#increase in major hurricanes

[tomorrowusa]

June 1st marks the official start of the Atlantic basin hurricane season. Though there is now a pre-season which starts on May 15th.

It's predicted to be near average this year. Though what is considered average has been creeping up in recent decades.

CNN tracked two hurricane season outlooks this year: the forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which was released last week, and another from researchers at Colorado State University, who have been issuing seasonal forecasts for more than 37 years.

NOAA officials are predicting an average hurricane season, with 12 to 17 named tropical storms, five to nine of which could become hurricanes. They expect as many of four of those could strengthen into major hurricanes – category 3 or stronger.

A slightly more optimistic prediction from tropical cyclone Dr. research scientist Dr. Philip J. Klotzbach.

Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State, said in April his group was predicting a slightly below-average season this year: 13 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

The key difference between tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes lies in their wind speeds and the level of organization within the system.

While a tropical depression represents the earliest stage of cyclone development, named tropical storms exhibit more structure and stronger winds. Hurricanes — the most powerful and dangerous of the three — possess the strongest winds and a well-defined eye, making them capable of causing extensive damage over large areas.

According to the National Hurricane Center, there is already a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico with a 70% chance of tropical cyclone formation in the next two days. Look for updates here.

Even a season which starts off calm can take an abrupt turn.

In 1992 there had been no named storms for the first 11 weeks of the season. Then on August 17th a nondescript tropical wave in the Atlantic became the first named storm of the year. Rapid intensification transformed this storm into Category 5 Hurricane Andrew. It cut through the south of Florida like a buzz saw and had a second act as it stormed through the Gulf and made a second landfall in Louisiana.

Hurricane Andrew

Andrew's style of rapid intensification has become more common in the 21st century.

This season should not be as bad as 2020 when they ran out of hurricane names and then burned through half of the Greek alphabet.

Yep, one tropical storm in 2020 even made landfall in Portugal. 🇵🇹

Warm seas give hurricanes more strength and make their formation more likely. The unmistakable warming of the Atlantic is responsible for the spike in major hurricanes this century.

[essektheylyss]

okay the thing with the coast poll is that my tags were mostly joking cuz I do expect it to be a contest of where you've lived and I respect that so I'm not actually mad HOWEVER I saw some of the comments and as a person who has lived on both, I am thereby qualified to ask, IN WHAT FUCKING UNIVERSE IS THE EAST COAST MORE TEMPERATE. WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR DEFINITION OF TEMPERATE.

[nasa]

Why Isn’t Every Year the Warmest Year on Record?

This just in: 2022 effectively tied for the fifth warmest year since 1880, when our record starts. Here at NASA, we work with our partners at NOAA to track temperatures across Earth’s entire surface, to keep a global record of how our planet is changing.

Overall, Earth is getting hotter.

The warming comes directly from human activities – specifically, the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. We started burning fossil fuels in earnest during the Industrial Revolution. Activities like driving cars and operating factories continue to release greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, where they trap heat in the atmosphere.

So…if we’re causing Earth to warm, why isn’t every year the hottest year on record?

As 2022 shows, the current global warming isn’t uniform. Every single year isn’t necessarily warmer than every previous year, but it is generally warmer than most of the preceding years. There’s a warming trend.

Earth is a really complex system, with various climate patterns, solar activity, and events like volcanic eruptions that can tip things slightly warmer or cooler.

Climate Patterns

While 2021 and 2022 continued a global trend of warming, they were both a little cooler than 2020, largely because of a natural phenomenon known as La Niña.

La Niña is one third of a climate phenomenon called El Niño Southern Oscillation, also known as ENSO, which can have significant effects around the globe. During La Niña years, ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean cool off slightly. La Niña’s twin, El Niño brings warmer temperatures to the central and eastern Pacific. Neutral years bring ocean temperatures in the region closer to the average.

El Niño and La Niña affect more than ocean temperatures – they can bring changes to rainfall patterns, hurricane frequency, and global average temperature.

We’ve been in a La Niña mode the last three, which has slightly cooled global temperatures. That’s one big reason 2021 and 2022 were cooler than 2020 – which was an El Niño year.

Overall warming is still happening. Current El Niño years are warmer than previous El Niño years, and the same goes for La Niña years. In fact, enough overall warming has occurred that most current La Niña years are warmer than most previous El Niño years. This year was the warmest La Niña year on record.

Solar Activity

Our Sun cycles through periods of more and less activity, on a schedule of about every 11 years. Here on Earth, we might receive slightly less energy — heat — from the Sun during quieter periods and slightly more during active periods.

At NASA, we work with NOAA to track the solar cycle. We kicked off a new one – Solar Cycle 25 – after solar minimum in December 2019. Since then, solar activity has been slightly ramping up.

Because we closely track solar activity, we know that over the past several decades, solar activity hasn't been on the rise, while greenhouse gases have. More importantly, the "fingerprints" we see on the climate, including temperature changes in the upper atmosphere, don't fit the what we'd expect from solar-caused warming. Rather they look like what we expect from increased greenhouse warming, verifying a prediction made decades ago by NASA.

Volcanic Eruptions

Throughout history, volcanoes have driven major shifts in Earth’s climate. Large eruptions can release water vapor — a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide — which traps additional warmth within our atmosphere.

On the flip side, eruptions that loft lots of ash and soot into the atmosphere can temporarily cool the climate slightly, by reflecting some sunlight back into space.

Like solar activity, we can monitor volcanic eruptions and tease out their effect on variations in our global temperature.

At the End of the Day, It’s Us

Our satellites, airborne missions, and measurements from the ground give us a comprehensive picture of what’s happening on Earth every day. We also have computer models that can skillfully recreate Earth’s climate.

By combining the two, we can see what would happen to global temperature if all the changes were caused by natural forces, like volcanic eruptions or ENSO. By looking at the fingerprints each of these climate drivers leave in our models, it’s perfectly clear: The current global warming we’re experiencing is caused by humans.

For more information about climate change, visit climate.nasa.gov.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - March 13, 2023

🐝 - Did you hear about the honeybee vaccine? It's creating quite the buzz! But seriously, it's a major breakthrough in the fight against American foulbrood and could save billions of bees.

1. Transgender health care is now protected in Minnesota

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order protecting and supporting access to gender-affirming health care for LGBTQ people in the state, amidst Republican-backed efforts across the country to limit transgender health care. The order upholds the essential values of One Minnesota where all people, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, are safe, celebrated, and able to live lives full of dignity and joy.

Numerous medical organizations have said that access to gender-affirming care is essential to the health and wellness of gender diverse people, while states like Tennessee, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Florida have passed policies or laws restricting transgender health care.

2. First vaccine for honeybees could save billions

The US government has approved the world's first honeybee vaccine to fight against American foulbrood, a bacterial disease that destroys bee colonies vital for crop pollination.

Developed by biotech company Dalan Animal Health, the vaccine integrates some of the foulbrood bacteria into royal jelly, which is then fed to the queen by the worker bees, resulting in the growing bee larvae developing immunity to foulbrood. The vaccine aims to limit the damage caused by the infectious disease, for which there is currently no cure, and promote the development of vaccines for other diseases affecting bees.

3. Teens rescued after days stranded in California snowstorm: "We were already convinced we were going to die"

The recent snowstorms in California have resulted in dangerous conditions for hikers and residents in mountain communities. Two teenage hikers were rescued by the San Bernardino County sheriff's department after getting lost in the mountains for 10 days.

The boys were well-prepared for the hike but were not prepared for the massive amounts of snow that followed. They were lucky to survive, suffering from hypothermia and having to huddle together for three nights to stay warm.

Yosemite National Park has had to be closed indefinitely due to the excessive snowfall.

4. La Niña, which worsens Atlantic hurricanes and Western droughts, is gone

The La Nina weather phenomenon, which increases Atlantic hurricane activity and worsens western drought, has ended after three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's usually good news for the United States and other parts of the world, including drought-stricken northeast Africa, scientists said.

The globe is now in what's considered a "neutral" condition.

5. Where there's gender equality, people tend to live longer

Both women and men are likely to live longer when a country makes strides towards gender equality, according to a new global study that authors believe to be the first of its kind.

The study was published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health this week. It adds to a growing body of research showing that advances in women's rights benefit everyone. "Globally, greater gender equality is associated with longer [life expectancy] for both women and men and a widening of the gender gap in [life expectancy]," they conclude.

6. New data shows 1 in 7 cars sold globally is an EV, and combustion engine car sales have decreased by 25% since 2017

Electric vehicles are the key technology to decarbonise road transport, a sector that accounts for 16% of global emissions. Compared with 2020, sales nearly doubled to 6.6 million (a sales share of nearly 9%), bringing the total number of electric cars on the road to 16.5 million.

Sales were highest in China, where they tripled relative to 2020 to 3.3 million after several years of relative stagnation, and in Europe, where they increased by two-thirds year-on-year to 2.3 million. Together, China and Europe accounted for more than 85% of global electric car sales in 2021

7. Lastly, watch this touching moment as rescued puppy gains trust in her new owners

By the way, this is my newly started YouTube channel. Subscribe for more wholesome videos :D

---

That's it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Let's carry the positivity into next week and keep spreading the good news!

[wherelibertydwells]

Tropical storms and hurricanes have not increased in number or strength over the 50 years we've had satellites monitoring the weather. If CO2 were increasing the number of storms we'd be able to see if there is a noticeable trend.

This shows the number of tropical storms on the top line and the hurricanes on the bottom. There's no real trend on either.

This shows the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE). Global is on top and the northern hemisphere on the bottom.

ACE estimates the total energy involved in the named storm systems for each year. We can see some years were higher, some lower but again, there's no strong trend up or down.

The media and the global warming alarmists will repeat the usual nonsense about increasing numbers and intensity of storms after Beryl does its thing. They do it after every major storm and then they go quiet after every calm period.

It's one sided reporting to alarm the public and to skew perception to make you believe the world is ending, the weather is your fault, and the only cure is more government.

Source for the charts.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Across the American South, tides are rising at accelerating rates that are among the most extreme on Earth, constituting a surge that has startled scientists such as Jeff Chanton, professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University.

“It’s pretty shocking,” he said. “You would think it would increase gradually, it would be a gradual thing. But this is like a major shift.”

Worldwide sea levels have climbed since 1900 by some 1.5 millimeters a year, a pace that is unprecedented in at least 3,000 years and generally attributable to melting ice sheets and glaciers and also the expansion of the oceans as their temperatures warm. Since the middle of the 20th century the rate has gained speed, exceeding 3 millimeters a year since 1992.

In the South the pace has quickened further, jumping from about 1.7 millimeters a year at the turn of the 20th century to at least 8.4 millimeters by 2021, according to a 2023 study published in Nature Communications based on tidal gauge records from throughout the region. In Pensacola, a beachy community on the western side of the Florida Panhandle, the rate soared to roughly 11 millimeters a year by the end of 2021. 

“I think people just really have no idea what is coming, because we have no way of visualizing that through our own personal experiences, or that of the last 250 years,” said Randall Parkinson, a coastal geologist at Florida International University. “It’s not something where you go, ‘I know what that might look like because I’ve seen that.’ Because we haven’t.

“It’s the same everywhere, from North Carolina all the way down to the Florida Keys and all the way up into Alabama,” he said. “All of these areas are extremely vulnerable.”

The acceleration is poised to amplify impacts such as hurricane storm surges, nuisance flooding and land loss. In recent years the rising tides have coincided with record-breaking hurricane seasons, pushing storm surges higher and farther inland. In 2022 Hurricane Ian, which came ashore in southwest Florida, was the costliest hurricane in state history and third-costliest to date in the United States, after Katrina in 2005 and Harvey in 2017.

“It doesn’t even take a major storm event anymore. You just get these compounding effects,” said Rachel Cleetus, a policy director at the Union for Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group. “All of a sudden you have a much more impactful flooding event, and a lot of the infrastructure, frankly, like the stormwater infrastructure, it’s just not built for this.”

[cherryg]

For the past months there has been a storm of bad internet bills this year, now it’s not just the EARN It Act or KOSA but now a bill just like EarnIt called STOP CSAM.

There has also been overwhelming support on KOSA with some news articles claiming that groups who once opposed KOSA supports it now.

It also now has 36 cosponsors with a group called Design it For US saying they are going to lobby for it to get more cosponsors to sign the bill in the senate in July along with pushing a markup for the bill.

This group is dedicated to protect children online which is a good thing but they also have huge misguided support for KOSA.

There are also bad pro censorship groups like NCOSE and The heritage foundation supporting this bill as well

KOSA was supposed to protect kids online but this will actually give state attorneys power to dictate what could be recommended for kids.

This is a huge issue because this will give bigots and transphobic people power to use this against lgbt and trans content censoring them entirely.

Major proof from this is that a far right group called the heritage foundation recently came out with this tweet. Last year they created an article stating why the support KOSA (KidsOnlineSafetyAct) and it’s not pretty at all.

/Warning/ if this stuff triggers you feel free to skip this part until you see a green check mark

TW: Transphobia

✅

Some groups that support KOSA claims that the state attorney stuff in the legislation has been “watered down” and that all concerns are “addressed”

but it’s kinda hard to believe when you have groups that have these kinds of dangerous and close minded views behind statements on how they are gonna use this particular bill to censor content from groups of people they hate.

Also, support was so huge that Dove is also advocating for it with Lizzo https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/tell-lizzo/

Also if you want more information and facts on why KOSA may not be a good idea. You can find more info here https://fair.org/home/these-bills-will-make-children-less-safe-

Meanwhile a few senators are trying to push the EarnIt act along with its sister bill called STOP CSAM. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/stop-csam-act-would-put-security-and-free-speech-risk

While stopping csam is a great idea, these bills are bad for privacy and increase government surveillance. It’s also a section 230 carve out and will hurt creativity and free speech and expression. It’s also dangerous for everyone in a lot of ways. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/15/lgbtq-earn-it-act-risks-online/70247956007/

Please everyone, call your senators and tell them to oppose these bad internet bills!

( I’m sorry guys if this is badly made I’m currently rushing, I will be updating this post more and adding in more information)

[kittsu-and-company]

“Do you remember me now?”

TW(s) include:

Manipulation

Self Loathing

Mention of past Self Harm

Implied Suicidal Thoughts

Implied Kidnapping

-

Kittsu felt her skin crawl as the librarian’s piercing green eyes bore holes into her own, a gaze she refused to meet as a sickening familiarity in them threatened to swallow her in anxiety and dread. She felt as Achlys’ grip tightened on her shoulder, dragging subsurface thoughts to the forefront of her mind; Oh arceus, what did I do this time? What did I do? He’s mad he’s always mad he-

“Euphrosyne,” she flinched, and took the distraction as a moment to feign calmness, slowing her breath which had been gradually increasing, “c’mon, you wanted to look at the fiction section, right?” She was grateful the chimera-water type mask hid her emotions somewhat well, hiding the tears that wanted to spill out of her eyes at really any given moment. She was tired. She didn’t want to go to the fiction section. She didn’t want to go anywhere anymore, she just wanted to sleep… though she probably didn’t deserve that opportunity.

She felt herself squeezing the hand Achlys had offered to her, probably a bit too hard, but this was better than scratching at her arms like she used to do. She still felt the woman’s piercing gaze Burning Holes Through Her Skin, and almost felt as if the intensity could Char the Flesh Beneath. Achlys scowled past as he led Kittsu… Euphrosyne..? She was too tired to know which name was hers anymore. That smile with too perfect teeth made her feel as if her bones were being chilled. Dread. For what..? Was she forgetting something?

“Euphrosyne, don’t talk to her.”

“...Okay”

“She’s untrustworthy. She was… looking at me wrong.”

I’m not an idiot. “Okay, thanks for… telling me.”

“Euphrosyne. Listen to me, don’t talk to her, I know you want to.”

Please, for the love of Arceus stop talking. “Sure.”

Your voice is as grating as my own.

Kittsu felt as her face twisted into a closed-mouth snarl of disgust as she numbly followed Achlys. She missed her friends… wait, no, that was wrong, she’s not supposed to miss anything. She hated herself for a multitude of reasons, but she knew giving up and refusing to fight fate caused the majority of that. She hoped Sprite, Polaris, and everyone else she loved was disappointed in her; it’d make the inevitable hurt less. She knew full well that there was no future for her, and she knew that as soon as she met Mirror. She looked at Achlys and knew that she was just a support for him and… whatever his grand scheme may have been. She hoped, at least, that whatever he’s fighting for goes the way he wants, he felt important, the center of a hurricane of confusion and a story that she had no part in. She at least wanted to be helpful to one thing in this world.

…But why was Mirror interested in her, too? Was it just because it knew she played a part, no matter how small…?

And why did it leave?

Achlys flinched violently and whipped around to face the man with the Ninetales, who had suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. Its name was Cocytus, if she remembered correctly. He spoke quickly, monotone, and only to Achlys with an intensity she oddly expected for this place. Mythos Under the Sun… she’s always wanted to come here, but now that they're all actually there, something about it feels viscerally off. Her skin crawls as if being watched, though when she turns back, the woman behind the counter was long out of sight. Loud whispers grab her attention once more as she looks towards Achlys and the unnamed man arguing in a hushed tone, Achlys argued for a minute before letting out a frustrated sigh and looking back at her.

“Me and white boy over here need to talk about something. You just- go wherever, but stay away from that woman. Go.”

She stood blankly for a bit, still processing the words before stepping away, scanning the library for anything that caught her attention. Eventually, something did; a small shelf stood out, as if it were glowing in a room of pitch darkness. Its golden-hued wood stood out against the red mahogany pillars that held books of all types across the library; it felt as if a spotlight were shining on it… it felt wrong, somehow. Her mind felt scrambled as she slowly approached the golden shelf, a throne of several beautiful, leather-bound journals, all marked by names she felt as if she should know.

Curiosity killed the Meowstic… but satisfaction brought it back, right?

She should’ve waited outside.

She felt like she was losing track of herself, staring at those journals. Something desperately clawed at her mind, something, a memory long buried. She should have fled. She couldn’t help herself.

Izuba, Matahari, Aelia, Samson, Saulė…so many names burnt into leather and memories immortalized as fiction. Sooraj, Sūrya, Adlaw, Helios. Something buried, demanding to be brought to the surface of memories long forgotten. Dielli, Zuva, Taeyang, Letsatsi, Grian; how far does it go? Araw, Aelius, Taiyō, Aurinko, Siqniq. How long has she been standing here, reading the names? Was it already too late? Ilanga, Savita, Arev, Elio, Kalinda, Cyra…

☀️ < Mirri Marisolis. > ☀️

Something clicked as her eyes finally traced over where the next journal would’ve sat, a hole in a story she swore she knew the name of. A missing journal, but who was next in line? She would’ve thought it would be Achlys’ name waiting to be filled in that missing cavity, if it weren’t for her pounding head, and a frantic, clawing desperation that she knew wasn’t her own. Remember.

The lights went out with a snap.

She flinched and tried to find Achlys, only to be met with green eyes that pierce the darkness behind her, a shade that mirrored old photos of herself.

Remember the Storyteller. Remember his name, remember, remember. She felt paralyzed both by the migraine and the too-familiar woman in front of her. She was so close.

“Welcome home, Éliane!”

The pieces were there. Remember. Remember. Remember.

“We missed you.”

Something broke, and the migraine was gone as a familiar, chilling smile cut through the dark, leaving her speechless and terrified. Voices that were not her own screamed in her mind as she felt memories surface and the world crumble around her. She recognized the sound of her “mother’s” Glalie, its frozen breath creating creeping mist that flowed in from behind.

Éliane didn’t have time to make sense of the puzzle in front of her before a flash of green fur and three crimson eyes caught her eye.

She didn’t have time to run before everything faded to black.

[kp777]

By Ralph Nader

Common Dreams Opinion

Sept. 9, 2023

Our national charter needs amending to deal with big corporations, which in turn requires a mass movement.

The headlines on climate catastrophes are becoming more informative as they become more ominous. For years the media headlines have been describing record floods, droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, hurricanes and other fossil-fueled disasters of an abused Mother Nature. The immediate human casualties are devastating.

Very recently, the headlines have been steering us toward what happens in the aftermath of natural disasters in afflicted regions around the world.

The Washington Post yesterday front-paged a huge headline “Climate-Linked Ills Threaten Humanity,” followed by the sub-headline: “Pakistan is the epicenter of a global wave of climate health threats.” The reporters opened their long analysis with almost biblical language: “The floods came, and then the sickness.”

The record heat wave and flooding that left one-third of Pakistan under water have unleashed “dark clouds of mosquitoes” spreading malaria. Food supplies were reduced by drenched fields unable to grow crops. The article depicted a world map with color-coded measures of dangerous heat waves. The Indian sub-continent is registered as having one of the longest annual heat-intense periods. Over 40 million Pakistanis will endure dangerous heat for over six months a year “unless they can find shade… Extreme heat, which causes heatstroke and damages the heart and kidneys” is just one consequence.

Our Constitution never once mentions “corporation” or “company” – it only speaks of “We the People” and “persons.”

Dengue fever surged in Peru. Canadian wildfires poured smoke and particulates into the U.S. triggering asthma attacks. Famine lurks in East Africa’s worst drought in 40 years, while contaminated water takes its toll on many diseases, especially horrifying for infants and young children.

Another consequence recorded by the Post with the headline “Amid Record Heat, Even Indoor Factory Workers Enter Dangerous Terrain” in Asia. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, led by Dr. Sidney Wolfe, was a pioneer in petitioning OSHA to issue regulations to protect workers against extreme heat (See: https://www.citizen.org/topic/heat-stress/). Corporate OSHA stalled. Then the Biden Administration proposed modest regulations that are facing corporate opposition and years of delay by corporate attorneys.

Until overturned by a Texas court, Governor Greg Abbott overrode some ordinances that were passed in large Texas cities requiring drinking water breaks for construction workers laboring under 100-degree temperatures.

Abbott, arguably the cruelest governor in the United States – unless Florida Governor Ron DeSantis out-snarls him – thought he could get away with this bit of brutishness. After all, he is in Texas, where the oil and gas lobby (Exxon Mobil Et al.) is pushing to increase North American exploration, production, and burning of these well-documented omnicidal sources of global warming and climate violence.

The oil, gas and coal industry’s tentacles have encircled a majority of the 535 lawmakers in Congress to shield and maintain huge tax subsidies behind the industry’s lethal drive for increased production. Its marketeers see their profitable circular death dance intensify as hotter days lead to higher air conditioning loads.

Running berserk with their bulging profits, these giant energy companies worldwide are forging a suicide pact with an abused Mother Earth. The projections for what climate eruptions will do to humans and the natural world continue to be underestimated. The realities each year exceed scientists’ predictive models.

With no other driving value system than short-term profits, these artificial entities or companies, and corporations controlling different dangerous technologies, cannot be allowed equal justice under the law with real human beings driven by other far more important life-sustaining and morally enhancing values. For over 2000 years, every major religion has warned about subordination by the merchant class of civilized values. The great “soft energy” or renewable energy prophet and physicist, Amory Lovins, put this critical declaration in modern, secular language when he wrote: “Markets make good servants, but bad masters.”

Our Constitution never once mentions “corporation” or “company” – it only speaks of “We the People” and “persons.” Our national charter needs amending to deal with big corporations, which in turn requires a mass movement. Since ravaging corporations impact people with indiscriminate harm, not caring whether the victims are liberals or conservatives, the political prospect for a decisive left/right coalition is as auspicious as ever.

Tens of millions of hard-pressed American workers have given up on themselves securing a government that works for them, instead of for short-sighted, greedy corporations.

The pressure for such a coalition is growing daily. Insurance companies, citing climate disaster claims, are skyrocketing homeowners and auto insurance premiums, or worse, either redlining areas or altogether pulling out of some states such as Florida. Some coastal areas will soon be private insurance deserts, requiring entry by state-run insurance coverage, at least for reinsurance purposes.

Overpaid insurance company CEOs are starting to demand bailouts without even guaranteeing coverage for consumers.

Faster and faster, the second, third and fourth waves of after-effects of these man-made natural disasters will become all-enveloping punishers of societies that are failing to head off the looming dangers, now maturing into evermore desperate states of living.

On Capitol Hill, a domestically paralyzed Congress only comes together every year to hoopla its bipartisan mega-billion-dollar additions to the bloated, unaudited Pentagon budget – taking over half of the entire federal government’s operating budget. Congress regularly gives the Generals more than they request.

Meanwhile, back home, tens of millions of hard-pressed American workers have given up on themselves securing a government that works for them, instead of for short-sighted, greedy corporations. These Americans continue to ignore the historically validated truth – no more than one active percent of the citizenry, representing the majority public opinion, can quickly make a large majority of those 535 Congressional Senators and Representatives fight first and foremost for the public interest.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely. RALPH NADER Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and the author of "The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future" (2012). His new book is, "Wrecking America: How Trump's Lies and Lawbreaking Betray All" (2020, co-authored with Mark Green).

Full Bio >

[darkmaga-retard]

The Biden/Harris Department of Energy, led by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, announced Tuesday the awarding of debt-funded grants totaling $2.2 billion to help fund 8 power transmission projects impacting more than 1,000 miles of lines across 18 states. DOE’s release says the grants are designed to “protect against growing threats of extreme weather events, lower costs for communities, and catalyze additional grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing and data centers.”

The release specifically identifies projects for states like New York, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. That’s all great, and no one can doubt those states have pressing needs to upgrade their electricity infrastructure.

Given the release’s language talking about the objective of hardening transmission systems to protect against extreme weather events, it does seem more than a little odd that none of the projects specified would do anything to upgrade systems in states like Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, or Georgia. Those states, of course, are historically the most vulnerable to major impacts from hurricanes and tropical storms.

[modern-inheritance]

Human Rider Changes

Brom wasn't altered the way Eragon was, but in MIC I'm gonna say even the human Riders were altered by the bond, beyond the slightly more elfish appearance and pointed ears.

Over time Humans start getting the more pointed tooth shape that unaltered elves are born with. It takes FAR longer, but they also start to grow a very thin version of the controllable tapetum lucidum, but most can't use it the way elves can at will.

Human Riders also begin to get faster reflexes, larger energy stores, slightly higher than normal strength and endurance for their physiques, increased night vision in general, and I really really want to say longer periods of high neuroplasticity (ease of learning, adaptations, etc) going further into adulthood (though neuroplasticity IS seen in adults, it's not to the extent seen in childhood, but don't quote me on that I haven't read up on it very much lately) but I don't have a reason for that really. I feel like elves naturally keep a fairly high level of neuroplasticity, maybe some effect of dragons ancestral memories (god damn i wanna explore that too and for some reason I think it would lead me to papers and fish and birds and I'm....I'm not up for that just yet).

Magic use can speed up these changes, though it's still a very gradual process. One of the risk factors, however, is that while their strength is not terribly increased, there's still a posibility that their strength can be dangerous to them. Magic use is typically restricted to practice and training while being taught by masters so that explosive use of magic won't lead to a far faster increase in strength, before the bones have adapted to it.

Elves, when they have access to it, incorporate a leafy green called Tinleaf into their diets, along with a variety of (currently unnamed, let me cook) fruits and other vegge that grow in Du Weldenvarden and were brought to the Rider's island. Tinleaf and these other foods are high in dietary titanium, nickel chloride/sulfate, and zirconium silicate, all used in their bone structure which incoperates alloys that allow them to be so resistant to their strength without shattering bones by walking and hitting things. When out of the forest/not around sources of these food/plants, elves have supplements they can take if without natural sources for too long.

wait what was i talking about

OH.

These changes are why Arya is still a bit baffled/confused when she's with the Varden and learning of all these things these humans can't do/don't have going on with their bodies. Brom's changes were still early stage, but he still had some, and she just kinda assumed they were all like that. She was practically a kid at that point, confused why the books she read didn't mention any of that stuff, and then Caleb, Sam, Simon and the rest are having to explain a LOT.

I also found it both jarring and a nice reminder when reading Murtagh (shhhh look okay I just want the fancy cover one and then I'll finish it the ADHD is not good with these things I can't just sit and read anymore it's painful and I don't know why. You know what, send me a hurricane, knock my power out for a week, and I'll finish it before the deluxe release.) that Eragon is NOT the norm for human Riders. He is not human anymore. He is more elf. His strength and energy stores are FAR beyond what human Riders were capable of, unless i just haven't reached some plot twist yet.

I would say that it made the Forsworn make so much more sense, but a VAST majority of the Forsworn we know were elves. Human Riders could have had so much resentment towards their elven counterparts, even with their partners by their side and all the gifts the bonding gave them, it could have been almost crushing to see what elf Riders could do even without formal training.

I wanted/want to put Murtagh on somewhat more even footing after the war in MIC. Without Galbatorix's spells, he's still far more human than Eragon, but he's stronger than any other human man of his size, stature and physique, he's faster, he learns faster, and he can maintain and cast spells well beyond what a regular human mage can, even with training. With more Ancient Language under his belt, more time with Thorn, more practice, he would be (and is) well beyond anything any human could accomplish even with both training for decades and a wealth of natural talent.

Maybe at some point a more significant though still gradual increase in strength, speed, ect, all the elfy things, is introduced to the Rider Bond using the Word/the Name. Resentment from the non-elven students is something I worry about if other Rider species/races are left with nothing to put them at an equal level.

this got off the rails. whoops.

[tomorrowusa]

Far right Gov. Ron DeSantis, a bigtime loser in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, is trying to make climate denial official policy in Florida.

Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation signed on Wednesday by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, in a move which experts say ignores the reality of Florida’s climate threats. The legislation, which comes after Florida had its hottest year on record since 1895, also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy coastline. Florida is facing rising seas, extreme heat, flooding and increasingly severe storms. The legislation takes effect on 1 July and also boosts expansion of natural gas, reduces regulations on gas pipelines in the state, and increases protections against bans on gas appliances such as stoves, according to a news release from the governor’s office. “This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and state legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry,” said Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of the non-profit Cleo Institute, which advocates for climate change education and engagement.

Republicans are in thrall to fossil fuel companies which are intent on destroying the planet. Recently Donald Trump solicited $1 billion from Big Oil in campaign contributions in return for him eliminating climate friendly policies and ignoring pro-environment laws.

Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated $1bn – report

Florida is arguably the most climate sensitive US state. DeSantis seems eager to make it even more vulnerable.

Florida is already about 74% reliant on natural gas to power electric generation, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Opponents of the bill DeSantis signed say it removes the word “climate’ in nine different places and moves the state’s energy goals away from efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases blamed for a warming planet. Greg Knecht, director of the Nature Conservancy in Florida, told the Washington Post the new measure was “very much out of line with public opinion”, with polls showing that a majority of Floridians believe in climate change and want action. Knecht said: “We’re seeing flooding and we’re seeing property damage and we’re seeing hurricanes … [and] we’re turning around and saying, ‘Yeah, but climate change isn’t really real, and we don’t need to do anything about it.’”

Apparently DeSantis likes having President Biden bail out his state every time there's a new climate disaster like record-braking Hurricane Ian.

The only way to keep fossil-fuel Republicans out of office is to Vote Democratic.

Adding "don't say climate" to Florida's "don't say gay" policies hurts not just Florida but all of Earth.

EDIT: Just heard this item on NPR. The upcoming summer will be hotter than usual in most of the US. And warmer oceans mean a greater chance of hurricanes.

Another hotter-than-normal summer lies ahead for the U.S., forecasters say

If a major hurricane hits Florida this year we should call it Hurricane DeSantis.

[scrvivorisms]

The Time Travel Gift

An Interview With the Vampire Power Analysis

As we all know from watching the show itself, Vampires are easily able to stop time in its very tracks. That is nothing new. However, if Maxine Caulfield, for any reason- any time or place. Even an alternate reality-- she would be the originator for the Gift of Time Manipulation.

Over the 9 years I have been within Life Is Strange, theories both canon and otherwise point to numerous theories that still tie together. Including but not limited to: Quantum Theory, Quantum Weirdness, String Theory, Chaos Theory, Butterfly Effect, Mystic Weather and more. These all are intrinsic to Maxine and her life as a human. Albeit what I call a Multiversial Being. She exists beyond one single thread. She is everywhere and nowhere. Everything, all together at once yet still not.

I think, regardless of whom it is that would potentially turn Maxine, her powers and strength to manipulate the very fabric of reality would increase exponentially. Become more grounded. And this is because of Schrodinger's Cat Theory. If she as a human reflects the singular state of being human- being alive, and we can recognize her limitations and weaknesses, what kind of ability would an individual reflecting both states of existence (dead and alive) have? I think it would become an untamable thing.

It wouldn't be like the comics. A coming and going with the tide. A pull you cannot resist. It wouldn't be trying to puzzle together who you know and what you missed. You would perceptively know it. You would know the end. The very outcomes and consequences. She would have the knowledge and ability to choreograph something so someone would live- or so that the conflict would end well. In the favor of herself or of those she values. Max, is ever the Mediator. To such a level and fault she unconsciously seeks to please those around her. It is a curse.

This is also why, regardless of verse, of thread, her morality is Vague. You don't just become what your best friend calls a "Time Lord" and have something black and white. Subjective. Practical. You have to step away and recognize the nuance. That sometimes, doing nothing is best. And that in other situations, doing everything for one is what must be. That, as she learned as was told time and time again: "You cannot save everyone." It doesn't matter what she wants. Sometimes things are so deeply ingrained that letting it alone will help more than any change perceived.

However as a vampire there are consequences. The very thing that plagued Maxine and still fears due to her Empathy: Life. Goodness. Contribution. Improvement. Maxine believes in redemption. Something other than what she is presented. She's learned and has been taught that there is always more than meets the eye. To dig and dig until you were sure.

She may be able to bend and contort any way she wants as a Vampire but must weigh the trail she leaves behind. Strange weather, animals dying en masse, untracked and unknown or documented astrological anomalies. And in the most severe cases: Hurricanes. Insurmountable storms. Something entirely unbeatable by standards of the human condition.

And this is why, if she were a Vampire, Maxine would choose very, VERY carefully on who she would sire. There is an untold and unquantified level of self awarness and responsibility one must have for such Goddess-like power.

But on a lighter note: Whoever Makes her has MAJOR Bragging Rights.

[ausetkmt]

Meet the ‘sisterhood’ making noise — and history — for Mardi Gras

At the edge of the square, members of the St. Mary’s Academy Cougar Marching Band stood stone-faced as they awaited the parade in tight formation. The band’s drum majors, Gilbrelle Stokes, 18, and Charland Thibodeaux, 17, stood at the ready, blue whistles in their mouths, as they prepared to direct the school’s 150-member marching unit, complete with a band, color guard, majorettes, flag team, dancers and cheerleaders.

Thibodeaux, a senior who has been marching with St. Mary’s since the third grade, was unfazed by the pressures of commanding such a large group.

“I always feel ready,” she said. “I been doing it so long.”

Marching band culture in New Orleans is ubiquitous, with groups performing at parades, weddings and funerals alike. Most locals can name their favorite high school bands, which are a highlight of Carnival season for all. School marching bands also serve as a training ground for the pipeline of talented professional musicians who steadily emerge from this birthplace of jazz.

“Band is a culture here unlike any other place,” said Pamela Rogers, 66, St. Mary’s president and acting principal. Sharp. Witty. Thoughtful. Sign up for the Style Memo newsletter.

“Bands define schools,” she continued. “And everyone knows we’re the girls with the skirts.”

St. Mary’s Academy’s skirt-wearing band first formed in 1937, making it the oldest Black girls band marching in the city. Today, it is one of just a handful of all-girl bands to regularly appear in Mardi Gras parades.

The school opened its doors in the French Quarter in 1867 and is still run by the Sisters of the Holy Family, a Black Catholic order founded by Henriette DeLille in 1842. DeLille, a multiracial nun (and current candidate for sainthood), believed in providing education for girls of color even when doing so was illegal. St. Mary’s was the first secondary school for Black girls in New Orleans.

This year, the St. Mary’s band will don new skirts for the first time since 2005, when its blue and gold uniforms had to be replaced after Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters destroyed the school. The new skirts are a touch shorter than those they are replacing — a move staff hoped might increase student interest in the band. They’re still quite long though, even by Catholic school standards.

This Mardi Gras season also marks the first time Raynice Crayton, 27, will be at the band’s helm. A St. Mary’s alumna who joined the band as a seventh-grader, Crayton has already more than doubled band membership during her short tenure as director.

The group’s 52 players have varying levels of experience, from novices to passionate musicians, and they range in grades from fourth to 12th. In New Orleans East, where the school’s campus has been located since the 1960s, Crayton spends hours teaching girls the 10 tunes they will perform this Carnival, ranging from traditional music to a Janet Jackson song to the group’s favorite this year: “Talking in Your Sleep” by the Romantics.

“A lot of people don’t understand this, but band is a sport,” Crayton said.

The group’s schedule is packed tight, with the band performing in eight parades this Carnival season over the course of just two weeks, in addition to their regular school obligations and band practices. Parades last hours and typically happen rain or shine. The girls must traverse tightly packed 3.5-mile routes, all while carrying heavy instruments, entertaining rowdy crowds and dodging beads, puddles and occasionally horse manure.

The Cougars carry fiberglass sousaphones, which are lighter than the traditional brass, and use smaller-size bass drums. Gayland Thibodeaux, 53, a nurse, St. Mary’s alumna and mother to the band’s drum major, provides medical support to students along the parade route. She carries the requisite wraps, bandages and medications, plus some extra “girl stuff” in case of emergency.

High school bands have been a part of Mardi Gras festivities since the 1930s, though predominantly Black bands like St. Mary’s were not welcomed into some well-known parades until the 1960s. This weekend, the girls marched in Endymion, one of Mardi Gras’ largest and most well-attended parades, a decades-long tradition.

Ra-Saiya Lovick, a 13-year-old seventh-grader who is new to St. Mary’s, said this will be her first time marching in Carnival parades, a lifelong dream. Lovick, a cymbal player, is thrilled to share the experience with her all-girls band.

“It’s so cool, because you don’t see no boys around. It’s no boys drama,” she said. “It’s like a sisterhood.”

n a city famous for its music, few local institutions have nurtured young Black female musicians quite like St. Mary’s.

The Original Pinettes Brass Band, founded in 1991, originated at the school and today plays regularly across New Orleans and beyond. Still, the band’s tagline – “the only female brass band in the universe” — is indicative of just how far there is to go.

Two years ago, Troy Sawyer, 44, an award-winning trumpet player and music educator who grew up marching with the all-boys St. Augustine band, founded Girls Play Trumpets Too in response to the gap he saw between how girls and boys fared in the New Orleans music scene.

“For a long time, I felt like girls and women could not play the trumpet on the professional level, because I didn’t see any doing it,” he said.

Sawyer’s organization aims to teach girls about overlooked female musicians in history while also fostering their musical skills.

In New Orleans, such skills can be more than a hobby: Crayton, the St. Mary’s band director, received a full-ride college scholarship for her tuba playing.

“When I joined the band, it was always, ‘Boys play tuba, boys play drums,’” she said. “So those were the first instruments that I went to, because you already counted me out.”

Back on the parade route, Rae’Lynn Walker, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, was excited to play her weathered sousaphone for the thousands of onlookers awaiting the bands. The instrument – now held together with a bit of tape – is the same sousaphone Crayton played when she was a student.

“We’re making history,” Walker said with a smile. “And the crowds notice.”

On St. Charles Avenue, Marie Bookman, 60, shouted, “Girl power!” as the Cougars marched by her. Bookman, a former magistrate court commissioner, said she loves seeing an all-girl band.

“It gives them the opportunity to reach higher goals,” she said. “They can compete with the men, and not just cheer for them.”

Crayton hopes the band will continue to serve that purpose for many decades to come.

“We are not here to see the parade,” she reminded her girls before Sunday’s long march. “We are here to be the parade.”

[monsoon-memoirs]

2024 Hurricane Season Breaks an Unusual Record, Thanks to Hot Water

The 2024 hurricane season has already made history, setting an unprecedented record that highlights the stark contrast between Atlantic and Pacific storm activity. For the first time since satellite monitoring began in 1966, the Atlantic basin has generated more accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) than the entire Pacific Ocean through early July. This unusual phenomenon is largely attributed to the exceptionally warm water temperatures across much of the North Atlantic. Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University, explains that these abnormally high ocean temperatures are influencing storm activity in both oceans, albeit in opposite ways. In the Atlantic, the warm waters have fueled an active start to the hurricane season. The region has already experienced several named storms, including the powerful Hurricane Beryl in early July. This early season activity has contributed to the record-breaking ACE levels, which measure the total energy of a hurricane season based on storm frequency and maximum wind speeds.

Conversely, the Pacific has seen an unusually quiet start to its tropical cyclone season. The western North Pacific experienced only one typhoon in May, and for only the second time on record since 1950, it went without a named storm from June 1 to July 15. In the eastern North Pacific, Tropical Storm Aletta's formation on July 4 marked the latest start to the season on record in that region. Scientists attribute this lack of Pacific storm activity to several factors, including the absence of a strong monsoon trough in the western North Pacific and excessive easterly wind shear in the eastern North Pacific. Interestingly, the warm Atlantic waters are contributing to these conditions by influencing global wind patterns. The dramatic spike in tropical Atlantic water temperatures from March to June 2024 has persisted, creating a La Niña-like circulation pattern. This pattern reduces westerly wind shear in the Atlantic, making conditions more favorable for storm formation. However, it increases easterly winds in the eastern North Pacific, hindering tropical storm development in that region. While it's still early in the hurricane season, forecasters predict above-normal activity for the Atlantic basin. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts 17 to 25 named storms, including 8 to 13 hurricanes, of which 4 to 7 could become major hurricanes.

As the season progresses, researchers will continue to study the influence of climate change and other factors on tropical cyclone patterns. The unusual start to the 2024 season serves as a reminder of the complex interplay between oceanic and atmospheric conditions in shaping hurricane activity across different regions.

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[rjzimmerman]

Where Seas Are Rising at Alarming Speed. (Washington Post)

One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found.

At more than a dozen tidegauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina,sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 — a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.

Scientists are documenting a barrage of impacts — ones, they say, that will confront an even larger swath of U.S. coastal communities in the coming decades — even as they try to decipher the precise causes of this recent surge.

The Gulf of Mexicohas experienced twice the global average rate of sea level rise since 2010, a Post analysis of satellite data shows. Few other places on the planet have seen similar rates of increase, such as the North Sea near the United Kingdom.

“Since 2010, it’s very abnormal and unprecedented,” said Jianjun Yin, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who has studied the changes. While it is possible the swift rate of sea level rise could eventually taper, the higher water that has already arrived in recent years is here to stay.

“It’s irreversible,” he said.

As waters rise, Louisiana’s wetlands — the state’s natural barrier against major storms — are in a state of “drowning.” Choked septic systems are failing and threatening to contaminatewaterways. Insurance companies are raising rates, limiting policies or evenbailing in some places,casting uncertainty over future home values in flood-prone areas.

Roads increasingly are falling below the highest tides, leaving drivers stuck in repeated delays, or forcing them to slog through salt water to reach homes, schools, work and places of worship. In some communities, researchers and public officials fear, rising waters could periodically cut off some people from essential services such as medical aid.

While much planning and money have gone toward blunting the impact of catastrophic hurricanes, experts say it is the accumulation of myriad smaller-scale impacts from rising water levels that is the newer, more insidious challenge — and the one that ultimately will become the most difficult to cope with.

“To me, here’s the story: We are preparing for the wrong disaster almost everywhere,” said Rob Young, a Western Carolina University professor and director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines.

“These smaller changes will be a greater threat over time than the next hurricane, no question about it,” Young said.