HAVE YOU NOTICED?

Have you noticed that while you were busy putting out the fires in your life 

that the world had been busily going crazy behind your back?

As talks between Greece and its creditors broke down over the past few days, 

a Greek financial meltdown has become a very scary and very real possibility.

Imagine being told by President Obama that you could only withdraw $67 from a ATM per week 

and then having the ATM run out of money before you got there!

And then retailers would no longer accept your credit card!

Financial markets on three continents sounded alarms Monday 

after Greece closed its banks in anticipation of a potential default on its debt 

and Puerto Rico announced it would be unable to pay back all of its $72 billion in debt, 

setting up a looming default of its own. 

Imagine getting out of bed only to discover that the world as you knew it was over.

On June 18, 

a sunspot that had been rotating toward Earth for a few days

 unleashed the first in a series of solar eruptions, hurling a torrent of gas and magnetic field at our planet. 

When the coronal mass ejection reached Earth’s magnetosphere five days later, 

it spawned the most intense geomagnetic storm in the current solar cycle — 

powerful enough to push the northern lights as far south as Texas.

The problem is we had no idea it was going to be that strong until it was already here.

 Consider the scenario where electricity is lost completely 

— or is even just sporadically available — 

for months. 

Repeat of 1859 Carrington Event would devastate modern world, experts say. 

 If something similar happened today, the world's high-tech infrastructure could grind to a halt.

Satellite communications

—also essential to many daily activities—

would be at risk from solar storms.

 Every time you purchase a gallon of gas with your credit card, that's a satellite transaction.

 But the big fear is what might happen to the electrical grid, since power surges caused by solar particles could blow out giant transformers. 

Such transformers can take a long time to replace, especially if hundreds are destroyed at once.

 Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year.

Less ice means less habitat for animals like polar bears, 

and it also means there are fewer reflective surfaces in the North to bounce sunlight back into space, 

allowing the planet to absorb more heat. 

 Retreating sea ice could disrupt a major ocean circulation pattern 

and even affect climate patterns in Europe.

 Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: 

This current acts as a kind of conveyor belt, carrying warm water from the equator to the poles, 

and then shuttling cold water back to the tropics where the cycle starts all over again. 

 If the current slows down and less warm water gets transported north, 

then less heat will be transferred in regions such as Western Europe.

And something for my new feline room-mate, Midnight:

Cat Station-Master, Tama, elevated this week as Goddess:

Tama the stationmaster, Japan's feline star of a struggling local railway, 

was mourned by company officials and fans and elevated into a goddess at a funeral on Sunday.