Coping with Heat Waves in the South of France and Hot Air from Across the Atlantic Ocean

 Before repeated heat waves gripped the South of France, dipping in the pool was pampering, now it is a survival need.  I retired in 2003 in a pre-heatwave era, and I bought an apartment in Rio de Janeiro and a house in the south of France.  Having been an outdoor gal all my life, I wanted to enjoy my retirement in warm places with a celebrated outdoors culture like in Rio and Provence.  

For the first twenty years, my plan worked out fabulously until climate change and global warming reshaped the previously balmy, sunny and easy-going Provence into a hellish spot where going out is potentially hazardous to one’s life.   One of the great delights of being in this part of France was the prospect of settling down at an outdoor café after exploring the picturesque village streets in the company of friends.  Temperatures now commonly reach 40 ºC (over 104 F), resulting in reduced outdoor activities and less social interaction.  I very much miss socializing.  It is the third straight summer that I spent more on mineral water than on rosé wine.   The thick walls of my 250-year-old house, air conditioning units and my small swimming pool help me to keep cool.  To escape the summer heat, my two best friends decided to move north.  Horacio, my rubber duck and a pink inflatable flamingo keep me company, however I feel a bit lonely.  

By exhausting people and confining them indoors, heatwaves slow down the economy.  The economic cost is well established and worries European governments.   A French newspaper has calculated that a day with temperature above 32º is equivalent to half a day of strikes.  A reference for a notorious strike loving country like France.   The weather is even too hot to bear for Provence’s famed cicadas; they no longer sing and many die.  Now, if we brave the heat and go out for a sunset drink, we are attacked by Aedes albopictus, the Tiger mosquito, an aggressive pest from Subtropical Asia which transmits exotic diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya fevers.  The bulk of the electricity which runs our air conditioners comes from nuclear plants.  To add to our misery, one plant had to shut down: warm sea-loving jellyfish swarmed its cooling system. 

During this period of forced confinement, I spend time compulsively reading sitting in the pool (see pics in my previous blog!).   My heat wave reading is eclectic at best; I alternate The Secret life of Volcanoes (Clive Oppenheimer) with Adventures in the Louvre (Elaine Sciolino).   I also had time to update my geological and mining knowledge because friends have sought my insights to understand the recent Oval Office mining craze.   Donald Trump’s voracious interest in everything mining has teased my curiosity as a former mining geologist (not a volcanologist).  Mining and real estate have created fortunes for savvy investors; though, I believe real estate has created more consistent millionaires.  On the other hand, for risk takers mining offers lottery-like upsides. 

Prolonged heat waves are causing misery on the South of France and in the same period, hot air is blowing in from Washington D.C. to histrionic proportions.  To break China’s stranglehold on critical mineral supply, Donald Trump (a six-times bankrupt real estate mogul) signed several “Mine Everywhere” Executive Orders which may pad his corporate friends and foreign companies’ pockets and do little to improve US alleged strategic minerals deficit.

Unlike opening a casino or a golf course, mining is an expensive, unpredictable and grubby business, zillions of tons of dirt are dug and shoveled to extract bit size valuable minerals.  The development process is lengthy and capital-intensive, even with shortcuts like those proposed in Trump’s EOs.  After spending a huge investment budget, minerals may have lost their value when the mine is finally up and running out of its muddy hole.  Attractive projects have a propensity to be in unappealing locations.  Two areas of interest for the Trump administration, Ukraine and western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are in war-torn regions.  

These mineral deals, quid pro quo for security guarantees have been derided as resources grabs racking of neocolonialism.  I see them as tactics to safeguard the commander in chief’s reputation for deal-making.  After all, Ukraine has traded minerals in the ground, stuff in the future for support in the present.

Our heatwave seems to be easing, but hot air still blows in from D.C.

.