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I became a climate activist 16 years ago. Back then, not many people cared about climate change. The eye rolls were audible. Media coverage was scarce, and what little there was glibly included “both sides”. It was frustrating and tragic to see such a clear and present danger and to know that it was still mostly avoidable, yet ignored by society. I assumed that intensifying, in-your-face climate disasters would serve as a sort of backstop to finally force action. I even hoped that humanity would listen to scientists and start acting before things got that bad. I didn’t think this...

Mika Brzezinski told her co-hosts Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Florida that storms are worsening because the temperature in the world’s oceans was rising partly due to human-caused climate change. Co-host Willie Geist said, “The Miami Herald leads with this image of flooded streets in downtown Fort Myers, and The Tampa Bay Times has this photo of a displaced sailboat near a roadway.” Brzezinski said, “As we’re covering what some are calling the storm of a lifetime, The Washington Post has a feature on why Florida is more prone to hurricanes, and it’s...

As Hurricane Ian storms along the Gulf coast, Twitter users scorched Politico for a Tuesday tweet falsely claiming Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., has never faced the tough challenge of a hurricane hitting his state. DeSantis took office in Jan. 2019 and Hurricane Sally struck the Florida panhandle in Sept. 2020, hitting the city of Pensacola particularly hard. Politico tweeted a link to an article titled "DeSantis faces the true test of any Florida governor," with the accompanying text, "Gov. Ron DeSantis spent his first term becoming one of the most influential Republicans in the country. But he still hasn’t faced...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., suggested on Tuesday that voting for Democrats in November and winning the midterms would help them with hurricanes and climate change. "We just did something about climate change for the first time in decades. That’s why we've got to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida. We've got to win in the midterms. We understand that," Klobuchar said after listing several legislative wins during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Floridians have been preparing for Hurricane Ian for the past two days as residents of the Key West are already experiencing strong winds and...

A week or so ago a FReeper fired up a post predicting a Labor Day weekend potent hurricane for the GOM (Gulf of Mexico). Well lo and behold there's a system out east that the NHC is forecasting/hyping to be near the US just in time. There's also a 'disturbance' about the depart the west coast of Africa on the tails of the first one. Just in time for September, eh?

No named tropical cyclones since early July through late August, 2022. Nothing of concern down the visible pipeline. But La Niña still strong. What gives?

Three tropical disturbances are being closely monitored for development in the Atlantic as fears mount that above-average storms could wreak havoc on oil/gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico and send gas prices at the pump to “apocalyptic” heights. “The lull in the tropics has come to an end as we’re now watching three different areas for development from the Gulf of Mexico to the central Atlantic,” The Weather Channel reports. The first system is an area of low pressure in the northern Gulf of Mexico and is expected to track westward early this week and could dump heavy rains...

The evidence that hurricane activity is at a historical low is hiding on the Caribbean seafloor, tucked away in odd geological features called blue holes. Blue holes are similar to sinkholes but on a much grander scale. They can be 300 meters deep, like the Dragon Hole in the South China Sea, or 300 meters wide, like the aptly named Great Blue Hole in Belize. The Bahamas is home to the world’s greatest concentration of blue holes, making it an appealing destination for paleotempestologists—scientists who study historical tropical cyclone activity. The seafloor at the base of a blue hole acts...

SCIENTISTS are working on a cutting-edge new way to tame and control hurricanes before they reach land masses and cause havoc.Climate change poses a catalogue of risks to the planet. Human-induced warming will make parts of the world uninhabitable, and vital crops may become extinct. Insects will disappear and disrupt the food chain from the bottom up, all leading to catastrophic change for humans. Another aspect of the climate crisis is the increased instance of natural disasters, with one of the most serious problems being rising sea temperatures. Warmer oceans mean rising sea levels, melting ice caps and more extreme...

ORLANDO, Fla. - The tropics heated up overnight, as forecasters said that Tropical Storm Peter and Tropical Depression 17 formed. Tropical Storm Peter formed overnight over the open Atlantic, becoming the 16th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. They said that the storm is moving towards the northwest at about 15 mph. By Sunday afternoon, it is expected to turn back toward west-northwest. Peter should pass well to the north of the Leeward Islands on Monday and Tuesday.The tropical storm is said to be currently packing maximum sustained winds of 40 mph...

Hurricane forecasters on Friday afternoon were tracking a tropical disturbance that's heading for the Gulf of Mexico. It has a 30% chance of developing into at least a tropical depression. Update: Tropical disturbance could reach Louisiana next week It's too soon to tell if it could post a threat to Louisiana. However, it could mean an increase in moisture and rainfall along portions of the northern Gulf Coast next week, regardless of development, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. Forecasters also are tracking Hurricane Larry, which is strengthening in the Atlantic. It does not pose any immediate...

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) monitors three tropical disturbances on Wednesday, with one in the Caribbean Sea and two in the Atlantic Basin.NHC Miami is closely watching Disturbance 1 over the eastern Caribbean Sea, which could form into a tropical depression by the late weekend as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasts show formation chances over the next 48 hours is 40%, but over the next five days, the figure is 80%. A broad area of low pressure is expected to form over the southwestern Caribbean Sea during the next day or so from a tropical wave currently located...

A trio of tropical disturbances are developing in the Atlantic basin and should be closely watched next week. Two of the disturbances have the chance of forming into tropical depressions in the next five days. July was a quiet period after an active start (June 1) to the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, but statistically, the busiest part of the hurricane season begins on Aug. 20. It seems a significant uptick in storms is ahead. The first disturbance is a low-pressure system over the west-central Atlantic. The second disturbance is more east and is moving westward in the central tropical Atlantic....

A University of Miami football player was arrested after police say he beat up his pregnant ex-girlfriend during an argument over his new relationship. Avantae Williams, a sophomore safety for the Miami Hurricanes, was arrested Wednesday night and charged with one count of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. His bond was set at $10,000. The police report states that the two had gotten into an argument over Williams 'being involved with another woman' prior to Williams leaving for football practice. 'When I return from practice you need to be gone,' Williams allegedly told the woman, who is currently 31-weeks...

Researchers from Colorado State University boosted their prediction for named tropical storms in the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season in a revised forecast issued last Thursday. Colorado State meteorologists predicted 20 named storms, up from 17 in their forecast issued in April. The forecasters also increased the number of expected hurricanes to nine from eight. Colorado State continues to expect four major hurricanes. The total number of forecast named storms includes the five named storms so far in 2021. The season’s first hurricane, Elsa came ashore on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. “Elsa’s development and intensification into a hurricane...

Like death and taxes, the annual hurricane season can be counted on as a sure thing. The number and intensity of named storms may vary each year, as well as where they occur and whether or not they make landfall. But there’s no doubt that these storms will develop yearly — it’s a matter of when, not if — and some scientists see increasingly more intense and wetter storms in the future as the climate continues to warm. A report — Preventing the next Katrina — published by Munich RE in 2020 and written by Mark C. Bove, Meteorologist and...

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - JUST two weeks into the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season and already three disturbances are being monitored in various sections of the Western Hemisphere. The first one is expected to fully develop off the coast of the United States and Canada in the coming days. According to the National Hurricane Center, satellite and surface observations indicated that a well-defined low pressure system, located about 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is acquiring more tropical characteristics. Meteorologists said that environmental conditions appear conducive for further development, and that a tropical depression or tropical storm is likely...

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is tracking three tropical disturbances, one off the coast of North Carolina, one in the Gulf of Mexico, and another off the western African coast. The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and extends into late November. On Monday, NHC’s focus is on “Disturbance 1,” located about 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The disturbance has a 70% Chance of Cyclone Formation in 48 Hours. NHC said the disturbance “is acquiring more tropical characteristics.” However, the system could move northeastward away from the US to colder waters south of Nova Scotia on...

Thanks to experience with numerous hurricanes, we were prepared for the Texas power outage and no one slept in the cold at our house. When you are prepared, three days is not that bad.I have lived along the Gulf Coast my entire life, mostly in the Houston Area. I lived and worked in Louisiana when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav slammed into South Louisiana and have learned from my successes and failures and those of my friends.After moving back home to Texas and a long period of relatively quiet storm activity, Hurricane Harvey was a test of different beast until...

Over the past week, media across the world have proclaimed 2020 a record year for hurricanes in the North Atlantic. The culprit? Man-made climate change, of course.But this is a mistake, not only because the “records” are misleading but also because the causes of hurricanes are natural phenomena over which we have little or no influence.The New Jersey-based business news channel CNBC provided several examples of the errors. On November 30, they reported: “Research shows that climate change is making hurricanes stronger and more destructive and increasing the likelihood of more frequent major hurricanes.”The network quoted Penn State University meteorologist...