Greenies Will Be Ecstatic!

UPDATE: The heatwave hits Egypt, too.

"Hundreds of millions of Muslims across the Middle East sweated their way through the start of Ramadan on Wednesday, beginning a monthlong daylight fast in sweltering summer heat.

With temperatures over 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) in some countries, governments and religious authorities sought to lighten the holy month's burden by shortening work days, granting exemptions from the fast and even setting the clock back an hour."

[---]

"Frequent power outages in places like Egypt, Iraq and the Gaza Strip compounded the struggle to give up food, drink and cigarettes during the searing 15-hour day."

[---]

"At midday Wednesday, highs around the Middle East ranged from the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) to over 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) in cities like Baghdad, where the devout found little refuge from the heat."

Hellooooooo. Way back in 1973 my then husband and I went on a tour of the Middle East - in September. The last country on the itinerary was Egypt. We were there for about a week in late September, not early August. The temperatures quoted above were the norm while we were there. Damn near killed me, mind you, which is why I remember it, but the locals didn't seem to be suffering. I don't recall there being air conditioning, either.

When I was a kid, I remember the occasional summer day in the late '50s when the temp was over 100 F.

Climate change, my ass!
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Not only are the forest fires outside Moscow evidence of climate change, but there's a Chernobyl angle, too.

Russia says fires burns Chernobyl-tainted forests

"Kremlin leaders are already grappling with Russia's deadliest wildfires since 1972 and a drought that has destroyed crops after what weather monitoring officials say was the country's hottest summer in a millennium.

Fears of stirring up nuclear pollution from the Chernobyl disaster could take the crisis to a new level,..."

[---]

"Greenpeace Russia said in a statement that 3 fires had been registered in badly contaminated forests in the Bryansk region, which was polluted with the nuclear isotope caesium 137."

But wait.

"Radiation levels in the Moscow region were unchanged and within normal limits on Thursday, said on Yelena Popova, the head of Moscow's radiation monitoring centre.

Asked whether fires in the areas contaminated by Chernobyl could bring radioactive particles in the Moscow region, she said the risk was still "theoretical"."

Oh, what the heck. Being "theoretical" never stops a watermelon from engaging in the blame game.  We'll just gloss over this:

"Kremlin leaders are already grappling with Russia's deadliest wildfires since 1972"

But wasn't that when fear mongerers were predicting a return to an ice age?

"...and a drought that has destroyed crops after what weather monitoring officials say was the country's hottest summer in a millennium."

You mean, it was really, really hot a thousand years ago, too?

Oh never mind. We can't let a good crisis go to waste.