A Grave Threat to the Planet
Author: Greg Valliere
September 8, 2023
THE REAL EXPERTS ARE ASTONISHED by what they’re seeing, as this summer comes to an end — a summer that almost certainly will go down in history as the world’s hottest on record, by far.
THIS YEAR’S MIND-BOGGLING HEAT is not just on land. It’s also in the oceans, which provide the rocket fuel for hurricanes. A temperature of just under 100 degrees (about 38 degrees celsius) was recorded in the water off the Florida Keys earlier this summer.
A CLAIM THAT THE EARTH FACES A GRAVE CRISIS had better come with compelling evidence, which is where Lee enters the picture. Its peak winds jumped, astonishingly, from 80 mph to 160 mph in just 18 hours yesterday, becoming a Category 5 storm that may intensify further, perhaps with gusts exceeding 300 km per hour. Ironically, a similar intensification came in a Pacific typhoon this week that produced record rainfall in Hong Kong.
THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, which has a data-packed web site, has predicted Lee’s wind could hit 180 miles per hour this weekend, with 200 mph winds possible before the storm may weaken to a mere Category 4 early next week.
THE ONLY GOOD NEWS is that the full force of Lee may never be felt on land; the storm could deliver a glancing blow to Bermuda or Long Island or Cape Cod next week without directly hitting land. But we worry about our friends in eastern Canada, who may face a devastating direct blow in the middle of next week.
WEATHER DISASTERS HAVE BEEN EPIC THIS SUMMER — as fires raged from Maui to Western Canada to Greece. And the destructive storm surge from hurricanes and cyclones has driven sea levels higher, forcing insurance companies to re-assess how much they can cover.
ARE THERE POLITICAL SOLUTIONS TO THIS CRISIS? Nothing dramatic seems imminent. And even modest proposed solutions are expensive and controversial; carbon polluters in China and India seem unwilling to take major action, especially on coal burning.
SORRY TO BE A BUZZ-KILL THIS MORNING, but these hurricanes and fires are not normal — the alarms are ringing everywhere. Good luck to the great people of eastern Canada; they may become the next victims of this unprecedented crisis.
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