Hurricane Harvey ‘unnatural disaster’ affected by climate change

The Climate Leadership Council, led by Republican statesmen James Baker, Henry Paulson, George Shultz and others, released “The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends” earlier this year. It is the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record, killing more than 6,000 people.

The impact Hurricane Harvey had on Texas took the world by surprise. The hurricanes were covered, of course, but the scientifically established link between our warming climate and their increased destructive power was raised on only one of the four* major talk shows (CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper), according to the non-profit group Media Matters. Storms will get worse.

The data on how our warming planet specifically impacted Harvey and Irma won’t be known for quite some time. Where will these cattle go to stay safe in the storm and how will their owners get them there?

The economic fallout from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey will continue for years.

These storms have increased rainfall and flooding, and therefore increased damage, due to global warming, according to the Guardian. In the 14 miles of waterfront we have here, there are billions and billions of dollars (in property).

The waters are receding or have receded in Florida and Texas. July 2017 was the hottest month ever measured on earth, raising the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico and making Harvey wetter and stronger.

As the articles and commentaries linking climate change to the severe weather events happening in the United States spread across the internet, so too did stories intending to shut down informed discussion of the issue.

Other administration officials also refused to address the matter.

For decades, scientists have warned the man-made climate change could bring weird and unprecedented events.

U.S. climate change deniers are under greater challenge than ever following the hurricanes that have devastated the Texas coast, the Caribbean and Florida. In the Philippines, for example, we have seen the catastrophic effects of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), described as one of the most intense tropical cyclones. But “now is absolutely the time to be having this conversation” about climate change’s real-time effects, she said.

We can help the hurricane victims and talk about how climate change contributed to the huge storms simultaneously without tripping over our own feet. “This brings it home”.

The chapter on severe weather events in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report assigns a rating of “low confidence” to attributing any human contributions (that is, increasing greenhouse gas emissions) to changes in tropical cyclone activity. That means less wealth to combat future challenges, whether they are climate-related or not. “When you don’t want to see, you don’t see”, he said. But it’s hard to think of many that are a bigger threat to public health and well-being than the continued rampage of climate change.

Some scientists say that clear trend lines have emerged despite these limitations. In an update about the flood in Houston, the National Weather Service tweeted: “So much rain has fallen, we’ve had to update the color charts on our graphics in order to effectively map it”. While reducing our environmental impact would be ideal, the best way to prevent this massive flooding is to turn Houston into something more permeable and less concrete. Climate change deniers, particularly those who live in hurricane prone zones, clearly lack a sense of self-preservation. How much water is that? The ocean is warmer.

Irma spun so powerfully into the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands as a Category 5 that it sustained 185-mph winds for 37 hours, longer than ever recorded worldwide. The circumstances cry out for more study and attention, not less. Not surprisingly, the graph was created by The Cato Institute.

“More than 90% of the people doing the research are in very good agreement about what’s going on”, Sublette said.

During an interview with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt earlier this year, Wallace debunked Pruitt’s claim that Carbon dioxide is not “a primary contributor to the global warming that we see”.

But I think the rest of us can all chew gum and walk at the same time.