Desdemona Despair – Blogging the End of the World™

Map showing tornado tracks during Hurricane Milton on 9 October 2024. The Miami office of the National Weather Service confirmed at least 5 tornadoes during Hurricane Milton’s approach. Graphic: NWS

October 10, 2024

Hurricane Milton’s terrible twisters: Outbreak in Florida killed at least 5, leveled buildings – Miami National Weather Service issued a record 55 tornado warnings, beating a previous record of 49 during Category 4 Hurricane Ian in 2022

By Alex Harris 10 October 2024 (Miami Herald) – A deadly and unprecedented wave of tornadoes swirled across Florida ahead of the arrival of Category 3 Hurricane Milton, which crossed the state from Sarasota to the Space Coast Wednesday evening. A series of twisters that struck St. Lucie County left at least five dead and, […]

Jesus Hernandez guides his granddaughter Angelina via a container through a street flooded in the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Thursday, 26 September 2024. Photo: Ramon Espinosa / AP Photo

October 9, 2024

Our dystopian climate isn’t just about fires and floods. It’s about society fracturing.

By Bill McKibben 9 October 2024 (The Guardian) – Even as the good people of Florida’s west coast pulled the soggy mattresses from Helene out to the curb, Milton appeared on the horizon this week – a double blast of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico that’s a reminder that physics takes no time off, not even in the […]

Ocean Climate Shift Index (CSI) along the track of Helene, as it developed from disturbance to tropical storm to hurricane to major hurricane. Ocean CSI in surrounding regions are drawn from 24 September 2024, when the storm developed from a potential tropical cyclone to a tropical storm, coinciding with the highest Ocean CSI (in excess of 500) measured along its track. Graphic: Climate Central

October 9, 2024

Hurricane Helene was supercharged by ultra-warm water made up to 500 times more likely by global warming, study finds – “The heat that human activities are adding to the atmosphere and oceans is like steroids for hurricanes”

By Rachel Ramirez 9 October 2024 (CNN) – The exceptionally warm water of the Gulf of Mexico that supercharged deadly Helene last month was made up to 500 times more likely by human-caused climate change, which also ramped up the hurricane’s wind and rain, according to a new scientific analysis. Helene, which made landfall in Florida as […]

A resident helps free a stranded car as Hurricane Helene strikes Boone, North Carolina. Photo: Jonathan Drake / Reuters

October 8, 2024

I wasn’t prepared to be a climate refugee – A climate advocate learns firsthand the price of climate change in our lives and calls for voters to head off future disasters – “My daughter is still having nightmares”

By Melissa Hanson 4 October 2024 (Scientific American) – I wasn’t prepared to be a climate refugee. Not after relocating my family from drought and wildfire-prone California to the “climate haven” of Asheville, N.C. But less than two months after we moved into our delightfully wooded, mild-weather community, we were forced to leave. Even before […]

Satellite view of three hurricanes simultaneously spinning over the North Atlantic Ocean, 6 October 2024. This image shows the three storms—Milton, Kirk, and Leslie—at about 12 p.m. Central Time (17:00 Universal Time). It was captured as Milton was developing in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, about an hour before it became a hurricane. This was the first-known hurricane season to see three hurricanes simultaneously present in the basin after September. Photo: Michala Garrison / NASA Earth Observatory

October 8, 2024

Three hurricanes churn in an active Atlantic Ocean in October 2024 – First-known hurricane season to see three hurricanes simultaneously present in the basin after September

By Emily Cassidy 8 October 2024 (NASA Earth Observatory) – From the stable Lagrange point 1, located one million miles above Earth, NASA’s EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) imager on the DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) satellite observed an unusually active Atlantic Basin. In early October, three hurricanes simultaneously spun over the North Atlantic Ocean. This image shows the three […]

Satellite footage taken by NOAA’s GOES-East satellite on 8 October 2024 shows Hurricane Milton intensifying as it travels east toward Florida. Photo: NOAA

October 8, 2024

Hurricane Milton’s extreme rapid intensification is part of a climate-fueled trend – Among Category 4 and larger hurricanes since 2022, Milton reached Category 4 status the fastest – “This is nothing short of astronomical”

By Denise Chow 7 October 2024 (NBC News) – Hurricane Milton’s last 36 hours have been nothing short of astonishing, as it strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over a day. The storm’s blisteringly fast evolution is part of a trend of rapidly intensifying storms fueled by climate change. The term “rapid intensification” […]

Wrecked homes are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, 2 October 2024, in Chimney Rock Village, N.C. Photo: Mike Stewart / AP Photo

October 5, 2024

Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance – “There will absolutely be people who will be financially devasted by this event”

By Sally Ho 5 October 2024 (AP) – A week after Hurricane Helene overwhelmed the Southeastern U.S., homeowners hit the hardest are grappling with how they could possibly pay for the flood damage from one of the deadliest storms to hit the mainland in recent history. The Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf […]

Atmospheric and wildfire responses to soil moisture reduction in the idealized experiments using the CESM2. The values represent differences between the response of a 40% soil moisture reduction perturbation experiment in July 2045 and a control simulation: (a) soil moisture in 0–10 cm depth (units: kg/m2), (b) surface air temperature (units: °C), (c) relative humidity at 2 m (units: %), and (d) logarithm of burned area [log (burned area)] (units: km2). Time evolution over Western Siberia (65.5°N, 83.75°E): (e) soil moisture over 0–10 cm depth (units: kg/m2), (f) surface air temperature (units: °C), (g) relative humidity at 2 m (units: %), and (h) logarithm of the burned area [log (burned area)] (units: km2) (blue: control simulation, yellow: 20% soil moisture reduction perturbation experiment, and brown: 40% soil moisture reduction perturbation experiment). Graphic: Kim et al., 2024 / Nature Communications

October 5, 2024

Abrupt intensification of northern wildfires due to future permafrost thawing – “These climate conditions lead to rapid intensification of wildfires in western Siberia and Canada in the mid-to-end of the 21st century”

25 September 2024 (IBS Center for Climate Physics) – A study, published in the journal Nature Communications by an international team of climate scientists and permafrost experts shows that, according to new climate computer model simulations, global warming will accelerate permafrost thawing and as a result lead to an abrupt intensification of wildfires in the Subarctic and […]

A rescue team paddles down the Swannanoa River after the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages in western North Carolina, 29 September 2024. Photo: Travis Long / The News and Observer / Reuters

October 5, 2024

Asheville tragedy shows there are no climate change safe havens – North Carolina city once viewed as a safe haven for climate refugees – “Climate change is a pervasive issue that is going to affect communities all over the world – not equally – but definitely it will impact everyone, everywhere in some way”

By Kiara Alfonseca 30 September 2024 (ABC News) – Asheville, North Carolina, has been called a potential safe haven for climate refugees by real estate researchers, praised for its temperate mountain weather, distance far from the coast, experiencing less extreme heat and fewer wildfires. The city of around 95,000 people was believed markings of a place where those escaping […]

Nikki Wicker, co-owner of Roy's Restaurant, cleans after Hurricane Helene made landfall overnight, in Steinhatchee, Florida, 27 September 2024. Photo: Octavio Jones / REUTERS

October 5, 2024

Project 2025 proposes eliminating aid for families and businesses rebuilding after storms – Far-right road map would end vital disaster loan program

8 August 2024 (Center for American Progress) – In the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Debby, the Southeast is tasked with the difficult work of rebuilding homes, businesses, and lives. Initial reports indicate at least six people have died from the storm. Federal agencies play a critical role in providing swift and efficient support to these families and […]