaking heat on a warming planet isn't something to celebrate.