An American map showing the rapid increase in average winter temperatures across the United States published last week showed us by doing the numbers what we gardeners know in our bones: It’s getting toastier out there. Not always toasty. There is still cold. Just a lot toastier than before. Thirty-five years ago, when I bought my Pasadena garden (and a little cottage sitting on its edge), there were three or four regular overnight frosts, morning ice glistening on the rose bushes and the irises, every winter, and seven or eight in the different microclimate just down the hill, the floor of the Arroyo Seco canyon where the Rose Bowl is. It’s been well over a decade since we have seen any frost at all. The map published by Climate Central shows that our coastal zone of Southern California is an area that has seen average winter temps rise between 2 and 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. That’s not nearly as major a change as back East, where all of New England is in a zone where the winter lows are on average 5 degrees higher than 54 years ago. This is not an issue of opinion. It doesn’t matter to the real world if a politician such as Donald Trump finds it convenient to pretend that “climate change is a hoax.” This winter numbers are just a small piece of the data pie showing this year to be the hottest ever. “The global mean surface air temperature from January to September 2024 was 1.54°C above the pre-industrial average. This is the first time the world has exceeded 1.5°C warming,” the World Meteorological Organization reports. King Canute can command the tides to recede all he likes, but the rising tide pays no attention to his royal wishes. But the perhaps apocryphal story of the actual ancient English king, crowned in 1027, as told by his chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon, was meant to tell the opposite of how the story is now understood. After the tide kept coming up and dampened his shoes despite the command, Canute stepped back and declared, “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.” A king, or a president, can have no effect on global warming and other examples of climate change by commanding the atmosphere and the oceans to stop heating up. The laws of chemistry, and of physics, are eternal laws. But the president can, out of a desire to seem populist, or whatever reality-denying motive is at play here, once again withdraw our nation from The Paris Agreement, negotiated by 196 countries in 2015 “to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” And surely once in office Trump will do just that. It’s a national embarrassment, yet another one; it’s anti-human, as well as anti-Earth. For those of us who favor the Earth over, say, Mars, and who don’t want to leave our great-grandchildren an inhospitable home planet, it’s a disgusting political maneuver. But that doesn’t mean that smart, everyday Americans will give up on our own fight against climate change, absurd as it is that the president’s likely action will see us join only a tiny group of countries, including Libya, Iran and Yemen, in the denialism. We do contribute 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and American scientists, engineers and politicians of goodwill will continue to work to bring that number down, waiting out the Trump administration’s colossal error. As Max Boykoff, professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado says, yes, there will be “a loss of trust and a loss of opportunity for the U.S. to be in a position of leadership in a clean energy economy, and more generally on other global issues as well.” But: “The renewable energy sector has grown to a point where it actually makes great financial sense to continue to benefit from these market trends. With the way the economy has been moving, the Trump administration’s withdrawal ... may carry more symbolic significance than actual functional significance.” Keep up the good fight, even if this president is unlikely to attain the wisdom of the old king. Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.Foot traffic rewarded
Winners of three of the last four National League Central division titles, the Milwaukee Brewers are looking for ways to retool their lineup in hopes of snagging yet another divisional crown in 2025. To that end, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Brewers would "love to find a way" of signing free-agent first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt was non-tendered by a St. Louis Cardinals organization seeking to shed some bloated veteran contracts this winter and presents a reliable option for a Brewers team that has had a revolving door at first base for several seasons running. At 37 years old, Goldschmidt's best seasons are certainly behind him, but on a one- or two-year deal, he still provides a formidable bat in the lineup that can also still deliver defensive prowess near the levels of his four Gold Glove seasons. Just two years removed from his 2022 National League Most Valuable Player campaign, Goldschmidt's production fell off to 22 home runs with 65 RBI and a .245 batting average. A far cry from 2022, but still palatable numbers for a team seeking a veteran influence. Spotrac projects Goldschmidt to be available on a one-year deal for approximately $12 million. The fly in the ointment for Milwaukee is that the team already employs Rhys Hoskins at first base. Hoskins, who will be 32 before Opening Day, claimed his player option to stay with the Brewers this coming season at the price of $18 million. With Milwaukee having a glut of outfielders, Christian Yelich — who is coming off back surgery — is penciled in as the team's designated hitter, according to FanGraphs , hence taking out a position that the Brewers could have had Goldschmidt and/or Hoskins play. However, as noted by Sports Illustrated's Stephen Mottram , Milwaukee might use Hoskins "as a trade chip" this winter. More MLB: Blue Jays remain in the running to sign 4-time All-Star free agent
Israel Strikes Huthis At Yemen Airport, Prompting Iranian Condemnation
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement pension varies because of factors such as length of contributions, age at which you start payments, and average earnings throughout your working life. The government website says the maximum CPP amount for 2025 if you claim at age 65 is $1,346.60. However, most CPP users receive only an average of $815 monthly (as of July 2024). The reason? You qualify for the maximum monthly pension if you have contributed at least 39 years between 18 and 65, and the contributions are the maximum amount. The maximum annual pensionable earning for 2025 is $71,300, an increase of $2,800 from the $68,500 threshold in 2024. This threshold refers to the income or earnings required to qualify for the maximum CPP payout. If you have not earned the maximum pensionable earnings for most of your working years, kiss your chances goodbye. CPP users won’t get much pension increase for the enhancements in 2019. Many current contributors to the fund will likely fall short, too. The remedy is to augment the average CPP pension with investment income. If you have money saved, consider buying . Note that the average pension of $815 is 60.5% of the maximum CPP pension. The difference is $531.60. Generous dividend payers like ( ) and ( ) can help you earn the amount. However, it takes time and patience to reach the goal. Given the average 6.62% dividend yield, you must invest or accumulate $48,200 worth of shares ($24,100 in each) to make half or $265.90. If you add the Old Age Security (OAS) of $713.34 (2024 max at 65), you’d have a total of $1,794.24. CIBC is a solid choice because it’s the top-performing big bank stock year to date (+48.29%). Besides the hefty 5.5% dividend yield, the dividend track record is 156 years and counting. The current share price is $91.11. As of this writing, the market cap is $61.61 billion. Canada’s fifth-largest bank did not disappoint investors in its recent quarterly performance. In the third quarter (Q3) fiscal 2024 (three months ending July 31, 2024), revenue and net income rose 13% and 25% year over year to $6.6 billion and $1.8 billion. Its president and chief executive officer (CEO), Victor Dodig, credits the disciplined client-focused strategy and diversified North American platform for the strong results. TC Energy is fresh from the spinoff of its liquids pipeline business. The $71.4 billion company is now a pure-play natural gas, natural gas storage, power and energy solutions provider. At $70.14 per share, current investors enjoy a 56.54% year-to-date gain on top of the 7.74% dividend yield. Management expects demand for natural gas to soar and is confident that TC Energy can meet the surge in demand. Four key growth projects worth an estimated $1.5 billion in gross capital expenditures will drive long-term growth. The reality for future retirees is that only a handful receive the maximum CPP pension. Fortunately, it’s not the not of the road. There are other ways to boost retirement income, like generating pension-like income from top dividend stocks.
