As summer unfolds in the Northern hemisphere, most of the United States of America is baking in a protracted heat wave that is putting the power grid to the test and placing real stress on people, plants and animals. These punishing, record-breaking temperatures seem to be stalled over a wide area. At the same time, these same areas have experienced a dramatic decline in rainfall.

Torrential rains inundated China’s capital city last weekend, overwhelming the drainage system.

In 1839, a want ad appeared in a New York newspaper: “Wanted: a few good men to train for a dangerous, low pay, weather exposed assignment.” Applicants would need to leave behind their former walks of life and become expert horsemen. The agency that placed the ad was swamped with replies, but not every applicant proved to be up to the challenge. Many were called, but ultimately—as the ad indicated—relatively few were chosen. Thus the Pony Express was formed.

Last Friday morning at the midnight opening of the latest Batman movie, a lone gunman burst into a packed theater in the Denver, Colorado suburb of Aurora, set off a smoke bomb and tear gas, and began firing his weapon into the crowd (Good Morning America, July 20, 2012).  Survivors recalled the terrifying confusion and panic of those trapped inside the theater.

The United States is experiencing the worst drought in 50 years, and the United Kingdom had the wettest April to June on record, with July following the same pattern.