#storms #hurricanes #ClimateChange #Helene #Milton
If you still don’t believe the climate is changing, look at the quantity and severity of the 2024 storms.
First, Helene. Second, Milton a week or so afterward.
In fact, Milton had grown to a Category 5 hurricane (the worst) before it hit land.
Florida got the double whammy of both storms consecutively, as debris from Helene had yet to be cleared before Milton hit.
Some folks on Florida’s Gulf Coast had gone nearly 50 years before being affected by storms. Then, they got a double hit.
Though the damage is not as bad as predicted it could have been, it will probably take years for places like Florida and Western North Carolina to fully recover from the destruction.
Climate change is happening worldwide. In fact, many migrants are coming to the U.S. because the climate in their countries has become so severe they cannot make a living as farmers etc.
Western North Carolina, shielded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, has learned that it is not immune from storm devastation.
All this means that sea levels will eventually rise, perhaps rendering expensive beachfront properties nearly worthless.
Will property insurers give up insuring properties in some areas? In some cases, they already have. Though most people devastated by storms say they will rebuild, how long with the rebuilding take, and how long will it last before the next storm comes along?
All hands, and minds, need to be on deck to try to mitigate this change as best we can.
It will be no easy task. Property near water has become the most desirable, yet the most vulnerable.
If we do nothing, it will only get worse. So, we have to do something. We have to try new ways to protect people and property from these frequent severe storms. Mitigation ideas and potential solutions are already out there, but the will to enact them is still missing.
Perhaps a new building material will be widely available to withstand these storms.
Perhaps we should not build so close to water that even the smallest storm-generated waves could do real damage.
Certainly, it will take money for this mitigation. But, money alone won’t solve the problem. The money has to be combined with innovation, keeping in mind that all the manmade innovation in the world cannot always defeat Mother Nature.
The other issue is time. We can’t wait years for the innovation, or the will to enact it, to come. It has to come ASAP.
So, as we continue to brace for more severe storms, we have to first recognize the problem. Denying a problem won’t make it go away.
Then, we have to put the best scientists, unrestricted by political or financial constraints, to work finding solutions.
The storms will always come. How we prepare for them, and recover from them, will be the key to the planet’s survival as we know it.
Peter
Tag Archives: storms
CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND YOUR CONTROL
The Libra horoscope for Dec. 8, 2012, read: “Don’t waste time speculating about how you would perform in other circumstances. Focus instead on the circumstances you’re in now.”
That horoscope was published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Not everyone takes horoscopes seriously, of course. But this one has a resonating message.
It makes one think about the difference between wishes and dreams.
A wish is something you want, but usually can’t get. A wish is usually something that depends on circumstances to come true.
A dream is something a person can ACHIEVE, regardless of circumstances, if he really wants it.
A dream is usually something a person creates, along with the way he’s going to achieve it.
Circumstances are none of your business. You can’t control most circumstances. Circumstances result from things that happen beyond your sphere of influence. What takes place in your sphere of influence is how you react to the circumstances around you.
For the last three years, the economy has been in the pits. Lots of folks lost jobs. Some still have not gotten new ones. Others have gotten new ones, but at far less than they were earning before they lost their original job.
Jobs are circumstances. They do not belong to the job holder. There is no entitlement to work. Jobs will come and go, through no fault of the job holder. Some will never come back, either to the job holder or anyone else.
Job holders can’t wish for time to go backward. They have to deal with new realities. They have to face the fact that the job that took care of their lives and families is gone. It would be the same as if a hurricane, or other natural disaster, wiped out one’s livelihood, home or entire town. You may have known it was coming, but you never really know how bad it’s going to be until it hits YOU.
CIRCUMSTANCES ARE LIKE THE WEATHER
Most circumstances, like the weather, are beyond your control. When a boxer faces his opponent in the ring, he knows he’s going to get hit. He can do a lot of things to prevent himself from getting hurt, but he can’t prevent everything. And, he certainly can’t prevent his opponent from swinging at him.
We all face certain circumstances. We can’t wallow in the misery, and expect to come out better. We have to DO something to make things better. We have to acknowledge what has happened, but not be paralyzed by it. We must look at the bad, yet see the good – or potential good – of any circumstance.
If you face tough economic circumstances, solutions are all around you. You just have to look for them. Lost your job? There are many ways to make money WITHOUT having a job, and regardless of education or background. To check out one of the best ways, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau.
If you face tough circumstances, think of all that is good in your life. Let those thoughts dominate your mind. Don’t wish for things to be better. Do what you need to do to make them better. Don’t wish for circumstances to be different. You can’t control them. Establish a dream, write it down, and go about achieving it. If you focus on that, after a while, circumstances won’t matter to you. Circumstances can take away your job, home, possessions and surroundings. They cannot take away your dream.
It’s been said to focus on the things you can control. You can’t control most circumstances. You can control how you respond to them.
Peter