Intense, graphic warnings on tomorrow are profiled and presented today.
Beyond the horrible images of Hurricane Helene now washing across media screens — those drone perspectives are a nightmare aren’t they, kind of creates a disjointed dreamscape similar to a surreal special-effects/CGI-laden Roland Emmerich movie, though, this is actually reality revealing Americans being violently overwhelmed by an outraged nature — the backstory to this chaotic event has been screamed about for decades: Climate change.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Face the Nation this morning (transcript):
Well, I think what we’re seeing, Robert (Costa) is, you know, this storm took a while to develop, but once it did, it developed and intensified very rapidly, and that’s because of the warm waters in the Gulf and so it’s creating more storms that are reaching this major category level than we’ve seen in the past. It’s also creating greater amounts of storm surge in the coastal areas. It’s creating greater amounts of rainfall as it moves up north. And so in the past, when we would look at damage from hurricanes, it was primarily wind damage, with some water damage, but now we’re seeing so much more water damage, and I think that is a result of the warm waters, which is a result of climate change.
Criswell, located in Florida during the interview (Florida so far has had 11 deaths and massive, humongous damage), is in the first near-six minutes of the following video clip:
Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation signed Wednesday (May 15, 2024) by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy coastline.
Critics said the measure made law by the former Republican presidential hopeful ignores the reality of climate change threats in Florida, including projections of rising seas, extreme heat and flooding and increasingly severe storms.
It takes effect July 1 and would also boost expansion of natural gas, reduce regulation on gas pipelines in the state and increase protections against bans on gas appliances such as stoves, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
DeSantis tried to sound cool and collected about Helene: ‘“If you had told me there was going to be 15ft to 18ft of storm surge, even with the best efforts, I would have assumed we would have had multiple fatalities.”‘
Nifty!
Nutshell real-world, factual knowledge (CleanTechnica):
In the 1950s, scientists employed by fossil fuel companies began telling the companies they worked for that burning fossil fuels would lead to higher average temperatures on planet Earth. In 1988, Dr. James Hansen testified to Congress that warmer atmospheric and ocean temperatures would lead to more powerful hurricanes. The science is so simple, even a fourth grader can understand it. Hotter air holds more moisture. More moisture means more rain. Warmer water feeds tropical depressions, helping them intensify more quickly. In fact, the average intensification rate of hurricanes today is nearly 30% greater than it was in the 1980s due to a hotter atmosphere and hotter oceans, according to a study published last year in the journal Nature
An absurd scene from North Carolina:
Went to help in the Lake Lure/Chimney Rock area today, and it’s hard to describe – never seen anything like this. Post apocalyptic. It’s so overwhelming you don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start. Going to be a long path to recovery that… pic.twitter.com/HnyxwyQB76
— Tariq Scott Bokhari (@FinTechInnov8r) September 29, 2024
Cry till you’re empty.
An environmental crisis, or not, yet once again here we are…
(Illustration out front from the UN’s International Children’s Painting Competition, and found here.)