It might be true that they haven’t ever seen Mt. Rainier not completely covered in snow, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, or that it’s unprecedented.
▪️You don’t have to go back too far to find similar pictures and comments. This web post was from 2020 and has a picture credited to the National Park Service at an unknown date (but prior to this year) showing a beautiful, but very bare Mt. Rainier. (Picture posted in comments)
https://www.historylink.org/file/21111
▪️In 2015, hot weather caused greater than normal snowmelt on Rainier, which many articles covered showing the bare rock. (Again, pictures in the comments)
https://www.knkx.org/post/mount-rainiers-glaciers-retreating-likely-fastest-rate-ever-seen-summers-heat
▪️In fact, there was a group post back then lamenting that they had “never seen the Rainier peak without snow.” Although that person was admittedly just 16.
http://www2.lifeinusa.com/communities/seattle-wa/mt-rainier-melted-snow-july-2015https://www.nps.gov/mora/faqs.htm
▪️Going back further, an informational booklet on Mt. Rainier published in 1978 (when the person from this meme was 5) had a cover photo of Rainier in the summer showing ~1/2 snow coverage on the top. But this was presented showing the beauty of the area, not pronouncing doom. (Photo in comments)
http://npshistory.com/publications/mora/barnett-c1978.pdf
This is from the 1978 booklet:
🔹”Finally, some 10,000 years ago the climate began warming up again and the great ice shield slowly retreated. The alpine glaciers, which had extended many miles down the canyons retreated to their high altitude "last stand". This is how we see the landscape today. But remember that the forces of nature are constantly at work.”
▪️Also, the current FAQ from the NPS on Rainier says this:
🔹”Does the snow at Paradise ever melt?
Although Paradise is one of the snowiest places on Earth where snowfall is measured regularly, it does enjoy a brief but glorious snow-free season. In most years, the area is snow-free from about mid-July through late September. October snowfall usually melts in between storms. The ground is usually completely snow covered for the winter by Thanksgiving.”
https://www.nps.gov/mora/faqs.htm
So many of these right wing accounts are just whiners now, this is a diatribe about automatic sinks and towels, the horror! As I explained in a prior post, most of the newer terminals have great bathrooms, some now have completely private stalls and plenty of them. The worst and most crowded airport bathrooms are invariably found in aging terminals that are decades old. It’s a reminder that airports were usually drab and uncomfortable.
I think the heyday of the air hand-dryers was like 15-20 years ago, where often you couldn’t find real towels. Now you can at least usually get real paper towels in airport bathrooms. Remember those old cloth roller towels that would go in a loop and somehow “clean” themselves? Yuck! Public bathrooms have always been gross, it seems some are deliberately having selective memories.
Airport food and drinks were always expensive, but now practically everyone brings those huge cooler flasks with them and fills them up. So not sure what he means that ...
I first critiqued this terrible take by looking at how food has actually improved substantially. Even though I said the same could be done in every category, people said “you’re only doing food.” So let’s do air travel and see why it’s not gotten better, not worse.
▪️Aircraft have greatly improved. Just 15-20 years ago, many domestic routes (~15%) were flown by turboprops like the Brasilia, Dash 8 or Saab. Now, almost everything is in jets, and most aircraft have WiFi. Some even have Starlink, where you probably have faster WiFi than your home. Most major airlines offer dozens or hundreds of movies and shows to watch.
▪️Newer designs like the 787 have lower cabin altitudes and improved humidity, which make a huge difference in passenger comfort on long haul flights. The first/business class international market has gotten very competitive globally, with many carriers offering excellent service and amenities. Pods, suites, showers, etc. Coach still sucks but is dramatically cheaper ...
This is the complete opposite of an empirical fact. The right has now joined the left in being pessimistic about the modern world and completely unappreciative of the amazing abundance we now have. I’ll just focus on food here, but you could do it for almost every category.
▪️Fresh produce used to be available only in season. In the winter it was canned or frozen. People used to send fruit for Christmas gifts, it was that much of a luxury good. Now, you can get giant, sweet berries year around in every grocery store. Corn on the cob in February. Not to mention once rare items like dragon fruit, heirloom tomatoes or baby bok choy.
▪️If you didn’t live on the coast, seafood was either not available, frozen, or extremely expensive. If you lived in the Midwest and traveled to coastal locales you would quite literally be able to eat food you had never seen. Salmon has become much more abundant and accessible. You can get fresh ahi at Walmart today. Sushi and oyster bars exist everywhere ...
