It’s like clockwork. When we had the big seasons leading up to 2004 and 2005 monster seasons it was all the media could talk about. When hurricane activity dropped heavily for a decade the media was rather silent. Though, they had all sorts of excuses, like that wind shear was diminishing hurricanes. That they would be fewer but bigger. Then they blamed the lack on ‘climate change. Remember, the US went 12 years without a landfalling major hurricane, the longest period since the Civil War era. There’s always something with this crowd, and no matter what, it’s all your fault
Why climate change makes a hurricane like Beryl more dangerous
Hurricane Beryl is tearing across the Caribbean this week, unleashing life-threatening flooding and dangerous wind as it heads toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Beryl has already racked up multiple alarming superlatives. It is the most powerful hurricane ever recorded this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, and also the earliest storm to strengthen so rapidly as it formed. Beryl grew from a relatively weak tropical depression into a full-blown major hurricane in less than two days, sending residents in its path scrambling to evacuate or find suitable shelter.
Climate change is playing a crucial and obvious role in Beryl’s development, scientists say.
“You’re hearing things like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘shocking’ a lot about Beryl,” says Andra Garner, a hurricane expert at Rowan University in New Jersey. But Garner says it isn’t surprising to scientists to see such a big storm so early this year.
Except, do we know that this is different from during previous Holocene periods? We don’t have data. Also
More record lying from @NOAAClimate:
Hurricane intensification is measured by satellites. We have no relevant satellite data before the 1970s or so. https://t.co/UwdlE85Y1G https://t.co/b3M0PanQ8j
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) July 4, 2024
We don’t even know that much about hurricanes prior to 1970, unless they really hit the US. It was even tough to know in Caribbean nations. Further
(Not A Lot Of People Know That) According to the official reports, Beryl has sustained winds of 165mph (145kts), and a minimum central pressure of 934mb.
But according to the official satellite Dvorak measurements, the wind speeds were well below the warning intensity, around 135kts. On the Saffir Simpson scale, Cat 5s are 137kts and over, so it seems that Beryl was probably a top end Cat 4:
Was it even that? Jamaica is already mostly back up and operating. Kingston, which should have been smacked hard, and there are areas still without power, doesn’t look like much happened. Barely any trees down. I’m seeing the same with webcams in Cancun. The Cayman Islands look fine. Certainly, a storm came through. Watching the airport webcam at Sint Maarten you could definitely tell they were getting storm surge, as the ocean was up over the beach, I’d say a rise of at least 2 feet. And that’s a bit east of the Virgin Islands.
No one should be surprised if the power was over-estimated: we’ve seen this with many storms. It’s all about scaring people into giving up their money, liberty, and freedom.
Read: Your Fault: Hurricanes Like Beryl To Be The New Normal Or Something »