Open Season

It’s hardly a new thing that a hurricane is striking Florida and having a massive impact there and in neighboring states during hurricane season. The timing and location of these storms can be chalked up to bad luck. But the intensity is another matter. That’s related to our ever-warming seas. These storms are coming in hot, and sadly, the forecast calls for more of the same. Marina Koren in The Atlantic (Gift Article): America’s Hurricane Luck Is Running Out. “Climate change isn’t to blame for where a hurricane touches down, or if it does at all. But Helene’s strength is a different kind of bad luck—a variety that we humans inadvertently engineered. Many of the hurricanes that do reach land these days are more intense because of oceans warmed by climate change. Decades ago, Helene might have become a medium-size storm—still destructive, but not a beast. This hurricane is a sign of America’s relentless hurricane seasons to come.”

+ “Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday night as a massive Category 4 hurricane — the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend on record. Helene has since weakened to a tropical storm and is now pushing through Georgia and the Carolinas, bringing catastrophic rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding as the storm moves toward Tennessee.” ABC: Hurricane Helene live updates: 34 dead across the South. Here’s the latest from CNN and The Guardian.