Pirate's Cove

Here’s Think Progress’ Excitable Joe Romm going excitable (the headline was changed at some point overnight to “Why are sinkholes seemingly stalking Trump’s residences?” with the original headline, shown below, as the subhead)

Is the White House sinkhole climate change or just karma?

On May 22, 2017, a sinkhole opened at Mar-a-Lago, which President Trump calls the “Winter White House.” On May 22, 2018, a sinkhole opened at the actual White House.

For the media and Twitter, it’s been a bottomless pit of puns. “If that’s not a direct sign from … somewhere … people, I don’t know what is,” opines Mashable. “Are memes finally gaining sentience?” asks The Mary Sue. Or is the Earth “trying to do itself in before Scott Pruitt gets the chance?”

Even the New York Times has jumped in with a headline that says in part, “Blame the Swamp. (Really.)”

But what does science say? Are sinkholes becoming more common? Is Trump somehow to blame?

Just the notion that the final question was asked shows just how deranged Warmists are, especially when you add in TDS.

If we look globally, it’s clear that there are a growing number of big holes in the ground — and not just because we’re drilling for fossil fuels in more more places. In the Arctic, where human caused global warming is occurring twice as fast as anywhere else, the permafrost is melting fast.

As you know, Warmists like Joe feel that this warm period is totally different from all the previous warm periods, and can only have been caused by you eating a cheeseburger and using air conditioning. Joe goes on and on, attempting to tell us how sinkholes are happening all over because of ‘climate change’ (scam) droughtflood, including in Florida, till having to admit way down in the article

In the specific case of the 2017 Mar-a-Lago sinkhole, an analysis in Scientific American concluded, “A newly-installed water main is the apparent cause,” probably from some leaking. The barrier island it’s built on is “mostly sand” and any significant excess water could simply dissolve it.

In short, it was probably faulty infrastructure.

By this point, most have already moved on from this article and are Blaming Trump.

Indeed, as PhysOrg notes “The usual cause” of sinkholes is “crumbling water, drain and sewer pipes, often neglected by cities with budget problems.” They add, “scientists who study natural sinkholes say the caverns from infrastructure failures are becoming a bigger problem.”

But, but, but, big rainfalls can cause them when combined, and big rainfalls never happened prior to fossil fueled vehicles!!!!!!!!

And while we’ve always had rain and always had sinkholes, climate change is driving more intense and prolonged deluges. Another possibility, explains Forbes, is that “The sinkhole could be a result of an old water line that has rusted through and caused water to leak into the White House lawn.”

But if it were poorly maintained infrastructure, then perhaps there is some karma. After all, Republicans have opposed major infrastructure funding for decades — and Trump’s own infrastructure bill has gone nowhere. And that should give all of us a sinking feeling.