#most devastating cyclone

[latestnews69]

We feel completely abandoned': Mayotte residents call for help after devastating cyclone

As we've been reporting throughout the day, hundreds of people are feared dead in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido swept a path of devastation through the island.

Here's some of the latest footage we've seen, which shows views of the neighbourhood Labattoir from above: Read more

[darkmaga-returns]

By Linnea Lueken

Media outlets such as Carbon Brief and The Guardian recently ran articles claiming that climate change is making tropical cyclones worse shortly after cyclone Chido caused destruction and tragic loss of life in Mayotte and Mozambique this past December. This is false. Tropical cyclones are not worsening. Data show no increase in the severity or number of hurricanes and typhoons. In fact, recent research suggests that there has actually been a modest decrease in cyclone frequency and power over the past 30 years.

The Carbon Brief post, “Chido hits; Coal’s new peak; Africa’s energy transition,” citing the Associated Press, claimed that Chido was the “most intense storm to hit Mayotte in 90 years,” and that “[s]cientists have long suggested that climate change is making cyclones worse in the region, but a lack of weather data has hindered more conclusive claims.”

The Guardian’s coverage in the article “Hundreds feared dead as Cyclone Chido devastates French island of Mayotte,” rightly focused examined tragedy of the disaster that occurred there, but the paper could not help itself, claiming in the very last paragraph that tropical cyclones are “getting worse because of the climate emergency,” and “cause large humanitarian crises in poor countries in southern Africa, which contribute a tiny amount to global heating, underlining their call for more help from rich nations to deal with the impacts of climate change.”

The Guardian’s point that African nations need more help because of wealthier nations’ alleged larger contributions to “global heating” is silly, because one imagines that aid would be needed and requested by poor countries when natural disasters occur regardless of climate change. They require help because they are underdeveloped, and they are underdeveloped for a variety of reasons, among them poor institutions, limited property rights, and political corruption, none having to do with climate change.

[krmy2386]

Eau de Parfume

Bob Floyd x Reader

PLEASE DON’T STEAL!!!

Be kind❤️

WARNINGS: Mentions of deployment (I know nothing about actually military so this may be wrong.). Accusations of cheating. Fluffy ending🥰

Word Count: 1976

A/N: I know I promised this a while ago and I am SO sorry for the delay. Basically my home life has been VERY stressful and I’m going through it😅.

Y/N was devastated.

He was cheating on her. Bob of all people!

How could he? How could sweet, adorable and loving Bob do this?!

Granted Y/N had no solid proof, but she had her suspicions for a few weeks now.

He had been very distant recently. Whenever Y/N would ask him, ‘How was your day?’ over dinner he would no longer go into heavy detail about who was where, what was said, sometimes even mentioning the temperature of whatever room he was in. But now he would only give one word responses and leave as soon as dinner was over. It had been weeks since he spent tonight at her apartment.

Y/N’s second clue, was that the Dagger squad was acting weird as well. When the group went out recently the entire team all basically ignored her. No harmless flirting from Hangman. Or gossip with Fanboy and Payback. Even Rooster couldn’t bring himself to look at her, and Y/N considered herself to be closest to him out of all of them. ‘They must all know,’ she thought to herself. ‘They must all know but are too scared or too loyal to Bob to say anything.

The third, and most damning, piece of evidence was a bottle of perfume she found on Bob’s bathroom sink.

It wasn’t hers.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bob thought he was going to combust everyday since Cyclone broke the news. They were being deployed.

It would be six months, at least, and basically no communication.

This wouldn’t be Bob’s first time being shipped out to the middle of the ocean. But it would be Y/N’s first time having to send him off. That thought was what was driving Bob insane.

He didn’t know how to tell Y/N. He didn’t know how she would react.

Would she leave him? Would she wait for him? He knew she loved him but it was a big ask of someone. To basically put their life on hold for you.

Bob already knew he would be in trouble for waiting until the last minute to tell her. They left in three days. Bob had known for three weeks and instead of preparing the love of his life for the hardest test of their relationship, he hid it from her.

‘Oh God!’ He thought, ‘She should leave me just for being so stupid!’

Everyday he thought about telling her. He would sit down with the rest of the Dagger team, all of whom had told their loved ones already, and they would attempt to coach him on what to say.

Phoenix suggested that he should simply sit Y/N down and tell her like an adult. Bob felt like the metaphorical ship had already sailed on that one.

Hangman suggested he tell her during sex. Bob had to admit this was a tempting suggestion. The only problem was he could barely look Y/N in the eye these past few days, let alone make a move.

Poor Rooster just begged Bob to tell her. Blurt it out if he had to, but put Bradley out of his misery. He was a horrible secret keeper and it was killing him knowing something so important and not being able to tell Y/N.

Finally, Maverick told Bob that if he didn’t tell Y/N himself then he would take matters into his own hands. Bob knew Maverick was serious. That man feared nothing, not even the wrath of Bob’s girlfriend.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Y/N sat on the couch holding the bottle. She had been intensely staring at it for 20 minutes. She was meant to be cooking dinner.

Despite being ignored by the entire team, it was Maverick who finally called her that afternoon. He said he couldn’t go into detail but the team was undergoing some intense training. He said he was calling all of the members' partners and family to let them know that the team was under a lot of stress.

Hearing this made Y/N feel relieved, maybe that was the cause of all of this. She decided to surprise Bob by cooking his favorite dinner and maybe they could simply talk out whatever was going on. At least that was the plan until Y/N went to wash up before cooking.

She went into the bathroom and saw the bottle sitting on the sink. It was very obviously not her perfume. The perfume she wore was an, admittedly cheap, light and sweet fragrance that came in a simple yellow bottle. This new bottle was black with pink accents and even looked expensive. Y/N wasn’t a huge fan of most perfumes. She actually didn’t care that much for hers. Ironically she only wore it because she thought Bob liked it on her.

The final nail in Y/N’s coffin was when she sprayed it. Curiosity got the best of her. What does this person smell like? Is it similar to mine? Completely different? She needed to know.

Much to her dismay, she liked it. She really liked it.

‘Damnit!’ She mentally screamed. She was praying the pretty and luxurious bottle would be just a fluke. That she would hate it and it would give her some kind of relief. Instead she just cried.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Bob was terrified. As soon as Maverick told him that he reached out to Y/N, he knew that he could no longer wait. He could no longer procrastinate or plot a way out of it. He had to do it now.

When Bob pulled up at home he saw Y/N’s car, he actually wasn’t surprised. She was a loving and generous person. He knew she would be there to try to comfort him from Maverick’s ‘secret stressful training’. That thought made what he had to do so much worse.

Bob walked up to his front door. He paused, took a deep breath and said to himself, ‘Now or never Floyd. Just try not to break her heart.’

But when he opened the door he was met with his worst nightmare.

Y/N was sitting on his couch crying. Out of instinct he immediately ran over to her.

“Y/N! Baby! What’s wrong?” He tried to confront her best he could.

Y/N pushed him away, “What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG?! You lied to me!”

Bob sighed in defeat. He had been caught.

“I’m so sorry! I never meant for you to find out this way!” He tried to reason.

Y/N couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that.

Bob knelt in front of where she was sitting on the couch, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you. I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt you.”

“How the hell would this not hurt me, Bobby?!” Y/N yelled, “There is absolutely no way that I could come out of this not hurt!

Bob felt the tears starting to well up. It was over. He screwed it all up. All he could do was apologize.

“I am so sorry Y/N! I truly never meant to hurt you.: Bob felt himself start to ramble, “I just couldn’t think of the right time and the team kept pushing me. Hell, Hangman even suggested I blurt it out during sex and I know that sounds ridiculous but I am beginning to think that would’ve been a better option then you finding out from Maverick!”

Y/N looked at Bob like he had grown a second head.

“What? Hangman suggested that you tell me you’re cheating on me during sex?!” Y/n was incredibly confused, “What the hell is wrong with you two?!”

Now it was Bob’s turn to be confused, “Cheating on you?! You think I’ve been cheating on you!’

“Haven’t you?” Y/N said accusingly, “You never talk to me anymore, you rush off as soon as you can, the entire team has been avoiding me like the plague, and this was in your bathroom!” Y/N felt the tears coming again as she held up the bottle.

Bob let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He didn’t think anything would be worse than Y/N’s reaction to him leaving. But this was so much worse.

Bob gently grabbed her hands.

“Baby, I would never cheat on you. I’m lucky I got you! Do you really think I would be stupid enough to throw away the best thing that ever happened to me?!”

Y/N looked into his high puppy-dog eyes and almost melted. Almost.

“Then what the hell is going on Bobby?’ She asked desperately.

Bob took her hands and kissed them before speaking, “I’m being deployed.”

Those three words made Y/N’s eyes go wide for a moment. Then she practically leaped on Bob in a huge hug that nearly knocked him over.

Bob was once again, very confused.

“Wait, you’re not mad?” He asked.

Y/N chuckled, “Give me a few minutes to be relieved I was wrong. Then the madness will probably set in”

Bob felt himself melt into the hug. There was hope. Hope that she would actually stay.

“Baby,” Bob began slowly pulling back from her, “The reason I’ve been distant is because I was scared to tell you. I didn’t know how you would react. Same with the team. Poor Bradley has been on edge for weeks because he was afraid he would let it slip.”

“Weeks?” Y/N asked, sounding hurt, “You’ve known for weeks?”

Bob nodded his head in shame, “We found out about three weeks ago. I thought maybe if I put it off it would go away or by some miracle I wouldn’t have to go. But I guess this is it. I leave in three days.”

Y/N was in shock. She finally understood. Believe it or not she even understood why he hid it. He wasn’t afraid to tell her he was leaving. He was afraid to ask her to stay.

She looked at him and gently put her hand on his cheek, “It’ll be okay Bobby.

Those four words pulled him out of his own head and straight back into reality.

“Really?!” He asked, trying not to get too excited, “It’s six months. Little to no communication and I did solidly prove today that I am an idiot. No one would blame you if you jumped ship.”

Y/N giggled at the pun before holding his face in her hands and looking straight into his eyes, “I’m not going anywhere Bobby.”

Bob couldn’t contain himself. He pulled her in for a kiss and hugged her so tight he lifted her off the couch and spun her around. He felt like he was flying.

“Wait!” Y/N said and Bob felt his blood run cold.

He slowly set her down and looked in her eyes, “What?”

Y/N went back to the couch and grabbed the bottle that now had no explanation.

“What is this for then?” She asked, no longer accusing, but genuinely very curious.

“That? It ah- well I wanted to-“ Bob rubbed the back of his neck and blushed, “It was to take with me. To remind me of you. I know it's not the exact one you wear but when I went to buy that one I smelt this one and-” Bob shrugged, struggling to find the right words, “It just smelt like what it feels like to be with you.”

Now it was Y/N’s turn to feel ecstatic. She looked at the bottle then sprayed some on her forearm and inhaled the scent for the second time. He was right. It smelled comforting. She pulled him in for another kiss and let the scent waft around them like a cocoon. And Y/N made a mental note to pick up a bottle of that perfume to keep with her too.

TAG LIST- Thank you for the encouragement❤️

@luckyladycreator2

@b-bradshaw

@t-rexs

@rosiahills22

@vienna1644

@timbradfordsboot

@blue-aconite

@barbiegirlbaby

@ahopelessromanticwritersworld

@wanniiieeee

@insomniac23

@xinsonyax

@goawayi-mreading

@daughterofthereaper02

@a-reader-and-a-writer

[yousaucygirl]

Right now my two hyperfixations are Ace Attorney and Ride the Cyclone and the gremlin in my brain is telling me to smush them together. So... Ace Attorney rtc AU.

I think the most obvious one is Klav as Mischa. They're both Europeans who make music, somewhat of a bad boy reputation, and are DEFINITELY at least a little fruity. Plus Klav would absolutely belt out a song for his lobe.

Next, I think that Miles Edgeworth himself would be Noel Gruber. They're both sassy, pretentious gay men, Miles definitely has a secret thing for French noir films, and Miles would hate working at a Taco Bell and having a song he ironically listened to played at his funeral. Plus Bratworth is so Noel Gruber.

Ocean is Sebastien Debeste. Ocean thinks she's da best (see what I did?) just like Sebastian. Both are top of the class and take that a little too seriously. Sebastian would also call himself a futher muckin' hero. He's also a bit misguided like Ocean but ultimately has a good heart. He would also want the second chance at life as bad as Ocean because he knows he can do great things.

Constance was a bit difficult. I mean, I doubt anyone in the Ace Attorney series had a lot of good memories in their childhood homes, but I think that Maya was the closest. I mean, she goes back to Kurain often and has good memories with Mia and Pearl. Then there's Constance’s song Sugarcloud that really seals Maya in her role. Maya absolutely believes in escapism from her issues. Like, look at her family, then look at her. There's no way that girl isn't burying all of her problems. Plus out of all the characters, Maya is one of the nicest.

Here me out for Ricky: Apollo. Firstly, there's an entire musical number about sexy cat women, and who better to shove into the roll than the man who calls his cat his girlfriend? And with his million backstories, it's almost inevitable that he lived in a house with fourteen cats at some point. Ricky is also a very sweet character and very perceptive to others' emotions, especially Jane's.

Jane Doe herself. The spooky, odd girl who has no identity. Because this is an AU and I am God, the role of Jane Doe is going to Phoenix Wright. One, Phoenix would HATE not having an identity. Through the Ace Attorney series, he made a name for himself. His career and reputation meant so much to him that he was completely lost after being disbarred. Not only that, but we know very little about Phoenix's past. We don't know his parents, if he had any siblings, or what his childhood was like aside from everything with Miles. All we really know about his family is his distant grandfather, Ryunosuke Naruhodo. He would also be devastating on Jane as he's the protagonist of his series, and he would lose that.

Lastly, there's Karnak. The one who summoned these silly dead teenagers and gave one another chance at life. It's literally the judge. In Ace Attorney, he listens as these goofy little fruits make their cases and ultimately decides if the defendant lives or dies. While Karnak doesn't necessarily condemn the other to death, he has the power to give one the prize of life.

[askkanataigarashi]

Hey! It's nice to meet you, my name's Kanata Igarashi!

Wait, who am I? Oh I'm a demon slayer 😁 I started a little over a year ago. After finding out the corps existed and all, I just decided to join because...well, why not? Besides, there's more good I can do for the world than my same old life, day in and day out 😊

Oh, what do I look like? Easy!

Heh, pretty cool right? An awesome friend, @larz-barz drew this portrait of me and not to brag but I look pretty good 😉

What else 🤔... I mean, I've got a nice family but I try not to talk about them much cuz of the, well, demons duh. I really love traveling and seeing everything, meeting everyone, but I kinda wish they could come with me sometimes; I definitely try my best to stop in as much as I can to see them :)

Food? Hmm..I like a bit of everything to be honest. Can't stand cooking but if I had to pick a favorite, it's GOT to be my mom's pork cutlets. As for everything else, if it's on my plate I'll eat it basically (but seriously please don't make me cook).

My friends and I sometimes clash cuz they're always riding me to train harder *cough* Amari *cough* but I wanna explore the arts more; painting, writing, dancing, that kind of stuff. Maybe when the demons are gone, you'll see me in the papers someday😉

I think that's it for me though, see ya! 😄

~Character Summary~

Age: 19

Pronouns: he/him

Height: 5'10

Rank: Kinoe

Race: Human

Breathing Technique: Water Breathing (beginning) -> Storm Breathing

First Form: Cyclone- A quick twist of the torso that summons a powerful wind storm and has the power to blast multiple weak demons to pieces. Can be mastered and strengthened to take on a lower level Upper Rank singlehandedly coupled with extreme stamina and battle strategy.

Second Form: Ferocious Winter- Swinging swords across/in front of the user in an ‘X’ form. This summons icy winds and blizzard like conditions to provide cover and hide from the enemy, either for an opportunity to attack or escape.

Third Form: Divine Light- A violent cascade of lightning strikes to attack a group of low level demons. The lightning can also be absorbed and manipulated through the users weapon, which allows the strike of the beheading to be amplified in power; this can be used to fight upper level demons.

Fourth Form: Earthquake- A head on attack that requires the most force behind it. Every step taken towards the demon opens fissures into the earth that any enemy can and will fall into. Straightforward strike but the user can twist their body to dodge enemy attacks.

Fifth Form: Total Devastation- A quick series of lightning flashes followed by a dry forest fire to help trap demons and enemies. Can not be used during any precipitous weather and has limited range.

Sixth Form: Thunderous Eruption- Used in hand with Earthquake, this form produces magma and lava from the open fissures in the ground, creates a much higher risk scenario to defeat demons but much more effective against upper levels.

Seventh Form: Tidal Waves- A flood of wisteria infused water in the form of a tsunami that allows the user to drown or flood out multiple enemies, or condense it to overpower an upper level demon. This weakens the demons for actual combat.

Family: Keiji (Father), Nilou (Mother), Sora (sister, 15); Ryūko (sister, 12); Sulien (brother, 12)

Likes: art and music, dancing, dandelions, shopping

Dislikes: cooking, laundry, reading

Relationship Status: Single/Secret Admirer

Impressions:

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Capitalism’s climate catastrophe: How fossil fuel giants fueled the storm crisis

By Scott Scheffer

On Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene hit near Tampa, Florida, and tore north and then northwest through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, even reaching the eastern part of Tennessee.

Helene stretched about 400 miles across and sustained 140 mph winds, smashing into homes and leaving millions without electricity. The flooding and devastation from the wind were at a historic level. 

No areas near the path were spared, and the mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, was utterly destroyed by flooding. A local journalist reported seeing two homes being swept away by raging water that then crashed into each other.

Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton landed 75 miles south of Helene’s landfall and ripped its way north/northwest across the panhandle and then out into the Atlantic. Work crews were clearing debris from Helene when Milton arrived. 

It’s not unusual for hurricanes to spawn a few tornados. Usually, they’re weak and fizzle out quickly. Not these. The storm yielded a record 38 of them, and they smashed everything in their paths.

As of Oct. 15, the combined death toll had climbed to 268, and there were still 192 people unaccounted for. Damage estimates are all over the map, from $35 billion to $200 billion.

These were two of the most destructive storms in history. “Thousand-year” storms are happening frequently now. Hurricanes, droughts, and cyclones are increasing in severity. Heat waves are more frequent and threaten to make some cities that millions call home uninhabitable.

This is all a product of the capitalist economy. Giant energy companies and their banking partners have pushed the exploitation of fossil fuels, spewed gigatons of CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and caused global warming. 

[mindblowingscience]

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said Thursday. Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a hurricane at 80 mph (129 kph) to the most powerful Category 5 hurricane with 155 mph (249 kph) winds in 24 hours. In 2017, before it devastated Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria went from a Category 1 storm with 90 mph (145 kph) to a top-of-the-chart whopper with 160 mph (257 kph) winds in just 15 hours. The study looked at 830 Atlantic tropical cyclones since 1971. It found that in the last 20 years, 8.1% of the time storms powered from a Category 1 minor storm to a major hurricane in just 24 hours. That happened only 3.2% of the time from 1971 to 1990, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports. Category 1 hurricanes top out at 95 mph (153 kph) and a hurricane has to have at least 111 mph (178 kph) winds to become major.

Continue Reading.

[kawaiijohn]

Woo yay yippieeee even :(

From James spann Twitter (above imbed):

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Milton remains a catastrophic category five hurricane early this morning with winds of 160 mph. The hurricane is about 300 miles southwest of Tampa, and is moving to the northeast at 14 mph. A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for... * Florida west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay * Sebastian Inlet Florida to Altamaha Sound Georgia, including the St. Johns River A Hurricane Warning is in effect for... * Florida west coast from Bonita Beach northward to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay * Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach From NHC Milton is moving northeastward at 12 kt in the flow between a mid-to upper-level trough over the northern Gulf and a ridge located over the Greater Antilles. This motion should generally continue until Milton makes landfall in Florida, which is likely to occur late tonight or early tomorrow morning. After the hurricane reaches the coast, a turn to the east-northeast is expected as another trough approaches the system from the west. Milton should exit Florida and move over the Atlantic waters tomorrow afternoon and accelerate eastward after that. The NHC track forecast is nudged a little to the north of the previous one to be in better agreement with the latest models. It should be noted that this forecast is based on the model fields, not the interpolated models which appear to be too far south. Users are urged not to focus on the exact landfall point as the average error at 24 hours is about 40 miles. The global models agree that vertical wind shear is expected begin to increase over Milton later today, and that should cause some weakening. However, there is high confidence that Milton will remain a very dangerous hurricane when it reaches Florida, and maintain hurricane status as it moves across the state. The cyclone is expected to become extratropical over the Atlantic on Friday and gradually weaken. The NHC intensity forecast is similar to the previous one and near the high end of the model guidance. Milton's wind field is expected to grow considerably in size while it moves across Florida. Additionally, a large region of tropical storm and hurricane-force winds could occur on the northwest/back side of the storm since Milton will be interacting with a frontal boundary and beginning extratropical transition. Damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge, and heavy rainfall will extend well outside the forecast cone. This is a very serious situation and residents in Florida should closely follow orders from their local emergency management officials. Evacuations and other preparations should be rushed to completion. Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida. Key messages *A large area of destructive storm surge, with highest inundations of 10 ft or greater, is expected along a portion of the west-central coast of the Florida Peninsula. If you are in the Storm Surge Warning area, this is an extremely life-threatening situation, and you should evacuate as soon as possible if ordered by local officials. *Devastating hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the west coast of Florida, where a Hurricane Warning is in effect. Milton is forecast to remain a hurricane while it crosses the Florida Peninsula and life-threatening hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, are expected to spread inland across the peninsula. Preparations to protect life and property, including being ready for long-duration power outages, should be rushed to completion. *Heavy rainfall across the Florida Peninsula through tomorrow brings the risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding along with moderate to major river flooding, especially in areas where coastal and inland flooding combine to increase the overall flood threat.

Stay safe y'all.

[deepfriedhopesanddreams]

Minicons in my Neon Road au!

Though the minicons still follow some similar rules in the regular Transformers robots in disguise, I did make some changes to some of the minicons.

They still need to form a mutual contract with their host I mean partners! Yes partners!!

Just like the original there's:

Activators

Buzzsaws

Cyclones

Torpedoes

Weaponizers

Unaligned factory made minicons (UFMMs)

Each of these minicons hailed from some part of Cybertron:

Activators are from Nova Cronum, the ability to power boost their partners with tremendous energy. They have a high intellect and constantly search for a partner equal to their taste and IQ. But when war struck, they proved to be quite helpful (though they are still very picky).

Buzzsaws are one of the most commonly used minicons ever, they mostly stick around in Iacon city. They are the ideal little companions/bodyguards. But they seem to have inferiority complexes around other minicons, in the minicon world, they are considered average. In the war, their cuts are very useful in battle of course.

Cyclones origin homes are unknown, they could be found almost everywhere in Cybertron, from the wild to the cities, they are considered an enigma. They only seem to transform into wrecking balls and bash everything in their wake. They are "possibly" the least smart out of all the minicons (but that doesn't mean they can't learn like normal minicons, they're like earth children with neuro divergency, they need extra attention). When it comes to the war, they simply jump into the action for the thrills.

Torpedoes are from one of the Cybertron seas, possibly the Argon sea. Due to their recent migration to the cities, they are quite skittish or uninterested in other bots, simply trying to live a peaceful life. In the war, their damages were devastating, from the sea to the air above.

Weaponizers are a bit complicated with their origins, during the war, many minicons from all over Cybertron were modified into weaponizers to aid either the Autobots or the Decepticons. Their alt-modes vary from swords, spears, blasters, etc. They don't seem too happy about their place in the war...

Factory made minicons are well made from factories that are close to Tagan Heights. They only simply follow protocols and orders from superiors, but in some places they would be given personalities to liven up the workplace. They transform into various tools, but special ones could be given with built in weapons compact inside of them. During the war they seemed to be split, on one half, they were actively used, but the other, some locations of these minicons were so isolated and untouched, they weren't aware of the destruction on the planet.

The minicons relations...

It appears that they seem to be mostly on unfriendly terms, that doesn't mean it's on every minicon.

There are some cases of mixed minicons (commonly called Mixicons) for example Activators/Buzzsaws, Buzzsaws/Torpedoes, Cyclones/Weaponizers, etc. this shows a lot of interesting designs on their newly formed kin, though how they do this is unknown. Factory made minicons are incompatible with these minicons.

The only documented list of these Mixicons:

Activators/Buzzsaws

Activators/Cyclones

Activators/Torpedoes

Activators/Weaponizers

Buzzsaws/Cyclones

Buzzsaws/Torpedoes

Buzzsaws/Weaponizers

Cyclone/Torpedoes

Cyclone/Weaponizers

Torpedoes/Weaponizers

Though some bots do claim these rare Mixicons exist, there appears to be little to no sightings of them ever, they are called the Landmine Mixicon and the Warhead Mixicon. This claim is so absurd, let's pray that these minicons never exist, EVER.

That is all the minicon info I could provide in this world, more updates will come in the future.

[mariacallous]

Record temperatures last year pushed the global water cycle to “new climatic extremes,” according to the Global Water Monitor 2024 report. The document, produced by an international consortium led by researchers at Australian National University, states that these climatic anomalies caused devastating floods and droughts that resulted in more than 8,700 deaths, the displacement of 40 million people, and economic losses exceeding $550 billion.

The report was conducted by an international team and was led by ANU professor Albert van Dijk. It reveals that 2024 was the warmest year so far for nearly 4 billion people in 111 countries, and that air temperatures over the Earth’s surface were 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than documented at the beginning of the century and 2.2 degrees Celsius higher than at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Van Dijk asserts that water systems around the globe were affected. “From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these severe climate variations affect lives, livelihoods, and entire ecosystems. Water is our most important resource, and its extreme conditions are among the greatest threats we face,” he says.

The report authors analyzed data from thousands of ground and satellite stations that collect near real-time information on critical water variables, including rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture, and flooding.

“We found rainfall records are being broken with increasing regularity. For example, record-high monthly rainfall totals were achieved 27 percent more frequently in 2024 than at the start of this century, whereas daily rainfall records were achieved 52 percent more frequently. Record lows were 38 percent more frequent, so we are seeing worse extremes on both sides,” says Van Dijk.

The research states that, as a consequence, sea-surface temperatures rose, intensifying tropical cyclones and droughts in the Amazon basin and southern Africa. Global warming favored the formation of slower-moving storms in Europe, Asia, and Brazil, subjecting some regions—such as Valencia in Spain—to extremely high levels of rain. Widespread flash floods occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while rising levels in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China damaged rice crops.

“In Bangladesh, heavy monsoon rains and the release of water from dams affected more than 5.8 million people, and at least 1 million tons of rice were wiped out. In the Amazon basin, forest fires triggered by the hot, dry weather devastated more than 52,000 square kilometers in September alone, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases,” Van Dijk says.

The study adds that changes in the water cycle intensified food shortages, impaired shipping routes, and disrupted hydropower generation in some regions. “We need to prepare for and adapt to inevitably more severe extreme events. That may mean adopting stronger flood defenses, developing new food production systems and more drought-resistant water supply networks,” suggests Van Dijk.

World leaders have pledged to implement measures and policies to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by the end of the century, but the World Meteorological Organization has pointed out that current efforts are insufficient. The WMO estimates that there is an 80 percent chance that the average global temperature will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels again in at least one of the next five years. The projection suggests that humanity is far from meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and raises new concerns about the progress of climate change.

Securing financial resources is another challenge. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that the funding gap for climate change adaptation is between $194 billion and $366 billion annually.

António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, has said that “we are teetering on a planetary tightrope. Either leaders close the emissions gap or we are hurtling towards climate disaster, with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most. The countdown to action has begun.”

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

Very sad to hear Sinead O'Connor is apparently dead, no cause known yet but presumed suicide, as she's attempted the same several times the past few years.

She was an enormously talented woman, trapped in a body and mind that was obviously perpetually, ceaselessly, tormented and troubled her whole life long, so I always felt great affection for her, and humored all her many crazed proclamations at every point of her life: whatever she declared herself to be one year, she was going to declare herself something completely different three years later: Today she's a Catholic Priest, the next she's a Rastafarian, now she's converted to Islam. And so on.

But what drove her to such extremes was an original and courageous mind attempting above all else to make sense of the world and find answers while she was here: sometimes she got it wrong; sometimes she got it right: The entire world said she was crazy for tearing up a picture of the Pope on TV and condemning the Catholic Church for its sexual abuse of children: thirty years later and everyone you know agrees with her.

And throughout the continual chaos and devastation of her life, at the center of the cyclone remained, unwavering, that roaring Celtic soul and unmistakable voice: there was no-one like her in song before, and we won't see another like her again. I'm thankful she lived at the same time as me, and I hope she's found peace.

Most of the world seems to regard her as a one-hit wonder for "Nothing Compares 2U", but these are the songs I've most loved and first think of when I think of her, so I'll post them here:

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

South of Brazil becoming accustomed to devastating floods

Environmental disasters due to heavy rains have become painfully common in most of the southern Brazilian municipalities placed under a state of public calamity this past week due to record-breaking floods. Of the 336 cities in Rio Grande do Sul state currently on red alert, nine out of ten had already declared some form of state of emergency or calamity due to rains in the last decade, research by fact-checking agency Lupa shows.

In total, 303 of the municipalities accounted for a total of 953 emergency or calamity decrees since 2013. Around 28 percent of these decrees were issued in 2023 alone, in the highest yearly total issued in the analyzed time period. Last September, floods in Rio Grande do Sul caused by an extratropical cyclone left 54 dead, in what was the worst natural disaster in the state’s history — until this past week.

Data extracted from the Integrated Disaster Information System of the Integration and Regional Development Ministry shows that 59 of the state’s cities had already declared emergencies in 2024 due to storms.

The data analyzed by Lupa includes decrees of emergency situations or states of public calamity. Both of these scenarios occur in response to a disaster, but the difference lies in how the disaster impairs the local government’s capacity to respond.

Continue reading.

[warningsine]

Hotels and homes destroyed, impassable roads and thousands of people cut off. This is how Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, has been left after the passage of Hurricane Otis, the most powerful Pacific storm to make landfall on Mexican territory in the last 30 years. The cyclone, which in 12 hours went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane, the highest possible classification, has left the popular tourist destination resembling a war zone with uprooted trees, debris, roofs torn off and buildings without walls. Neither the National Meteorological Service (SMN) nor local and federal authorities were able to predict the intensity of the hurricane. Scientists were also caught by surprise. The speed with which the cyclone intensified was unusual and forced Mexican authorities to issue an evacuation alert for the area just hours before Otis made landfall.

The SMN warned at 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, that the hurricane would reach Acapulco at 6:00 p.m. the following day. However, the storm arrived earlier than expected and devastated the coastal city at 12:25 a.m. Wednesday. Winds of more than 270 kilometers per hour (168 mph) hit the town and the state of Guerrero, one of the poorest in the country, destroying everything in their path. More than 500,000 people were left without electricity, internet and telephone connection in the early hours of the morning and only part of the service has so far been restored. The breakdown of communications has complicated access to the affected areas and there is still no official information on the number of victims and the amount of damage caused, although it is expected that material losses will amount to millions of dollars.

The unusual power of the hurricane has attracted the attention of the scientific community, which links the devastating power of Otis to the El Niño season, a phenomenon associated with changes in the atmosphere and the fluctuation of water temperature in the Pacific. “There is a hypothesis that it could be related to the rise in ocean temperature, which does not mean that there are more hurricanes, but it does mean that when there is one, the cyclone accelerates its formation by taking on more energy under these conditions,” explains Claudia Rojas of the Department of Process Engineering and Hydraulics of the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM).

There are those who point to a relationship between climate change and the strength of hurricanes, although the scientific community is still investigating the matter. “El Niño is inducing these cyclones to reach high categories. However, it is difficult to attribute the responsibility for Hurricane Otis to climate change,” says Christian Domínguez, a researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). “What is known on a global scale is that with climate change there will be fewer hurricanes in the Pacific, but they will be more intense,” he adds. “With the information we currently have, it is not so clear that the intensity has to do with climate change because there are not so many historical records, although we have not ruled it out.”

After making landfall, Otis was downgraded to a tropical storm after depositing heavy rainfall in several states in central and southern Mexico. However, the threat has not yet passed. “The risk is not only posed by the strength of the winds. There are more dangers that such a phenomenon can entail, such as landslides and the flooding of rivers and streams,” says Domínguez. In Acapulco, some 20,000 people live in areas susceptible to flooding or landslides. The hurricane season in the Pacific begins around May 15 and ends around November 30, as such Guerrero could still experience the consequences of other cyclones, says Rojas. “Research work has shown that after a prolonged drought, very intense rainfall events occur, as is the case with tropical cyclones that can reach these [high] categories.”

Otis is not the first hurricane in recent years to strengthen so rapidly. In 2015, Tropical Storm Patricia escalated to a Category 5 hurricane in 10 hours. The difference with the current phenomenon was that it did so offshore, and authorities in the states of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit were able to evacuate 50,000 people before it made landfall. The storm, catalogued by the SMN as “extremely dangerous” and by the media as the “largest in history,” quickly lost strength after making landfall in Mexican territory thanks to the mountainous system of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which eroded the outer ring of the cyclone and prevented greater damage and devastation. Guerrero, in this case, did not have the same luck.

Acapulco International Airport, which receives millions of tourists every year, has been completely flooded and suffered serious damage to its infrastructure, forcing the suspension of all flights. The main highways are also closed, preventing communications with Mexico City. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had ordered his Security Cabinet to go to the affected area, but on seeing the seriousness of the situation, he decided to personally supervise the rescue efforts himself. The Mexican army has initiated an emergency protocol and 37 shelters have been set up throughout the state for victims.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

In yet another dire warning about the coming Atlantic hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday predicted that this year could see between 17 to 25 named tropical cyclones, the most it has ever forecast in May for the Atlantic Ocean.

The NOAA forecast joins more than a dozen other recent projections from experts at universities, private companies and other government agencies that have predicted a likelihood of 14 or more named storms this season; many were calling for well over 20.

Rick Spinrad, the NOAA administrator, said at a news conference on Thursday morning that the agency’s forecasters believed eight to 13 of the named storms could become hurricanes, meaning they would include winds of at least 74 miles per hour. Those could include four to seven major hurricanes — Category 3 or higher — with winds of at least 111 m.p.h.

According to NOAA, there is an 85 percent chance of an above-normal season and a 10 percent chance of a near-normal season, with a 5 percent chance of a below-normal season. An average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

While it only takes one storm in a below-average season to devastate a community, having conditions conducive to almost twice the average amount of storms makes it more likely that North America will experience a tropical storm or, worse, a major hurricane.

There are 21 entries on this year’s official list of storm names, from Alberto to William. If that list is exhausted, the National Weather Service moves on to an alternative list of names, something it’s only had to do twice in its history.

The critical area of the Atlantic Ocean where hurricanes form is already abnormally warm just ahead of the start of the season. Benjamin Kirtman, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami, earlier described the conditions as “unprecedented,” “alarming�� and an “out-of-bounds anomaly.”

[follow-up-news]

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said Thursday. Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a hurricane at 80 mph (129 kph) to the most powerful Category 5 hurricane with 155 mph (249 kph) winds in 24 hours. In 2017, before it devastated Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria went from a Category 1 storm with 90 mph (145 kph) to a top-of-the-chart whopper with 160 mph (257 kph) winds in just 15 hours. The study looked at 830 Atlantic tropical cyclones since 1971. It found that in the last 20 years, 8.1% of the time storms powered from a Category 1 minor storm to a major hurricane in just 24 hours. That happened only 3.2% of the time from 1971 to 1990, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports.