A writer who moved to New York in the summer of 2001 recalls the autumn that never came. The fall of 2001 was unseasonably warm, with November being the warmest New York had ever recorded.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the country came together in a way that seemed to have agreed on what mattered. However, over the next 25 years, this sense of unity slowly slipped away. The writer remembers walking around the city that fall, noticing the unusual warmth and lack of cold weather.
The warm fall of 2001 was a kind of preview of the extreme weather events that would become more frequent in the years to come. The writer thinks about the floods in Nepal, the heat domes over cities, and the summer when New York’s sky turned the color of a traffic cone due to a forest fire a thousand miles away.
A Newfound Passion for Running
On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the writer sat down in front of a bodega near the East Broadway NYC subway stop, having just run 13 miles, the longest run they had ever attempted. This experience sparked a newfound passion for running, and they have done a long run every September 11th since.
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The writer will be running the New York City Marathon again in six weeks and is preparing for the challenge. They will be checking the ten-day forecast obsessively, knowing better than to bet on a cold snap.
Unity and the Climate
John Avlon, Rudy Giuliani’s former chief speechwriter, believes the real lesson of 9/11 is that the country squandered the unity that followed the attacks. Avlon says the country should not need a catastrophe to find its way back to each other. The writer thinks that the climate could be a unifying factor, as it has been making its case since the warm fall of 2001.
The writer’s experience of the unseasonably warm fall of 2001 was a personal wake-up call to the reality of climate change. As they prepare to run the New York City Marathon, they are reminded of the importance of taking care of the natural world and the need for unity in the face of this global challenge.
A Personal Reflection
In the middle of the writer’s running journey, the story of the warm fall of 2001 is a personal anecdote. The extreme weather events that have become more frequent in recent years are a reminder that the climate is a pressing issue.
