I am genuinely concerned for the members of one of my professional organizations right now. During the first week of April, they are having a conference in San Diego.

I am concerned because the state of California, including San Diego, has been pummeled with natural disasters lately. In the southern part of the state, there have been floods and mudslides. In the north, there was just this week a blizzard, and I cannot even recall what else has plagued this part of the Golden State in the last several months.

I want my colleagues to stay safe.

It seems to me that California used to be the state with perfect weather, no hurricanes, blizzards, torrential downpours, or floods. (I have always lived on the East Coast, so I can’t really say that; I am going by my impressions only.) Now they can’t catch a break. And on top of all of this, they sometimes have earthquakes. Earthquakes seem to be the worst natural disasters because you cannot predict when they will hit or evacuate ahead of time.

Forgive me now for saying something that is often considered political but is scientific: The climate is changing.

I have family in Québec, Canada who got along without air conditioning in their homes for decades. Many people in that area are now installing air conditioning, because it often gets brutally hot in the summer. One summer, the temperature in the Montreal area hit a scorching 98° F and the authorities were telling people without air conditioning (i.e., nearly everyone) to go to malls, libraries, public pools, and other cool places and not stay home. The community swimming pool in my aunt and uncle’s neighborhood was open until the wee hours so people could cool off instead of sweating in their beds.

In the Maryland city where I live, there is a large pond in a beautiful downtown park. At one end of the pond are the remains of a shelter for ice skaters. They are there for historic purposes only, because skating is now forbidden on the pond. This is because—you guessed it—the ice does not freeze hard enough to be safe for skating.

These are my observations. What are yours?