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“Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide.
“Scientists have warned of a potential “regime shift” in the oceans, as the rapid growth of huge mats of seaweed appears to be driven by global heating and excessive enrichment of waters from farming runoff and other pollutants.”
“Antarctic penguins have radically shifted their breeding season – seemingly in response to climate change…
“Dramatic shifts in behaviour were revealed by a decade-long study led by Penguin Watch at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, with some penguins’ breeding period moving forward by more than three weeks. The changes threaten to disrupt penguins’ access to food…”
“Monday ice update – Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data)…
“• about 450,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,030,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1980s mean” [Zack Labe]
https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3mcrtlvxkm22z
“Warm air is reaching Greenland again where the past weeks have been absurdly mild.
“One striking example is Kitsissorsuit-74N, 57.8W. Current average temperature this month is -3.6C [25F] which is about +14C above normal. World record of highest monthly anomaly is +14.8C at Vize Island.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2012712029044494368
“Melting ice may raise Greenland’s value. Trump’s fight may be just the start….
““It’s partly the melting of sea ice making it more attractive for the economic development that he’d pursue in Greenland,” said Sherri Goodman, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and the former deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/01/18/melting-arctic-greenland-trump-2/
“The Ocean Is Still Reeling From a Single Massive Heat Wave Decades Ago.
“A 2003 marine heat wave in the waters around Greenland continues to impact North Atlantic ocean ecosystems decades on, with a sudden and strong increase in marine heat wave frequency persisting ever since.”
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-ocean-is-still-reeling-from-a-single-massive-heat-wave-decades-ag
“Norway’s oil fund defends push to water down net zero…
“The $2tn oil fund told the FT that it feared companies could back away from the idea of science-backed climate targets unless they were allowed to emit more greenhouse gases while still claiming to be working towards those goals.”
https://www.ft.com/content/dedb200b-8cf4-407d-8e92-593d7a4dca8a
“Pic de Neige Cordier 1950 | 2025 [French Alps].
“Only 7 decades and this south-facing tributary of Glacier Blanc flowing from Neige Cordier (3614 m) has entirely gone! (A red dot indicates a similar location on both images).” [Melaine Le Roy]
https://x.com/subfossilguy/status/2013226113925833123
“Mediterranean Faces Dangerous High Flood Risk as a Deep Low Drives Extreme Rainfall.
“A combination of stratiform and convective rainfall could result in widespread 200-400 mm [15 inches] rain accumulations with the upslope flow onto Corsica, Sardinia, and southeast Italy. The Mediterranean region braces for a period of extreme rainfall…”
“Icy floods have swamped Malta after a freak storm battered the Mediterranean holiday island over the weekend.
“Dramatic footage shows cars buried beneath hailstones as rivers of ice cascade through the streets. Authorities can be seen working furiously to clear the roads…”
“Greater Tunis, Nabeul and Bizerte: Floods are affecting several neighborhoods! [Tunisia].
“Since Sunday evening, a new wave of heavy rain has been affecting northeastern Tunisia, with significant water accumulation in several localities in the Nabeul Governorate, as well as in some areas of Greater Tunis and Bizerte.”
“EXTRAORDINARY records hot nights continue in the Gulf of Guinea. Minimum temperatures 26/29C [84.2F] all month:
“Absolutely insane in January. Mins 29C in The Madagascar Channel. Mins 28C in SW Oceania. Mins 27C in The Caribbean. All tropics are smashing record after record. Unprecedented.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2013501939191882120
“South Africa Declares National Disaster After Deadly Floods.
“Heavy rainfall, strong winds, lightning and flooding have resulted in loss of life, significant damage to infrastructure and property, environmental degradation and displacement of communities, the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.”
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2026/01/19/854770.htm
“Floods in Mozambique displace more than 300,000 people in one province, governor says.
“More than 300,000 people have been displaced by flooding in a province in Mozambique, its governor said Monday. Authorities had already announced that around 40% of the Gaza province has been submerged by floodwater following weeks of torrential rain…”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mozambique-gaza-south-africa-maputo-davos-b2903481.html
“Extraordinary and unprecedented heat in the Indian Ocean: the islands of Juan de Nova and Europa [off Mozambique] keeps recording Minimums temperatures of 29C+ [84.2F] for days, already 3 in a row and counting..
“Never happened anywhere in Southern Africa, although the record of 30.3 set last year is safe.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2013471881291276375
“Syrian army moves to retake strategic Tishrin Dam from YPG militants.
“The Tishrin Dam, situated on the Euphrates River, is Syria’s second-largest hydroelectric facility and holds strategic importance for energy and water management. Last week, Syrian forces began operations to push YPG elements from areas west of the Euphrates.”
“Central Asia’s water resources are running out: what happens when the tipping point is reached?
“Climate change, growing consumption, and systemic weaknesses in water governance are making the country increasingly vulnerable. Experts warn that without an urgent revision of water policy, the capitals of Central Asia could face a crisis comparable to the one already unfolding in Tehran.”
https://asiaplustj.info/ru/node/357021
“Tajikistan Expands Saxaul Plantations to Fight Climate Change.
“Tajikistan is stepping up efforts to combat climate change and land degradation by expanding saxaul plantations across several regions. In the Shahriotus district of Khatlon province, saxaul has already been planted on more than 250 hectares…”
https://caspianpost.com/tajikistan/tajikistan-expands-saxaul-plantations-to-fight-climate-change
“Quetta’s water crisis worsens as groundwater depletes and public supply fails [Pakistan].
“Behind people’s daily struggles lies a deeper structural crisis rooted in geography, climate and policy failure. Despite covering nearly 44 per cent of Pakistan’s landmass, Balochistan receives less than 200mm of annual rainfall, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/amp/1964668
“When winter burns: Uttarakhand to Kashmir, Himalayan forests are catching fire out of season.
“From Uttarakhand to Himachal Pradesh and deep into Jammu and Kashmir forest fires are breaking all known seasonal patterns. Erupting at a time when they simply should not exist. What we are witnessing is not an isolated anomaly. It is a warning…”
“India’s coconut belt battles whitefly crisis…
“Across India, farmers battling climate change, erratic rainfall, rising input costs, labour shortages and unstable markets now face another persistent threat: the rugose spiralling whitefly (RSW).”
https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/indias-coconut-belt-battles-whitefly-crisis/
“Not just Indore: Urban rivers and lakes turning toxic in Madhya Pradesh.
“Most major cities of Madhya Pradesh—Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain and Sagar—depend directly or indirectly on rivers, lakes and groundwater for drinking water. All these sources are under increasing pressure from urban sewage, industrial waste and solid garbage.”
https://www.counterview.net/2026/01/not-just-indore-urban-rivers-and-lakes.html
“CHINA HISTORIC WARM SPELL. This unprecedented January warm spell which has broken hundreds of records continue.
“Many January records today includes: 19.0 Chongqing, Tiancheng, Yubei, Changshou etc. Also almost 31C in Taiwan. Tomorrow >30C [86F] in Yunnan.“
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2012867048599093556
“Wildfire rages for nearly two days in China’s Yunnan…
“The fire broke out at 4:51 p.m. on Friday in Jiasheng Village, under the jurisdiction of Nujiang Prefecture. The local government has organized 326 rescuers, including personnel from forestry, grassland and firefighting departments, to combat the blaze.”
“HISTORIC WINTER WARM SPELL IN JAPAN. Another record day in this endless January warm spell with temperatures up to 25.8C [78.4F] and even some tropical nights in the southern islands.
“10 more records of January high temperatures fell (see list credit of JMA)… Geochang in South Korea broke its record of January highest temperature again.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/201319138912386702
“Well, Gorontalo record hasn’t lasted long…24 hours Minimum of 26.6C [79.9F] and hottest night in history.
“Record hot nights all over Indonesia which has broken heat records every single day for over 1000 consecutive days.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/201343771315290933
“Persistent floods kill 5, paralyze transport across Java.
“Flooding across Java has left at least five people dead, displaced thousands of residents, and disrupted public transportation networks, with authorities warning the situation could persist through February.”
“Perth & WA weather: Scorching temperatures across State prompt extreme heatwave, fire warnings.
“A severe heatwave warning is in effect for residents living in the Kimberley, Central West, and Lower West regions of the State, while people living in Pilbara, Gascoyne, and the North Interior have been issued an extreme heatwave warning.”
“Pilbara water sources drying up as blistering heatwave continues in Karratha…
“A key water source for a major city in Western Australia’s North West has hit its lowest level since 1987, as the region faces another week of temperatures creeping towards 50 degrees Celsius. Yesterday, Karratha, 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, recorded rainfall for the first time since August 2025.”
“Australia’s ocean temperatures reached a record high in 2025, according to Weatherzone, due to a number of climate drivers.
“The weather service reported the mean annual sea surface temperature in Australia last year was 21.13 degrees, which is 0.93 degrees above the 1961-1990 average.”
“After four shark attacks in 48 hours, NSW authorities urge beachgoers ‘just go to a pool’…
“Shark bites are rare in Sydney Harbour. Before Sunday, there had been just four in the past 50 years, including a woman who was seriously injured after a bull shark bit her leg in Elizabeth Bay in 2024.”
“EXTRAORDINARY UNBELIEVABLE. Records of Hottest nights ever recorded in VANUATU and NEW CALEDONIA.
“MINIMUMS 28.0 at Mare Island, Lifou Island and Aneityum. Smashed the records with ridiculous margins… ALL TIME RECORD at Raoul Island with 31.1C [88F].“
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2013231772658786564
“Chile wildfires rage for third day, entire towns wiped out.
“Wildfires that have killed at least 20 people in southern Chile and wiped out entire towns raged for a third day on Monday, January 19, fanned by warm temperatures and strong winds at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer.”
“An exceptionally long heat wave is culminating with a record hot night in Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL.
“Tonight Minimums in the ciy area were 25C/28C [82.4F], in some cases a record high Minimum (City Center, Marambaia).”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/201328512815216686
“Heat inequality: Study measures the toll of climate change in Rio de Janeiro favelas…
“Michele Campos feels like crying every summer when temperatures in Rio de Janeiro climb above 40°C (100°F), heating up the cement that covers every corner of the favela of Chapeu Mangueira where she lives and making life unbearable in her windowless bedroom.”
“Damage in various neighborhoods of Mar del Plata after the storm: “Some people lost their roofs” [Argentina].
“”Thank God no one was hurt. We went inside when we saw the strong wind coming,” said a neighbor, adding, “Some people lost their roofs.””
“HISTORIC HEAT IN THE CARIBBEAN. Record heat continues from Mexico (39C/102F) in Sinaloa to Central America and Caribbean.
“Today 90F/32.2C St Thomas Airport. US VIRGIN ISLANDS HOTTEST JANUARY DAY – Record broken 5 times in 1 week and all months of 2024 and 2025! Crazy MINIMUM 26.0C Montego Bay JAMAICA Record January hottest night. Temperatures are typical of AUGUST.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2013065882633748665
“We are witnessing record tropical heat waves everywhere:
“Hundreds of records are falling in Oceania (New Caledonia, Fiji, Indonesia),Africa (French Territories, Mozambique, Gulf of Guinea),Central America and Caribbean, every day. We can only imagine how it will be with the next Nino.“
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2012905669121446073
“Insurance companies: Climate-related damage shifts to consumers.
“Extreme weather events are an increasing burden on insurers, who are withdrawing from a growing number of high-risk areas. As a result, the costs of climate-related damage are increasingly being shifted to households, companies and the public sector.”
“Wildfires trigger massive soil loss for decades, new global map shows.
“When rain falls on the charred landscapes, it increases surface runoff and soil erosion that can last for decades, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience.”
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-wildfires-trigger-massive-soil-loss.html
“The way Earth’s surface moves has a bigger impact on shifting the climate than we knew.
“…the way tectonic plates move about Earth’s surface plays a major, previously underappreciated role in climate. Carbon doesn’t just emerge where tectonic plates meet. The places where tectonic plates pull away from each other are significant too.”
“Breaking News!
“CERES just released the “Earth Energy” data for November, 2025, and there was a new record low for the 36-month running average for Earth albedo, now down to 28.682%.
“”Well, darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable.” -Indigo Girls.”
[Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2012578014106882110
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
“Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.”
– Plato
Another solid quote, Flippr. Made me think of Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park):
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Adding to my comment from yesterday about juked poverty stats (1 in 4 living in poverty based on erroneous/insufficient nutrition norms instead of 50-80 per cent of the world depending on how low the calorie intake threshold is) I found the book by professors Utsa & Prabhat Patnaik where they measure how many Indians are living below 2200 and 2400 kcal/day.
https://arxiujosepserradell.cat/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/A-Theory-of-Imperialism-Utsa-Patnaik-Prabhat-Patnaik-z-lib.org_.pdf
That’s a free copy of the book. From a table on page 114, in 2010 75% of the rural population lived below 2200 kcal/day and 90% below 2400. Both have increased 20% since the 1970s.
2200 kcal/day average for the entire population comes to 2400 kcal/day for men and 2000 for women. That is the knife’s edge of undernourishment for people mostly engaged in physical/menial labour. In fact it’s probably below that since first world diets are meat/dairy intensive and animal feed (usually imported from the third world) is not factored into the direct consumption 2000-2500 kcal threshold.
If we apply this info to the risk of climate-related food collapse starting in earnest next Tuesday rather than vaguely “in the future”, very scary things start happening. Most of the people warning about those risks assume only 1 in 4 undernourished while 3 in 4 are just getting by. The reality is the exact opposite of that, and has probably gotten substantially worse since 2010 given the trend of increasing not decreasing real poverty. Forget Trump bombing Iran, that whole country is a ticking time bomb of oil exports vanishing within a matter of months from a single mega-drought. The Gulf states, even worse. All the oil money in the world cannot substitute for their African breadbaskets collapsing. Brazil and its recent “climate realist” oil bonanza, better but not by much.
This isn’t being named because it isn’t a political, moral, or technical problem. It is a physical carrying-capacity problem — and that makes it fundamentally unmanageable within our current language and institutions.
Once framed that way, almost everything collapses. Carrying capacity is non-negotiable. It cannot be postponed, redistributed, or “managed.” It can only be exceeded — and then correction follows. Always.
What is unfolding across large parts of the world today is not primarily a failure of governance, but an overshoot of metabolic and ecological limits: too many people, too few stable calories, too little water, too much heat, too little buffer. This is not ideology. It is thermodynamics applied to human bodies.
That is why it remains unspoken. Because once carrying capacity is acknowledged, the entire political and moral architecture falls apart:
– Growth loses meaning
– Development becomes a myth
– Equality runs into physical limits
– Technology loses its salvational role
What remains is damage control and the distribution of scarcity — a conversation no power structure is willing to have.
So we get substitute narratives instead: climate adaptation, resilience, inclusive growth, food innovation. All ways of not saying that the system as a whole has become too large for its underlying energy and food base.
The truly grim part is that correction is already happening — but asymmetrically. Not through a single dramatic collapse, but through bodies at the margins. Through declining life expectancy, silent hunger, migration, conflict, and “unexplained” instability. The statistics remain just intact enough to keep the fiction alive.
That is why it isn’t named. Carrying capacity does not negotiate. It is a hard, silent boundary — and boundaries you cannot argue with are, in our culture, effectively unspeakable.
ZIP,
Well done as usual. Your ending quote:
“That is why it isn’t named. Carrying capacity does not negotiate. It is a hard, silent boundary — and boundaries you cannot argue with are, in our culture, effectively unspeakable.”
To make our un-named carrying capacity more real: that is why I have repeatedly advocated for people to find their own hard, silent boundary of their personal water limitations.
You cannot argue and you cannot negotiate with your exhausted body and the unspeakable agony of aching back & arms as you struggle to find the maximal distance and the maximal volume of water you can tote and carry uphill.
When home faucet PSI = Zero, your blood pressure PSI will skyrocket from the exertion of the 82 lb carrying capacity sum of the two five-gallon jugs.
Bob Shaw Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?
“Most of the people warning about those risks assume only 1 in 4 undernourished while 3 in 4 are just getting by. The reality is the exact opposite of that, and has probably gotten substantially worse since 2010.”
Jupiviv, that is a harrowing statistic. The fossil-fuel-powered party is nearly over and 3/4 of the planet barely got an hors d’oeuvre.
Here is someone trying to explain optimism bias in addressing climate change while completely oblivious to his own extreme case of it (“we have all the solutions and all we need to do is …” etc.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYb1T2-RmlQ
Thanks, George. Although it can make me roll my eyes a bit, I generally cheer on our optimism bias, as it is the duct tape holding the financial system together at this point.
Bob, looks like silver will break $100 soon. Too bad we won’t be around much longer to benefit.
Hello Rusty,
I suspect that declining crypto values will gradually continue as more crypto bros become Collapse Aware then sell BTC, ETH, and others to buy safe haven PMs and remote hideaways, private islands, and sea-going yachts.
Long ago I declared that crypto = $zero when electrical blackouts and/or internet outages start occurring. Timing will be critical to maximize the value of still sellable crypto before all potential buyers become Collapse Aware.
Until then, PMs can continue to rise as even more people realize what lies ahead as both energy/capita & resources/capita continue to decline.
When the tipping point arrives when people finally understand that even PMs won’t buy long-term safety, then the rush to barter PMs for seeds, ammo, fertilizer, 5-gallon jugs, propane tanks, gardening tools, and more will be the rule.
Timing will be critical to maximize the barter value of your PMs because at some point a sack of gold won’t buy you a small packet of seeds or a small box of bullets.
“I suspect that declining crypto values will gradually continue as more crypto bros become Collapse Aware then sell…”
Bob, the funny thing about crypto culture is that it claims to be a response to collapse – but the crypto bros’ vision of collapse just entails loss of faith in institutions and fiat currency. They don’t seem hip to the whole energy/eco/climate/supply-chain nightmare coming down the pipe.
My guess is that crypto values do decline but that’s more because they are perceived as a risky asset and appetite for risk will tend to diminish. Rusty, I wish I had some silver. 😅
Hello Pan,
Please see the 56 min video of Dr. Mark Thorton:
https://www.kitco.com/news/video/2026-01-20/dr-mark-thornton-warns-fiat-is-in-the-icu-and-central-banks-do-not-trust-each-other
————————————-
Dr. Mark Thornton says the global fiat system has entered what he calls the “Intensive Care Unit,” as central banks increasingly abandon government debt in favor of physical gold.
Speaking with Kitco News Anchor Jeremy Szafron, Thornton pointed to Poland’s recent 150-ton gold purchase as a strategic signal from a frontline NATO nation that trust in the debt-based system is eroding.
He also highlighted rising Japanese bond yields and the restart of construction on Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower as classic warning signs under what he calls the “Skyscraper Curse,” a framework he argues has preceded major economic downturns.
Thornton also warned of a growing silver supply crisis, describing the market as “inelastic” and increasingly “wasted” on war and solar panels. He explained that because roughly 70% of silver is produced as a byproduct of base metal mining, a recession would actually reduce supply rather than increase it.
Looking ahead to 2026, Thornton outlined why these signals point to a major economic pivot and argued that unconventional assets, including fertilizer, may outperform traditional equity benchmarks.
—————————————
ME: He also talks about the need to prepare for bartering…
At 9:15 PM Arizona time: gold is $4840, silver is jumping between $93.50 & $95.50.
The illusion of “the dam”
The recapture of the Tishrin Dam in Syria is being talked up as a new step toward a “manageable future” for a country that is completely fragmented. The word “strategic” appears almost automatically. Energy. Water. Sovereignty. As if possession of a dam still equates to power, stability, and a future. And so the Tishrin Dam is presented as a valuable asset, a key instrument in the management of water and electricity. In reality, it is something quite different.
It is one of the last concrete remnants, a reminder of a system that has long since ceased to exist. What is being “recaptured” is not a functioning instrument of policy, but an infrastructural leftover embedded in an eroded hydrological landscape.
A dam is only an asset if there is a system around it. Such a system requires predictable water inflows, technical maintenance capacity, institutional authority, regional agreements, and a stable electricity grid. None of these conditions is structurally present in Syria anymore. The Euphrates is no longer a river in the classical sense, but a geopolitically rationed flow, dependent on upstream Turkish dams and increasingly erratic precipitation patterns. Water arrives not when it is needed, but when it is permitted—or by chance.
Without reliable inflow, a dam loses its core function. Turbines run irregularly or not at all. Reservoir management becomes guesswork. Ecological coordination is impossible. What remains is a large, vulnerable structure that constantly demands attention and rarely delivers anything in return. The dam does not produce stability; it consumes administrative and political energy that no longer exists.
Zip, thank you for another clear-eyed essay. I wonder if/how the Syrian government will respond to Israel’s incursion in the south:
“Israel’s Deepening Occupation Puts Southern Syria’s Water at Risk… According to estimates, Israel depends on the Golan Heights for about one-third of its water supply. Its rich water resources and strategic geopolitical position make it a crucial location for Israeli interests in the region.
“Their seizure of water resources in Quneitra and Daraa, and the construction of military outposts, may indicate Israel’s intention to expand its occupation of southern Syria on a long-term basis…
“Meanwhile, Israeli forces have also seized control of the Mantara dam, a key source of water for the already climate change-stricken governorate and those surrounding it.”
https://inkstickmedia.com/israels-deepening-occupation-puts-southern-syrias-water-at-risk/
Unrelated but I found a video source corroborating Curt’s comment yesterday about the Great Lakes waterways:
“2026 Marks the Latest Closing of the St Lawrence Seaway System Since its Opening in 1959.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8EYyV_M2Oo&t=3s
Water bankruptcy . This is a new one .
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/era-of-global-water-bankruptcy-is-here-un-report-says
Thank you, Ravi. One for tomorrow’s thread…
Since at least the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, “scientists warn” has become nothing but a political weapon to claim that any assertions they make are nothing but a hoax. Warnings issued now serve no other purpose than to create a log of “I told you so”’s; ancient oracles had more effect on people’s behavior than scientistific warnings do in the so-called “modern” world
Hence, a lake that is being used to dump raw sewerage, industrial waste, and solid garbage is said to be “turning toxic”. This is akin to the American Furore claiming that climate change is a hoax (while his acolytes maintain that he means it isn’t human induced, when confronted with the complete contradiction represented by the simultaneous denial of climate change while maintaining we need Greenland because its ice is melting due to a non-existent, but militarily-actionable, alteration in the environment; this despite the fact that fossil fuel incineration has demonstrably changed the chemistry of the atmosphere). The notion being that the atmosphere is, like said lake, “turning toxic”, as though mankind’s abuse of it has nothing to do with that toxicity.
Although one may suggest that this is being persnickety, I’ve noticed it over and over again: using phrases that exonerates humanity by not stating outright that we’re the intractable source of the problem, not the hope for a solution … well, unless/until said solution can be privatized & monetized for corporate profit.
Rob, I don’t think you’re being persnickety. I think it’s extremely relevant. It’s called the passive voice. It’s used a lot all over the place including protecting Israeli Zionists from their genocidal actions.
Thanks, Cassandra… I was afraid using the phrase “passive voice” was too grammarian, and grammar seems to be a forgotten or abused knowledge. But listing all the abuses we are inflicting on a lake and then saying it’s “turning toxic” (“Gee, ya think?”) was just too glaring a dodge.
Rob, I guess we tend to externalise the blame just like we externalise the costs.