Overcast, quiet and warm this early Friday on California’s north coast — so still crickets can be heard faintly chirping.
Just a few days ago, there was frost on the ground and freezing temperatures.

In the wake of guns, guns and more guns, and Beyoncé lip-synching, climate change has taken a deep-back seat to all kinds of other big-ticket items on the peoples’ agenda.
Weather, though, is still the talk of the land.

(Illustration found here).

While its warm and misty here, the eastern and central part of the US are ice cubes — Embarrass, Minnesota hit -42°F (-41°C), with Crane Lake, also in Minnesota was at -36°F (-38°C). My youngest daughter lives in Minneapolis and she told me by phone a couple of nights ago the temperature outside was minus ONE.
And check out Chicago’s ‘freezing fire.’
The bad patch, however, was not in the freezer, but in the airwaves of Utah.
From Dr. Jeff Masters:

The most dangerous weather in the U.S. this week is occurring in the valleys of northern Utah, where clear skies, light winds, and a strong temperature inversion have combined to create a dangerous 6-day long air pollution episode.
(A temperature inversion occurs when air temperature increases with altitude, acting as a stable lid preventing atmospheric mixing; inversions are common in mountain valleys when high pressure dominates.)
It’s been unusually cold during most of January in Northeast Utah, with Salt Lake City on track to have its 3rd coldest January on record.
The cold weather has caused people to use their wood burning stoves more than usual, resulting in high emissions of smoke.
More than 100 Utah doctors delivered a petition to state lawmakers on Wednesday, demanding that authorities immediately lower highway speed limits, curb industrial activity and make mass transit free for the rest of winter.
“We’re in a public-health emergency for much of the winter,” said Brian Moench, an anesthesiologist and president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.
He estimated that poor air quality contributes to 1,000 to 2,000 premature deaths each year along Utah’s Wasatch Front.

The traction of climate change is that one size Does Not Fit All.
Climate change belief, or understanding, depends on the weather: Belief that humans are changing the climate is predicted by temperature anomalies on the interview and previous day, controlling for season, survey and individual characteristics.
Or as David Roberts at Grist explains: One implication is that even when the public says it “believes” in climate change, it doesn’t understand climate change.
The hardest part, I guess, is when it’s freezing the rationale for climate change to the ignorant is beyond belief.

Away from the crazed earth, a sun stroke is coming.
A possible nasty ‘ejection’ from the sun could cause problems on earth by tomorrow or Monday at the latest — Via UPI: Coronal mass ejections aimed at the Earth can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm when they hit the Earth’s magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, which can sometimes affect electrical systems on Earth or interfere with GPS or satellite-based communications systems.

And to loosen the bounds of sanity prior to the weekend.
In this age of Big Brother — or Big Drone, if you will — comes the perfect fashion accessory to keep from being targeted, or even becoming collateral damage.
Announcing the “Stealth” hoodie, a must-have in a modern person’s closet:

The fashionable and security-conscious can now purchase “Stealth Wear,” clothing made from a silver-infused fabric that reflects heat, thereby making its wearer invisible to thermal imaging cameras.
The line’s designer, Adam Harvey, has previously designed an “anti-paparazzi” handbag that issues a counter-flash if a sensor inside the bag detects a camera flash and the OFF pocket, which kills a cell phone signal. Harvey says Stealth Wear has received more buzz than either of those projects.
…
What he came up with is a mix of form and function. The nearly $500 half-hoodie covers only its wearer’s chest and is a striking silver color that would stick out in nearly any crowd. But it renders its wearer nearly invisible to drones.

The hoodie costs $473, the burqa $2,365.

Feel secure yet?