Cyprus Warming

With the 80 degree highs for the past week, I am experiencing a winter heat wave rather than a white Christmas in Cyprus this year. I have not experienced a single high temperature below 70 degrees in Nicosia since I arrived, what many are telling me is the hottest fall season (following the hottest ever summer) in memory. In addition, it has drizzled (not rained) on two occasion in Nicosia in the past two and a half months leaving me concerned that the sky forgot how to form clouds and release water.

Although I am fully enjoying my t-shirts and shorts in December, I am concerned about Cyprus' future. As Cypriots continue to drive their cars EVERYWHERE, as residents of low rise flats in the sprawling suburbs continue to water their concrete patios and walks, as I remain the only biker on the road, and as the taxi drivers continue to (unofficially) boycott the push for a bus system (which I believe should be supplemented with an inter-city train system servicing Larnaca Airport, Limassol, Paphos, Nicosia, and Agia Napa to be extended into the north upon any sort of reunification or resolution), I am beginning to think that a small hole in the ozone is forming above this small island. I feel like I am watching the slow degradation of this island into a desert.

Nativity scene set up in the carnival area in the moat of Nicosia directly below a mosque's minaret and cloudless sky in 80 degree December weather.