Excerpt from The Guardian. Go HERE to read entire article.
Is climate breakdown to blame?
A range of factors influence the number of hurricanes smashing into land, from localised weather to periodic climatic events such as El Niño. Prior to 2017, the US had experienced a hurricane “drought” that had stretched back to Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
But there is growing evidence that the warming of the atmosphere and upper ocean, due to human activity such as burning fossil fuels, is making conditions ripe for fiercer, more destructive hurricanes.
“The past few years have been highly unusual, such as Irma staying strong for so long, or the hurricane in Mozambique that dumped so much rain,” says Kossin. “All of these things are linked to a warming atmosphere. If you warm things up, over time you will get stronger storms.”
Climate breakdown is tinkering with hurricanes in a variety of ways. More moisture in the air means more rain, while storms are intensifying more quickly but often stalling once they hit land, resulting in torrential downpours that cause horrendous flooding.
Rising sea levels are aiding storm surge whipped up by hurricanes – one study found that Hurricane Sandy in 2012 probably wouldn’t have inundated lower Manhattan if it occurred a century previously because the sea was a foot lower then. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the maximum intensity of hurricanes will increase by about 5% this century.
The expanding band of warmth around the planet’s tropical midriff also means a larger area for hurricanes to develop, resulting in fierce storms further north than before, such as Florence. In the Pacific, this change means typhoons’ focal point is switching from the Philippines towards Japan.
Researchers are currently attempting to ascertain if climatic changes will help bend the path of hurricanes enough that more will charge in the direction of the UK in the future.
“This has implications for places that have historically been unaffected by tropical cyclones,” says Collins, who added these newly hit areas are likely to suffer a significantly higher risk of structural damage than traditional hurricane zones.
“We are already seeing effects of climate change,” says Collins. “While there is not consensus on the frequency of hurricanes in a warmer world, there is a consensus that the hurricanes are becoming more intense, and hence their impact will be worse.”
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I am not arguing regarding climate change, but the worst hurricane to hit Florida happened in 1935.
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The thing is, in 1935, that was a terrible storm and damaged the entire east coast, including New England. It was the storm of the century. NOW we have storms like that multiple times per season. No more “storm of the century.” It’s just one more gigantic storm like all the other gigantic storms.
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Perhaps, Marilyn; as I said, I am not arguing.
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The article on Climate change and the sudden interest in the public does make me wonder if we are too late in taking notice. I have happily reached the age of 60 this year and can remember discussing the problems of climate change with my dad, way back in the mid-seventies. He was a botanist and so names like David Bellamy, Guy Callendar were bandied about in discussions about the ways of preventing a climatic disaster. Today it seems we are too “selfie aware” to look beyond the social bubble and think of a future that will mean our grandchildren may have a far poorer quality of life.
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I haven’t quite reached 80,– I’m afraid I believe that your last sentence is very true, and it may apply not only to your grandchildren but also to yourself as you go through the next 20+ years.
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I agree and though this is scary to think of, I find some hope in the knowledge that here in Ireland, young teens 13-17 years recently protested regarding the lack of clarity and commitment of Irish politicians to saving our planet.
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That is wonderful to see — those young teens are in the group that will be most affected by climate change, and it’s good to know that they are learning enough to protest the lack of commitment! to saving the planet.
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“Too selfie aware” is a brilliant appraisal of the problem. I just returned from a trip where it was impossible to get photos of any of the ruins or scenery because there was always someone putting themselves into the view to take a photo of themselves in front of it. The point was “me, me, me” not the view of the world. It is sickening.
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That’s sad! I don’t even have others take photos of me in scenic places — I know I was there, and I know what I look like, but the scenery is the point of the photo!
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I totally agree.
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When I take photos of others it is at events when I notice a special energy I want to capture. Not to prove we were all in a certain place at the same time.
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Yes — I’m not a portrait photographer, and seldom take photos of people, except, as you say, to capture a special energy.
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I’ve read a number of claims that it is too late. Scary.
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And you know that insurance companies are NOT going to pay for the damage that the weather is doing. It will be MILLIONS of dollars from floods, fires, tornadoes. You can’t get them to fix anything NOW, but how much worse is it going to be next year? And the year after that?
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I heard somewhere the person to see the destruction of our planet due to climate change is already born 😱😱 I hope he’s wrong. I forget who said I was too busy cowering under the covers.
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I definitely think it’s all connected. California’s on fire and breaking apart. We’re melting. Why? Climate change.
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So far this year, California is in much better shape than last year. There have been hundreds of little fires, but the firefighters have kept them to small acreage (mostly under 50 acres). We still have at least a couple of months to go in the fire season, but it’s a much better year than before!
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Good. Last year was horrendous.
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I’m not holding my breath yet — there are still 3 months of the season — but even this week in Malibu they kept a fire to 25 acres! They seem to have pre-positioned strike teams and equipment better this year, so they are getting to the fires before they have a chance to grow. AND we haven’t had any big winds yet this year.
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I think wind is the decisive factor in almost every climactic threat. It used to be the wind chill factor we watched in the winter when I was in snowy climes.
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In grade school, we learned about the energy cycle. Later, in college, I took some science classes, some of this including weather. Then, when getting interested in flight, I read about different systems pilots need to be aware. Some research. Some listening. More reading. Driving across many states, remember being abroad, going on the high seas, I read. Then, one day, a friend was smoking a cigar, and never could one predict which way the drift. The world is huge. There a factors within factors, within factors. As of this article, there isn’t a supercomputer that can plug in all the factors, many of which we haven’t seen or understood, and there are factors throughout the universe, the sun having a huge impact. **I have never been interested in persuading, but more to encourage people to think for themselves. Read. Research. Do some of the math. Drive across the fruited planes. The more you do this, the more you’ll realize we don’t have the information. But moreso, one will realize we can affect locally, but this is one gigantic planet that uses everything and adapts. Breath more carbon dioxide, more plants grow, and we increase oxygen. It’s amazing. *One of the first thing I do when listening to anyone is listen to where they are coming from. Listening to their understanding. You can actually, if you look for it, listen for understanding.
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Thanks, Dolphin, for sharing your thoughts on the matter.
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Thanks for posting! I don’t think people quite realize how serious it is that so much ice has melted. It’s actually a big deal. Imagine our earth had always had ice cold water in the arctic. The “extra” heat the earth has kept lately would be like heating that ice cold water to 180 degrees F!! That is hot enough to cook all the fish, dolphins, whales, and people who touch such water. Most folks don’t realize how much heat it takes to melt ice.
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And yet the powers that be, at least in the U.S., refuse to see. Crazy.
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Thanks for posting this, Peter. Why people just pick and choose what science to believe is beyond me. If you build a skyscraper, you hire a professional architect and builders, yet science is thrown out the window when it comes to preseving a world we can live on? Perhaps they’ll believe science when it creates the ships they’ll need to leave this world and move to some other planet to despoil.
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The important thing is for people to research for themselves, which would require extensive learning.
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As a kid, I knew when something didn’t make sense or that the information available wasn’t sufficient. Even as a 2nd grader, when I saw those pictures of dinosaurs, questions popped into my head as to how the scientists could possibly know their color or much else, and later, discovering very few complete skeletons ever were dug up. When a teacher said gravity was like a bucket of water spun around, I knew something was amiss, and years later, researching, I discovered she really didn’t know anything, but she thought she did. All too many people think they know what they don’t. What I’ve told others is it’s okay not to know. It’s okay to be undecided. The best scientists think, gather data, sometimes coming up with a theory based upon a lot of information pointing, but a theory is just that: not certain. Then, we test theories, and sometimes, come up with facts. There is so much to learn about our world, the changes, the interactions with the sun and other celestial objects, and even scientists are still studying.
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But I am going to count on the billions of dollars we spend to have our smartest minds determine solutions. Scientists have gotten us to the moon and back, devised vaccines, water systems, sewage systems. I certianly trust them more than our POTUS and his self-serving cronies.
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Yes. I too look to experts, but as I have learned over the years, even since my youth, that a title, even experience, does not necessarily mean accurate information. For those of us who are clearly not experts, that requires some observation, understanding, and listening. I never give over my trust to anyone. Never (family and good friends excepted). I was born with common sense and understanding, have read, listened, and researched enormously (not an expert, though), so I use my understanding and listen to “experts”. What I’m looking for is honesty and understanding, which we can read in people. And I question why the experts with differing opinions (and there are a lot) are not given air time.
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