Like many people I was a bit frightened by the reports of the record strength of Hurricane Patricia as it was approaching Mexico. It seems weather reports are starting to include records on a pretty regular basis. So, after decades of industry funded denial about the realities of climate change, now mother nature is making the case pretty well on her own.
Last week I created a short video on some of the recent weather events. And the haboobs of Arizona. Forest fires, droughts, floods, hurricanes and haboobs.
When you start too look at how these events are impacting communities around the world the reality of what we are facing starts to sink in.
And even so in the week since Patricia, there have been several more extreme weather events.
Last week in Austin they set a new record for rainfall and it wasn't even close.
ALL-TIME 24 HR RAIN RECORD SMASHED AT ABIA: 14.54” today. Previous record: 8.70” on 11/23/1974
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And while South Carolina saw the impact of a 1000 year storm last month resulting in historic flooding, the Carolinas had a different issue last week. No storms, just high tides flooding the streets of downtown Charleston and many areas on the coast.
Or how about earlier in the month when Miami had "unexpected flooding" from high tides. I'm sure some people probably would argue that these high tides shouldn't really be considered unexpected.
And wrap your head around this fact.
Cyclone Chapala will dump 10 years' worth of rain on Yemen in just 2 days
The oil industry and its cheerleaders in government have very effectively denied the reality of climate change for decades. Perhaps with the increasing frequency of extreme weather, more people will start to realize what we are facing.