Michael devastates Florida Panhandle, climate change an unavoidable subject
By John Mecklin | October 10, 2018
The scene in Panama City, Florida.
Perhaps the most appropriate shorthand analysis of Hurricane Michael, which howled ashore in the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, came in a headline at Grist, which called the 155-mile-per-hour superstorm “an unnatural disaster.” The New York Times drew an even more direct line between climate change and increasingly powerful hurricanes (although the research that might confirm that link scientifically has yet to be done for Michael) in its explainer, “The Hurricanes, and Climate-Change Questions, Keep Coming. Yes, They’re Linked.”
Penn State climate scientist Michael E. Mann made sure (via ALL CAPS) that his Twitter followers could not miss the link between climate change and stronger hurricanes.
#Michael had 155 mph winds at landfall–roundoff error from a cat 5, and the STRONGEST landfalling Atlantic hurricane on record this late in the season.
Climate change is fueling more of these monster storms: https://t.co/SWViLjOu8q https://t.co/4wqTS5Bj2O— Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) October 10, 2018
But as the storm made landfall near Mexico Beach, it was video that made the impact of Michael’s wind and storm surge clear. The world will find out the degree to which Hurricane Michael was, provably, a climate change-fueled catastrophe in coming weeks and months. But proof that it was a catastrophe of extreme power was available Wednesday in real time, to anyone with a television or internet connection.
A look at what houses in #Mexico Beach, #Florida look like right now. This is a follow up from the previous clip posted. They are now submerged and were no match for #HurricaneMichael (via Tessa Talarico) #Hurricane #Michael #HurricaneMichael2018 pic.twitter.com/GJENrhFJha
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) October 10, 2018
WOW……Incredible video coming in of Hurricane Michael exploding a house into pieces in Panama City, Florida. (Source: Aaron Rigsby/Live Storms Media) #hurricanemichael #hurricane pic.twitter.com/kT2mKOzvjH
— CBS 4 News (@kgbt) October 10, 2018
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Topics: Climate Change, What We’re Reading
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