Superstorms
We recently witnessed the death, destruction, and devastation caused by two hurricanes, Helene and Milton. Before that we had Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane in history with winds of 165 mph. The five years from 2017 to 2021 saw more Category 4 and 5 hurricanes make landfall on the U.S. mainland than in the 54 years from 1963 to 2016.
If we focus only on those weather disasters which caused damage of more than $1 billion each, 2022 saw fifteen such disasters. In 2023 there were twenty-eight—almost twice as many as 2022. Through August 8th, this year has seen nineteen such disaster events.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing the future. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane—which primarily come from fossil fuels—trap heat and increase air and ocean temperatures. For every 2° F of warming, air can hold about 8% more water, providing much more fuel for hurricanes.
Experts warn that future hurricanes will impact more than merely coastal areas, but will penetrate much further inland. (I wrote about this phenomenon almost four years ago, which you can read here.) We saw this with Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of North Carolina hundreds of miles from where the hurricane made landfall in Florida. Future decades could see hurricanes wreaking havoc and destruction on states as far inland as Wisconsin, Kansas, and New Mexico!
To learn more about what climate change is, how it is impacting our world, and how it might be fulfilling biblical prophecy, please read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read it in its entirety for free on this website. Just click here, or go to “Don’s Books” at the top of this page and scroll down to the “List of Contents” under my book, Beyond Blind Faith.
This blog entry was based in part on information in the following articles:
1. “The Dawn of Superstorms,” by Porter Fox, in the September 30, 2024 edition of Time Magazine, pp. 27-28.
2. “2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters,” by Adam B. Smith, January 8, 2024, found at: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2023-historic-year-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20United%20States,NOAA%20map%20by%20NCEI.
3. “Methane emissions and natural gas,” found at: https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/home/who-we-are/advocating-for-net-zero-in-the-us/methane-emissions.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyL24BhCtARIsALo0fSDIxH0BzLF-1BwuF8EpT3L6qtfYJysszNIOwTmyW_yuCpPlgvyhUDcaAkyCEALw_wcB
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