Yes, you should be a little freaked out about Hurricane Beryl
Yes, you should be a little freaked out about Hurricane Beryl
arstechnica.com
Yes, you should be a little freaked out about Hurricane Beryl
26 comments
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Hurricane Betsy — the second storm of the year — hit New Orleans on September 9, 1965. Katrina — the 11th storm — hit New Orleans August 29th, 2005. And now we apparently have Category 5 storms forming in late June/early July.
Every hurricane season (and hurricane) is different, obviously, and that’s one city’s experience but it makes me wonder if there will even be a distinct “hurricane season” in a few decades.
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Not just early July. A full 16 days earlier than the previous record from 2005. The record before that was Allen(so the first hurricane of the season) all the way back in August 5 of 1980.
They also used to be rare, and are getting less so. Since 1924, only 39 are known. Since 1960, there have been 30. 8 of those(so ~20%) are since 2016.
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Iirc they're talking about adding more category levels too because 5 just doesn't cut it anymore.
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Hey, I like your optimism, assuming we'll still be here in a few decades.
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Ironically, New Orleans might be OK because we have elaborate flood control systems and have always dealt with flooding. Vulnerable places like the Netherlands and New Orleans are what we all assume will end up flooded. (And we will.)
But we’re built for it. A river delta floods sometimes anyway. I’m honestly more worried about places where snowmelt creates small streams now but in the future, will just create terrible floods every Spring and then draught immediately after.
To me, the scary part isn’t having water in the streets. It’s climate change. We had an issue recently where there wasn’t enough fresh water draining into the Mississippi to push the salt water back. It ultimately never reached NOLA but it reached plenty of people downriver. And because of a drought in the Midwest.
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Wait, isn’t this what everyone wanted?? Why the fuck have we been poisoning the atmosphere for the last century if not to enjoy more category 5 hurricanes? I’m so confused.
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I know right? Aren't we glad we went for the sure fire poison over the n-word option.
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Should I? I am in Europe.
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Maybe focus on the Gulf Stream collapse instead
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It's related. Warming ocean temperatures are amplifying the hurricanes and destabilizing currents like the Gulf Stream - both symptoms of the same problem.
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What does it mean about the broader* global warming issue?
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Good luck with your impending ice age.
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Considering that it's the fact that it even exists right now is the concerning part, yes.
The earth is a closed system, just because there's a very early hurricane half a world away doesn't mean the climate isn't being effected everywhere.
For you this could mean an increased amount of warm water moving in through the Gulf stream to the North Atlantic. This will bring warmer waters to the coastal regions of Europe increasing the severity of storms there, until that warmer water causes the Gulf stream to completely collapse plunging Europe into an early ice age.
The weather where this hurricane is does directly affect you where you live. -
Nope. Don't need to worry about copious amounts of water raining down, just the water wars.
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Reminder not to donate to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief.
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Why?
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Agreed, kind of a bold assertion to throw out without proof against a highly rated international charity
Looks like there were some issues with transparency 5-10 years ago (Google "Pro Publica Red Cross"), but I'm not finding any recent follow-ups and they're scoring high marks for transparency now. They pretty consistently spend ~90% of every dollar donated on programs and are generally well-respected.
Are they a perfect charity? Probably not. But are they doing good? Absolutely.
If you want to donate money elsewhere, by all means go for it. Doctors Without Borders, and World Central Kitchen are great international charities, and local food banks in impacted communities can make your dollar go further than just about anyone else.
But also remember money isn't the only donation the Red Cross accepts - as with any major disaster, blood will be in short supply, and there is unequivocally no better network for blood donations than the Red Cross.
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26 comments
only a little?
as a treat
Sounds like someone could use a little treat.