Michael Robert Dyet's Blog

Meanwhile, the Epstein Files

Hmmm, will the Republican party finally grow a pair before the Epstein time bomb implodes?

The U.S. government is shut down once again as the Democrats block Trump’s funding bill demanding health care subsidies. The move is a strategic tactic by the Democrats to fight back against the unhinged, authoritarian Trump administration.

750,000 workers are expected to be furloughed, some fired and many forced to work without pay. The world watches wondering who will blink first, and how long the standoff will drag on, in this battle of the titans. The last time this happened, during Trump’s first terms as President, the shutdown last 35 days.

Meanwhile, Trump, backed by the mummified Robert F. Kennedy Jr, blamed Tylenol for Autism. He ordered the Food and Drug Administration to update labelling to discourage the use of Acetaminophen – which he was struggled to pronounce at his press conference – by pregnant women. Scientists around the world indicate his claim is completely without merit.

Meanwhile, the United Nations continues to fume at Trump’s rambling, embarrassing speech at the U.N General Assembly where is dismissed the U.N. as “just a club for countries”. Trump has scaled back U.S. funding to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Trump pulled out the 51st state idea again in reference to Canada while speaking to a gathering of U.S. military generals. He aired familiar grievances about his political opponents and indicated he would continue to send troops to U.S. cities to impose his will.

Meanwhile, Trump announced a new 10% tariff applied to Canadian lumber. He has threatened a 100% tariff on movies made outside of the U.S.

Meanwhile, Trumped asked nine major U.S. universities to commit to his political priorities in exchange for more favourable access to federal money. The universities were asked to sign a Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

Meanwhile, Trump presented a 20 Point Gaza Peace Plan in his latest, futile attempt to end the Israel – Palestine war. Hamas, not consulted in the development of the plan, will almost certainly reject it categorically.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to fight tooth and nail to keep the Epstein files from being released.

I could go on and on but you get the picture. Suffice to say that the Trump shit show continues unabated sinking the Trump administration ever deeper into chaos and ridicule. Only one question remains.

Will the Republican Party finally grow a pair and agree to help bring Trump down? Or will they wait for the Epstein files ticking time bomb to finally implode and do the job for them?

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Data Security: 4,876 Failures

Hmmm, is it time to officially retire the term cybersecurity?

I received a notification that I needed to update the payment information for my Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) account. Fair enough, this is necessary periodically. But I did not anticipate the can of worms that requirement was opening.

When I accessed the login area of the CAA website, a message posted there informed me that all CAA accounts had been removed as of September 8 and I would have to recreate my account. Really? Sounds like a data breach situation, I thought.

I checked online and learned that Equifax Canada, which stores sensitive information of CAA members who signed up for the identity protection program, had a security breach. Oh, the incredible irony!

So I proceeded with creating a new account. Right off the top a security code was required which was sent via e-mail. Deep sigh, I am so tired of these endless codes. The code arrived after a few minutes and I continued the process.

When I came to the step of creating a new password, the specifications were exasperating:

A minimum of twelve characters.Three characters must be upper case lettersThree characters must be lower case lettersThree characters must be numbersThree characters must be special symbols.

Groan, where will this ever increasing level of password complexity end? A minimum of 32 characters with a specified combination of upper case and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, a fingerprint check, facial recognition, a retina scan and a DNA match? Stop the digital merry-go-round. I need to get off now!

I dutifully created a new password with all the specifications. But I still was not done. I had to request an activation code which was sent via a text message. Entering that code finally completed the convoluted process.

The experience inspired me to do a Google search to find out the extent of the data security problem. The answer was staggering: 4,876 data breach incidents occurred worldwide in 2024 impacting 4.2 billion records. Digest those figures for a moment.

The term data security has arguably become an oxymoron. We should probably retire it and toss it on the dung heap of obsolete terms. We are living in an era of cyber warfare with daily skirmishes, ever more devious cyber weapons and unfortunately a losing battle for the so-called security industry experts.

How I long for the good old days when security was as simple a physical lock and key and a dog that barked at any intruder. Sadly those days are long gone never to return.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Random Act of Metaphor: A Last Minute Wasp

Hmmm, are you attuned to recognize the small gifts life offers?

It happens now and then at the end of my regular nature hikes. My cranky back starts barking at me and warning me it is time to head back to my car. I have learned from experience that I must heed this warning.

As I am making my way back to the parking lot, I usually have my camera slung over my shoulder on its strap rather than cradled in my hand at the ready. I am not expecting anything notable to present itself.

But sometimes chance steps in as it did earlier this week. The Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp, one of the most elegant looking wasps in this area, dropped onto the ground in front of me as I was just steps from the parking lot.

I swung the camera off my shoulder and managed one quick shot before the wasp took flight again. Fortunately, the position of the wasp on the ground and the lighting at that particular moment was optimum for a very good photograph.

This chance encounter offered a life lesson: Life can present a small gift at any time without notice. Sometimes that gift is the highlight of the day.

A Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp appearing at just the right moment in just the right setting – a random act of metaphor to remind me that life’s best gifts are often the unexpected and easily overlooked ones. Being aware and ready to recognize these gifts is a life skill we all need to cultivate.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

The Cosmic Minefield Apprehension

Hmmm, is that a Hawk soaring up there or something much more worrisome?

I honestly have not given a lot of thought to the subject of space junk: debris from derelict spacecraft and from spacecraft parts deliberately released during spacecraft separation from its launch vehicle. But a news byte that I heard recently piqued my interest and caused me to spend a bit of time looking into the topic.

I learned that there is actually an agency – the U.S. Space Surveillance Network – that is dedicated to tracking large orbital debris. Exactly how much space junk is floating around up there? Apparently, a hell of a lot – as many as 25,000 objects larger than 10 cm in diameter and many, many more smaller ones which could fall to earth at some point.

Should I be worried about getting taken out by one? In the past 50 years, an average of one catalogued piece of debris fell back to earth each day. Yes, you read that right, each day.

Those in the know advise that these objects are most likely to fall into the oceans or other bodies of water or onto sparsely populated regions like the Canadian Tundra, the Australian Outback or Siberia. Okay, so that makes me a bit less worried. But wait. There have been incidents of people injured by falling space junk:

In 2002, a 6-year-old boy in China suffered a fractured toe and a swelling on his head after a block of aluminum 20” x 30” and weighing 20+ pounds struck him as he sat under a tree.

In 1997, an Oklahoma woman was hit in the shoulder by a 4” x 5” piece of blackened, metallic material confirmed to be part of the propellant tank of a Delta II rocket.

In 1969, five sailors on a Japanese ship where injured when space debris from a Soviet spacecraft struck the deck of their boat.

And for the record, when the space shuttle Columbia exploded, more than 83,000 pieces of debris were recovered in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. A foot long metal bracket smashed through the roof of a dentist office.

And in 2025 to date, there have been three incidents of space debris reaching earth:

February 19, 2025: Fragments from SpaceX Falcon-9 second stage rocket survived rentry and caused property damage in a village in Poland.

March 24, 2025: The trunk of the SpaceX Crew 9 Dragon spacecraft landed in the Sahara desert.

May 10, 2025: The Soviet Kosmos 482 Venus descent craft crashed into the Indian Ocean.

The uncomfortable reality is there is an orbital graveyard in the upper atmosphere which is akin to a cosmic minefield. It would be just my luck to be one of the unfortunate few who gets walloped in the head by a chunk of metal that defies the odds and makes it all the way here!

I think I will be glancing skyward a bit more often now and wondering: Is that a Hawk soaring up there or the partially burned up motor of a derelict space craft?

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Rhythms of Life: A Flowing River

Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that’s what we are. ~ Mickey Hart, American Musician

Hmmm, is the river of your life flowing in rhythm?

It is one of the simple but elemental truths of life: human beings are creatures of rhythm. As Mickey Hart so eloquently puts it, we are rhythm machines.

We are at that point in the year where one of the indelible rhythms is kicking in: the start of the school year. It is hardwired into our brains as a new beginning in some ways even more than the actual start of a New Year on January 1.

In my particular case, when I add up my grade school, high school, college and university years, it was the structure of my life for fully two decades. More than 40 years has rolled by since my last university class but I still feel the pull of that rhythm.

Next in line terms of ingrained rhythms is the cycle of the seasons. The cyclical patterns of change in nature driven by the earth’s tilt and orbit – the days lengthening or shortening, the temperature rising or falling – are natural cues for our lives and our bodies.

Seasonal rhythms spawn biological and behavioral patterns in all living creatures which align with the earth’s annual cycles. Birds migrate and some animals hibernate. Reproductive cycles in mammals align. Breeding, flowering and growth occur at optimal times. All of these patterns get mirrored to some degree in human behaviour.

As a person who has an ongoing love affair with nature, I ebb and flow predictably with the seasons. I effectively hibernate in winter and am reborn in the spring. I feel an irrepressible urge to spend as much time as possible outdoors between April and October.

I always experience a kind of restlessness in late August. I know that I have only six or eight weeks left to commune with nature before the forced stasis of winter sets in. I feel compelled to maximize the days I have left to enjoy. Long stretches of rainy weather frustrate me as they eat into my outdoor time.

Science tells us that we are also ruled by circadian rhythms – 24 hour biological cycles that govern sleep-wake patterns. Internal processes are synchronized with the day-night cycle. These rhythms are regulated by a master clock in a particular area of our brain. Things that disrupt our circadian rhythms can have a profound effect on our health.

The rhythms of life are more than just a matter of habit or a comfortable structure. They are an essential component of our health and well-being. The rhythm of a happy life is a flowing river that we ride intuitively and only notice when something disturbs the flow.

I will leave the final word on the subject to American Monk, Writer and Theologian Thomas Merton:

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Societal Operating System: Rally Cry

Hmmm, if enough voices join together, can the clean-and-remove exercise begin?

I am a couple of years into retirement and insulated from some of the pressures that working age adults are facing these days. Job security is a major issue for many given the impact of Donald MAGA Trump’s tariffs which he revises more often that most of us change our socks.

It is fortunate that I am retired. I spent the last two decades of my career employed by a not-for-profit, partially government funded, workplace safety association representing the manufacturing sector among others. Revenues for that organization are no doubt down significantly as manufacturers tighten their belts. I would be worrying about my job if I was still employed there.

But I am not immune to the many other concerns that face us today. As time rolls on with its own unstoppable momentum, I find myself worrying about things which I unfortunately have very limited ability to influence.

Exactly how much damage can the megalomaniac, narcissistic Trump inflict in his second term as President of the United States? And how is it possible that he still holds that office given the unstable and dictatorial manner in which he governs?

Is the impact of climate change tipping over to the irreversible state? If so, what does that mean for the future – tomorrow, next week, next month and next year?

The gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. The wealth of the world is concentrated in an increasingly small percentage of people. What will happen to the people left behind if the political will to address the problem continues to be half-hearted at best?

Wars continue to rage on killing hundred of thousands and leaving millions in a desperate state. The political leaders behind the invasions give lip service to the idea of peace treaties but show no real interest in them. Loss of life and suffering appears to mean nothing to them.

As I was pondering these concerns today, Norton Utilities – the program that protects my laptop and keeps it running smoothly – engaged and did its thing. As I followed its prompts, it occurred to me that we need a Utilities program to address the many ills of society.

System Junk: Clean and remove all the junk (e.g. greed, lust for power, indifference, intolerance, narcissism, willful blindness) that is steadily eroding equality and justice.

Broken Registry Keys and Shortcuts: Clean and remove all the mechanisms that allow privileged and entitled power-mongers to advance their cause at the expense of others.

Browser Data: Clean and remove the systemic bias that blinds those in positions of power to the destructive impact of their actions and to the issues they really should be focusing on.

If we shift our perspective and consider society to be a global operating system (in this technological age that is not as farfetched as it might seem), then maybe a thorough cleaning and purging of the system is needed. It is obviously not as simple as clicking a button. But there must be a way to initiate the process.

Enough voices joining together in a roar so loud and so sustained it cannot be ignored. Let this be the rally cry.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

In the Naked Light

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening

~ Paul Simon: The Sounds of Silence

Hmmm, if his advice has stood the test of 60 years, are we not overdue to heed it?

I have always admired Paul Simon’s song The Sounds of Silence for its stirring and poetic lyrics. But I had not investigated the deeper message of the song until now.

It explores the theme of communication breakdown and the resulting isolation in a world increasingly focused on superficial interactions and distractions – reflecting on the inability of people to connect on a deeper, emotional level, highlighting a sense of alienation and loneliness.

The song is 60 years old now but it strikes me that the lyrics are more relevant than ever in another context. We are living in a time of great divisiveness. It feels as if everyone has an axe to grind and is competing to see who can shout louder and drown out the rest of the voices.

I do not dispute that many people have legitimate grievances and a right to voice them. This is one of the foundations upon which democracy is built. (An aside: Democracy does not mean that the person with the loudest voice and the biggest platform to shout from – Donald Trump, for instance – earns the authority to impose his or her will upon others.)

The issue is becoming so caught up in our own concerns that we become blind to any other perspective. As Paul Simon so eloquently phrases it, this effectively becomes talking without speaking which equates to a kind of silence. Not the soothing silence of darkness, my old friend but rather of ten thousand people, maybe more… hearing without listening.

When we focus so much on trying to speak what we view as our own truth that we lose the ability to hear other people’s equally valid truth, we lose the ability to truly communicate and in turn the ability to love each other.

You may argue: Why should I have to compromise? Don’t I have the right to get what I want if I work for it? My response to that argument is that my truth will always be different from your truth. But there has to be a common ground we can land upon or we both lose. That common ground is called humanity.

And so, we all need to take to heart Paul Simon’s plaintiff plea and not let it fall like silent raindrops… echoed in the wells of silence:

“Fools”, said I, “You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Serendipity: The Prepared Mind

Hmmm, can nature help us develop a new aptitude that makes our lives richer?

I have been contemplating the concept of serendipity of late – in particular, when I happen to catch a photograph of an insect in flight. Case in point: The Snowberry Clearwing Moth at the head of this post. It is rarely intentional. I am not that good a photographer.

It happens when circumstances align on multiple fronts. My footsteps on my nature rambles coinciding with the arrival of an insect at a specific location. The insect launching into flight as I am attempting to photograph it. The autofocus on my camera by chance being exactly right.

I had always thought of serendipity as a semi-mystical thing – the intersection of chance, random luck and perhaps divine forces we cannot wrap our minds around. A gift that comes without asking with a timing all its own. All of which may be true to some degree.

But it turns out that serendipity is not always just a moment of luck and circumstance. There are scientific principles at work. For the record, the scientific definition of serendipity is: The finding of one thing while looking for something else.

There are a number of factors at play, which can add up to a moment of serendipity, that can be collectively referred to as The Prepared Mind:

Unexpected events or observations – chance elements that have unrealized potential which our mind can unlock.

Knowledge, experience and curiousity that put our mind in a state in which it can discern patterns and connections that others might miss.

Actively exploring an unexpected finding and discovering how it relates to existing knowledge or opens up new avenues of thought.

Incremental steps in building upon knowledge and observations that lead to novel developments in unexpected directions.

I am in a prepared state of mind when I am hiking through the woods, meadows and wetlands with my camera in hand. I have come to know that certain habitats or patches of weeds and wildflowers are likely spots to find insects. I have trained my brain to watch for and detect the subtle movements of insects that go undetected by the untrained eye.

Many of us know and experience that nature’s charms are innately soothing and a form of stress relief. But I have come to realize that they are also natural supplements for my brain, so to speak, to train it to work in new and innovative ways.

Serendipity can be seen as a metaphor for how the universe can support and instruct us when we realize how even minute details can connect us to meaning. Cultivating a prepared state of mind allows us to tap into this natural well and drink from it. Life is much fuller and coalesces into sense more readily when we do.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Nature as a Quilt: Stealthy Assassin Bugs

Hmmm, they may be in your garden without your notice and that is a good thing.

Assassin Bugs are common in nature, and sometimes in your garden, and are very effective at what they are created to do. There are nearly 200 species of these predatory insects in North America and 20 to 30 species in Canada. They are not generally aggressive toward humans but their venomous bites can be quite painful if you happen to run afoul of one.

What is so special about Assassin Bugs?

Assassin Bugs are skilled hunters often employing stealth and ambush tactics to capture the insects upon which they prey. They can sit deathly still on a flower or plant waiting in ambush. Their front legs contain a glue-like substance that traps and holds prey. They then use a beak-like projection on their head to insert a venom that paralyzes the insect they have caught.

What do Assassin Bugs look like?

Assassin Bugs come in a number of different forms from tiny wedge shapes (Ambush Bugs), to oval and elongated (like the one at the head of this post) or stick-like (like the Thread-legged Bug above). They range in size from a ½ inch to 1-1/2” inches and comes in variety of colours including gray, black, brown or even yellow or orange.

How long do they live and where?

Like many insects, Assassin Bugs live only one season in this part of the world which equates to six to ten months. They are commonly found in trees, gardens and grassy areas although you have to tune your eyes to notice them. I often find Ambush Bugs perched on flowers that match their colour.

Where do they fit in the quilt of nature?

Assassin Bugs play an important role in ecosystems as natural population control agents for the insect species they prey upon. Their prey species includes aphids, leafhoppers, caterpillars and leaf beetles which feed on plants. In turn, they are a food source for birds, frogs, snakes and other small mammals.

Assassin Bugs – one more, fascinating patch in the quilt of nature stitched together by threads of interdependence and natural balance.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Climate Change: The Eleven O’Clock Hour

Hmmm, are you aware we are approaching the eleven o’clock hour?

Climate change due to human activity. It is one of those things that we do not like to think about but can longer afford to turn a blind eye towards. The evidence of it grows with every passing day as the earth’s climate changes at an ever accelerating rate. The signs are everywhere from heat waves to devasting floods to rising sea levels.

The grim reality of climate change has introduced new terms into our language.

Atmospheric River: Long, narrow bands of concentrated water vapour in the atmosphere that transport huge amounts of moisture. They are sometimes described as a river in the sky. These systems can drastically affect weather patterns when they make landfall in the form of heavy precipitation in the form of either rain or snow.

It was an atmospheric river in October in 2024 that caused the storm in British Columbia that brought significant rainfall, causing flooding and record-breaking daily precipitation totals in some areas. Southern Vancouver Island was deluged with up to 12 inches of rain while the Vancouver metropolitan area received up to 6 inches.

In case you are wondering, the devastating Texas floods were not the result of an atmospheric river. The cause, in weather terms, was a mesoscale convective vortex with enhanced tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry and remnant tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific. But it matters little which specific weather term applies. Global warning and climate change are the root cause.

Heat Dome: A high pressure system that traps hot air below it which heats up and compresses to form a dome. This phenomena intensifies heat and prevents the formation of clouds which in turn allows more radiation from the sun to reach the ground below. The result is clear, sunny days with little cooling wind – pleasant to view from inside but stifling if you step outside.

We experienced a heat dome here in Ontario in June. Temperatures soared into the 90’s Fahrenheit for a couple of days with humidex values approaching 110. Even the hardiest of us had to shelter indoors. It was so hot that the City of Toronto, in an ultimate example of irony, had to close some of its outdoor pools for the health and safety of staff. As the post goes up, we just experienced another “heat warning” episode with temps in the high 80’s for three days.

Carbon Budget: This refers to the maximum amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be emitted while still limiting global warming to a specific level. In direct terms, the cumulative amount of CO2 that can be released into the atmosphere without exceeding a target temperature increase such as 1.5°C or 2°C above pre-industrial levels. 

How dire is the situation? The annual Indicators of Global Climate Change report has issued a warning that time is running out to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The carbon budget will be exhausted in three years at current levels of emissions.

Climate change is sometimes depicted as an overflowing bathtub. The atmosphere is the tub. Greenhouse gas emissions are the water filling the tub. The water level represents the concentration of greenhouse gases. In this context, we have three years or less to prevent the bathtub from overflowing with potentially irreversible consequences.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.