Just as Hurricane Harvey finished pummeling Texas, then came Hurricane Irma battering her way through Florida, causing destruction and flooding, extreme havoc in the caribbean islands by extinguishing the caribbean island of Barbuda (all residents had to be evacuated), you have to wonder if climate change is making these very bad storms worse. I think so, because the effects of climate change is warmer oceans and rising sea levels, which makes storms like these much more disastrous and catastrophic.
The science of hurricanes is that they thrive and intensify over warm water. Over the past century, oceans have been warming on an average of 1 to 3 degrees in Farenheit, while sea levels, during this time, have been rising by 7 inches. Then on top there is compound flooding, which is a combination of rising sea levels, due to global warming, with a storm surge followed by extreme rainfall, creating a perfect mixture of record flooding.
This is being homeless in the worst way, with your life at risk. The recovery process is a humongous task in rebuilding homes and lives. It’s much worse than any rug being pulled from under you, as you cannot even fix this yourself. A whole nation and community, and even the world, needs to band together resources in the rebuilding process, which definitely can easily go from millions to billions of dollars.
President Donald Trump was brushing off climate change as a myth (a Chinese hoax), as didn’t want to put resources into combating it, and has been planning to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Even with these two record-breaking hurricane storms, he still hasn’t changed his view about climate change and recently responded by saying “We’ve had bigger storms than this”. But now billions of dollars in resources have to help both Texas and Florida, and scientists are blaming climate change for the intensity of these two hurricane storms. And with more storms coming during Hurricane season, who knows which other areas of the US will be affected too.
The fact is that the climate is changing, is warmer than it’s ever been before because there is more water vapor in the atmosphere and the oceans are warmer. Humans are responsible for its change. The attitude that is being taken is that it doesn’t matter to me until it hits home.
Every person can do their small part to make a difference in the climate. Here are 10 things you can do to help:
- Power your home with renewable energy sources by using utility companies that use half their power energy sources from solar and wind. If that’s not possible look for options that your utility company or government sponsored programs may be able to support renewable sources.
- Weatherize your home for energy efficiency by sealing drafts and making sure is adequately insulated.
- Use energy efficient appliances by looking for the Energy Star label that tells you which ones are the most efficient.
- Reduce water waste by taking a shorter shower, not running water while brushing teeth and switch to water-efficient appliances and fixtures that are labelled Water Sense.
- Eat the food you buy and make less meat. Wasting less food means less are going into the landfill which cuts down on the energy consumption. The most resource-intensive products to produce are livestock, so eating less meat makes a big difference in reducing energy.
- Use led bulbs as they use 80% less energy and are cheaper.
- Pull plugs for things that are fully charged or you are rarely using or use power strips and timers.
- Drive a fuel-efficient car such as a hybrid or electric vehicle as they save on fuel
- Maintain your vehicle by keeping tires properly inflated as saves on the amount of gas used plus a simple tune up and a new air filter can boost the miles per gallon.
- Drive less by walking more and using public transportation. Less driving means less air pollution. Also flying less frequently can make a huge difference because air transport is major contributor of climate pollution so take a train instead, if you can do that.
Global warming isn’t going away and it’s time for the whole world to collectively up it’s game and take some serious steps in combating it because sooner or later, it’s going to directly affect us all.
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