Read a summary of an interesting scientific paper: Seems all the Persian Gulf countries are not going to be habitable in 30 years. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UEA, and Iran will have high humidity and high enough summer temperatures that most people outside AC will die of heat stroke. You can survive if the humidity is low, because you can cool yourself by sweating. But they are so close to the shallow and very hot Persian Gulf that the humidity will be too hot to cool by sweating. Water in the Gulf is already about 95 F.

People living in air conditioned houses will die en masse when the power fails, so that will be a brief respite. I'll probably live to see it, too. Should have some interesting political consequences.

Russian billionaire, Artem Klyushin, Tweeted to Fatboy yesterday: Toe-the-line or there will be no second term.

Twitter

There's your collusion right there.

I don't think that really meets the definition of collusion. Collusion implies equals working together. I think the word you are looking for is "stooge".

Lots of prefab chicken pens on the market. Very few people have the luxury of letting chickens run free. We've talked about this before. Get that woman some chickens!

Costco has sold a Chicken House for three Springs in a row. This year it was a double-wide Chicken House.

I have a running bet with a friend up Norte: Gulf countries and Death Valley will both record 140 degree ambient temps before the year 2020.

But it's a dry heat! Somewhat survivable. I worry a lot more about Phoenix. Mid-summer power failures and LOTS of old folks die. Especially if they are in the middle of a monsoon moisture event coming up out of Mexico.

I was just up in the San Fernando Valley the other day here in CA, and it was 117 degrees. It was actually quite tolerable because I "dressed for the occasion", as in loose fitting tee and shorts, and I carried my drinkie bottle. I think the rel. hum. was around eight percent.

Now imagine that in Dallas with 50% relative humidity.
Now go three degrees higher. That's what I predict for 2020, and massive failures in the Texas electrical grid, which by the way is isolated from everyone else.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) stems from a mix of "Don't Mess With Texas" and some WW2 ideas about keeping Texas factories running during the war even in case of invasion. Also, because the ERCOT grid does not sell power to other states, it is exempt from most regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But Texas uses more electricity than any other state, 44 percent more than California.

And it's not like they can just hook up to another grid if theirs goes down in a heap. Not saying that they have a punkass grid, I'm just saying that record heat and humidity may stress it beyond anyone's prior calculations. Anyone who has lived down South knows what a typical modern Texas style central air conditioning unit looks like.
For those that don't, they are "BEEEEEEEEEEG"...veddy veddy beeg.

120 degrees at fifty percent relative humidity on an August afternoon might be a Waterloo moment.

Almost midnight here and the temp is 81. Humidity is also 81. During the day both will be in the 90s. I mostly stay indoors this time of year.

Human skin temperature is about 85. If it's that or cooler, you can be comfortable. Body temp is nearer to 99. If it's hotter than that you steadily take up heat if you can't cool by sweat. 106 is fatal if your body equilibrates with that. The bad thing about a power failure when it's hot and humid, is the sheer scale. We could have events that kill thousands of people.