Arctic in Disarray!!
An Extremely Extreme pattern builds this weekend. Surface Temps as much as 60°F below normal in #Canada (lows -60°F) and 70°F above normal (Highs 40°F in Arctic Circle) in #Russia.
This is orchestrated by a record breaking 500mb block, ~4 standard deviations from the mean.
Sri Lanka reels from Cyclone Ditwah as death toll nears 200
Entire areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing. Officials said the extent of the damage in the country's worst-affected central region was only just being [...]
I hate the shopping season, but I posted this list of "Disaster Preparedness Stocking Stuffers" it seems like a century ago on Tw*tter, so reposting the list again here:
Disaster Preparedness Stocking Stuffers
It's that time of the year again, where people are thinking about holiday gifts. Although I've never been a big fan of the consumer free-for-all at this time of the year, it is a great opportunity to pick up some disaster preparedness stocking stuffers! Here's my annual list of some of my favorite stocking stuffers that can help you and your loved ones get through the next disaster or emergency.
Another super-hurricane is about to hit the Philippines. I've been doing one hurricane cartoon almost every year and the point of all of them is basically the same. These are from 2024, 2022, 2020 and 2019.
"The experts who investigated the 2005 flood in #NewOrleans tell what they learned--and what the major media never covered. New Orleans' story not covered by out-of-towners."
"There are eight richest billionaires [who] own the same amount of wealth as the poorest four billion people… That should make everybody angry, pick up their pitchforks and demand change"
The wealth of the world’s richest 1% has surged by over $33.9 trillion in the last decade. And a child born today will face an estimated four times as many extreme weather events as someone born in 1960. What do wealth, poverty, and climate change have in common? An upward trajectory, according to Amitabh Behar and Mads Christensen, who teamed up for “The Planet Can’t Afford Billionaires.” Read the article via @time:
Trump’s declaration unlocked #federal#money to assist w/ the #disaster response. That includes paying for debris removal, for search & rescue experts, & for housing, food & other immediate necessities for those who lost homes in floods.
But such assistance may not be available in the future.
#Trump has proposed eliminating #FEMA, which provides billions of dollars in assistance to communities hit by #disasters. He argues that #states should take on more responsibility for responding to & preparing for #ExtremeWeather & other disasters.
#Texas leaders are helping Trump realize that goal.
This spring, #Trump appointed a council of Cabinet members, governors & #emergency management experts, tasked with recommending changes to #FEMA. #GregAbbott & the top emergency official in #Texas, W. Nim Kidd, are both on that council.
"FEMA is slow & clunky & doesn't solve the needs of those who need it the most," Abbott said at the first meeting of the FEMA Review Council in May. "States have proven that we can move more nimbly, more swiftly, more effectively."
The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come
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Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.
At least 20 girls are missing from a summer camp in south Texas after catastrophic flooding following overnight storms. The camp, for girls aged between 7 and 17, is located near the Guadalupe River, which authorities say surged up to 22 feet in just half an hour this morning. Separately, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha Jr. said there had been 13 fatalities from the flooding, and warned there could be more.
Europe is increasingly vulnerable to hailstones the size of golfballs.
Very large hail – hailstones more than 5 centimetres in diameter – poses a growing threat to Europe as the climate warms, with increasing risk of expensive damage to cars and property.
Very large hail is one of the most costly forms of extreme weather, capable of smashing windows, denting cars and blowing holes through the roof of a building.
How a Changing Climate Is Reshaping the Spread of Infectious Diseases
"...Then you have this convergence of crises—the #ClimateCrisis overlapping with the #PollutionCrisis. So you get this intersection between air pollution and respiratory #diseases, and then infectious diseases more broadly, all layered on top of a changing #climate.
When it comes to waterborne and foodborne diseases, the link to #ClimateChange is even more direct. As temperatures rise, you create more favorable conditions for #bacteria and other #pathogens to multiply. They thrive in warm environments—soil, water, contaminated areas—so warming can increase their abundance.
#ExtremeWeather events are also a big factor here. Aedes #mosquitoes need water to complete their life cycle—from egg to larva to pupa, it all happens in #water. When #floods occur, all the discarded #plastic and #trash lying around fill with water and becomes the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
What’s interesting is that these diseases aren’t just associated with floods—they’re also linked to #droughts. That might seem counterintuitive at first, but in many parts of the world, people don’t have safe, reliable access to clean water, especially during drought conditions. So they store water in containers that aren’t properly sealed or protected, which too can become the perfect breeding sites for mosquitoes.
Infections—particularly vector-borne diseases—are increasingly reemerging and emerging in new areas around the world for a lot of different reasons. Climate change is definitely part of that, with rising temperatures and more extreme weather events like floods and droughts. But the way we live our lives and interact with the environment also plays a huge role. I mean, first and foremost, most of us now live in urban areas rather than rural ones..."
Mosquitoes, for example, rely heavily on ambient temperature. They’re ectotherms, meaning they depend on room temperature to function. Every vector species has multiple traits that are influenced by temperature. If you map all those temperature-dependent traits, you can build a curve that shows the optimal temperature range for that vector.
Depending on where you fall on that curve, if you’re already past the peak and temperatures keep rising, there’s actually the potential for a decrease in transmission risk.
But these systems are highly nuanced. It’s not just about temperature—it’s also about human behavior and how we alter natural habitats. And vectors can evolve, too. So it’s almost like we’re in a race with other organisms to adapt more quickly.
"The only parts of Europe that aren’t being boiled dry are being washed away in floods. The EU must urgently update its climate targets to reflect the scientific reality, and put a stop to new fossil fuel projects as a first step to a full phase-out." – Thomas Gelin, climate campaigner at Greenpeace EU
""Fossil fuel-driven climate change is intensifying #HeatWaves, #flooding and other #ExtremeWeather events. Waters in the #GulfOfMaine are warming faster than nearly every other swath of ocean on the planet, threatening the future of the state’s signature #lobster industry and other #fisheries "
#PeterDutton’s position on the #ClimateCrisis came under scrutiny last week after he gave contradictory answers on whether he accepted mainstream climate science. Asked during a leaders’ debate on the #ABCAustralia whether #ExtremeWeather events were worsening, the opposition leader said: “I don’t know because I’m not a #scientist”.”
Say IT AS IT IS.
The #LNP under the leadership of the #PeterDutton has no policies. Policy changes are random.