A few years ago, as climate change emerged as an issue, researchers said that we could expect increases in both the frequency and severity of disastrous climate events. In scanning the news, globally, I realized that many of the articles would not have even been considered “news” just a few decades ago. Yet, we now see reports of all sorts of death and destruction devastation as daily occurrences … about as newsworthy as the latest hair styles.

Just as candy companies are in business to sell candy, oil companies are in business to sell oil. And gaining the support of political leaders helps them to continue to sell oil. Our bodies give us alert signs if we eat to much candy, causing us to adjust our candy craving or face ill-health consequences. As the negative impact is on our personal health, it’s up to us to address the problem, sometimes with the help of scientifically-trained physicians.

Our consumption of oil products, however, affects more than our personal health. Physicians focus on our health, as patients, to help us regulate our candy consumption; political leaders focus on their oil industry patient’s health, not ours. This research report essentially confirms what early forecasters said would happen. The conclusion: the onus to solving our oil craving, so we all enjoy greater health, is still on us. Comments afterwards.

 

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Hurricanes Milton and Helene Were Intensified by Climate Change, Researchers Find

 

By: Michael Riojas

EcoWatch

October 16, 2024

Edited by Chris McDermott

 

Hurricanes — the most powerful storms on Earth — are becoming more widespread and destructive as a warming planet increases their intensity. Hurricanes Helene and Milton are following the trend of these storms becoming supercharged and more likely to form, according to a pair of studies from the World Weather Attribution (WWA).

The researchers found that Hurricane Helene’s wind speed on the coast of Florida was about 11% stronger due to climate change, and its total rainfall increased by 10%. The high water temperatures that fueled Helene were found to be between 200 and 500 times more likely, and hurricanes the size of Helene are now 2.5 times more likely each year due to climate change, according to the report.

As for Hurricane Milton, the researchers found storms of its intensity are now 40% more common, hurricanes with heavy one-day events similar to Milton are 20-30% more intense and twice as likely, and the maximum wind speeds of similar storms are about 10% stronger, due to climate change.

This increase in wind speed, as the analysis points out, means that without human influence, Milton would have been a category 2 storm rather than category 3 when it made landfall, if it had formed at all. They wrote …

 

“We conclude that warmer Sea Surface

Temperatures along the track of Hurricane

Milton were strongly influenced by climate

change, which affected Milton’s environment

and made it more likely for the storm to de-

velop and intensify throughout its lifetime.”

 

The conditions that lead to the formation of hurricanes are complex, but there are a few general factors that influence their formation and behavior in the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricanes in the Atlantic typically form near the intertropical convergence zone — a low-pressure band roughly encompassing the equator, where the trade winds from the northern and southern hemi-spheres meet and are forced high into the atmosphere. This creates a stormy ring around the planet, which, combined with warm equatorial waters that evaporate into the atmosphere, creates ripe conditions for hurricanes, especially during hurricane season, from the beginning of June to the end of November.

Once a hurricane forms here, trade winds often push them Northwest, toward the Gulf of Mexico. But these conditions are becoming even more conducive for hurricanes with climate change.

Bernadette Woods Placky, Chief Meteorologist at Climate Central, said the warming oceans and atmosphere are “like steroids for hurricanes,” according to a press release from the WWA. She said …

 

“As Helene approached the U.S., it strength-

ened from a Category 2 to a Category 4 hurri-

cane in just ten hours. This rapid intensifi-

cation is happening more often with climate

change. If humans keep heating the climate,

we will keep seeing storms rapidly morph into

monster hurricanes, leading to more destruction.”

 

Hurricane Helene, which first hit Northern Florida as a category four storm and went on to devastate significant parts of Georgia, Western North Carolina and South Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and Southern Virginia, killed more than 200 people, the highest U.S. death toll from a hurricane since Katrina in 2005. Julie Arrighi, director of programmes at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, told reporters in a briefing …

 

“There were many things that went right.

For example, the major dams held, the

hurricane was forecast and emergency

evacuations were declared… and yet

we still had a huge death toll.”

 

She added …

 

“I think that we start to see spots where

there may have been things that need

further unpacking in the days and weeks

ahead — were there more evacuation options

or not in some of the areas, for example —

but I think it will be really interesting to see

how this gets further analyzed through time.”

 

Along with Florida being at risk for hurricanes given its location in the Gulf of Mexico, the researchers in the flash study for Hurricane Milton attribute its low elevation and large coastal populations as major risk factors for these storms.

 

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For this epilogue, D chose to assume you’re living where a disastrous weather event might possibly occur, remembering that a hurricane caused major destruction in mountainous western North Carolina …

 

“We know that at the rate things are going, the intensity and the number of hurricanes will increase. The big question for each household is: 

 

“How does one prepare?

 

“Preparing means doing something prior to a catastrophic event. Start with a plan. Actually, you will need two plans … one if you stay at home during an event, and two, if you evacuate.  Let us begin with evacuation. 

“Determine, in advance, what you need to take with you, such as important documents, treasured family items (such as old photos, etc.) Remember that you will need clothing and maybe cleaning supplies – including bleach, scrubbing sponges, and gloves. 

“In both cases of evacuating or staying, you will need emergency supplies. It is recommended that you have them all in one place, such as in a big duffel bag or plastic bin. 

“There are lists on-line from places such as FEMA or the Red Cross: A first-aid kit, chargers for phones, emergency radios, flashlights, food that doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and water. And have all your prescription medicines with you, as you may be gone for a longer time. 

“Have these items in a place that is easy to access, so they’re ready if an event strikes, and so you are comfortable, just in case.”

 

I guess I’d sooner transition to living without fossil fuels, as I did with my Garden Atrium homes and electric car. If enough of us do that, perhaps we can reduce the occurrence of these devastating events in the first place. But as political leaders and climate change deniers resist such changes, I guess we all have to “prepare … just in case.”