TPreparations for Hurricane Milton were on a huge scale, as was the cleanup that was to come. Fortunately, the storm lost some of its strength before hitting Florida, making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night. But without mass evacuations and the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel, many more lives would surely have been lost.
It was the second hurricane to hit the state in less than two weeks, following Hurricane Helen, which killed at least 225 people in the United States. The rise in ocean temperatures that exacerbated these storms is hundreds of times more likely due to human-induced global warming, a new analysis shows. Scientists believe climate change could have caused Helen to bring 50% more rain to parts of the south. Another study suggests that such a double whammy could occur every three years thanks to the continued burning of fossil fuels.
Extreme weather is becoming the new normal. This fall, heavy rains occurred in the Sahara Desert and caused flash floods in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. It followed heavy spring rains in Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, as well as major flooding in Germany. A deadly heatwave hit South and Southeast Asia and then the Mediterranean Sea.
What sets Florida apart is the disconnect between legitimate concerns about the storm’s impact and the widespread unwillingness of many in Florida to acknowledge the cause of the extreme weather, much less the role the United States plays in it. Even more so. Among the top 10 emitters, Japan has the highest per capita global warming emissions. Global warming makes it more important than ever to prepare for and recover from such events. But it would be foolish to take such measures without also addressing the causes that are making it more radical and more frequent.
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, warned that Milton would do “tremendous damage.” But not only is he actively pro-fossil fuel, he has signed a ban on wind energy infrastructure. He is a climate change denier and signed a bill to remove language from Florida state statutes.
Donald Trump, who is expected to win the state in November, lied that the federal government was ignoring those affected by Helen. However, if a second Trump administration takes office, there will be even more victims of global warming. He called the climate crisis a “hoax” and a “fraud.” His campaign has vowed that if he is re-elected, he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord again and roll back the Biden administration’s clean energy push. Although they refuse to accept the scientifically established truth that human activity is heating the planet, some on the Republican right are indulging in absurd conspiracy theories, and Marjorie Taylor Greene suggests in “X” that “they can control the weather.”
Kamala Harris’ support for new fracking projects and expanding U.S. gas production is clearly targeted at voters in key battleground states, but it’s still disappointing. But Democrats have at least begun to diagnose and address the problem, albeit poorly. The other person doesn’t even want to hear your name. Global warming is not only a fact, but an accelerating phenomenon. Voters heading to the polls next month should remember that Trump’s return to the White House will increase the dangers the climate crisis poses to people in the United States and elsewhere.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? Click here if you would like to email your answer of up to 300 words to be considered for publication in our email section.
