Climate Change : Irma: A Meditation on Hurricanes and the Bahamas ~ Global Voices

MY STORY:  I grew up in Miami, Florida.  I'm so old that I can remember when hurricanes only had female names.  I no longer in Florida, but I have not fully escaped the hurricanes.  I live in Texas now, and hurricanes also like to swing by here and say Hello! 

People who live in locations where they experience hurricanes and have lived to tell can always share a story.  The longer they live in a place and survive, the more stories they have to tell.  Nicolette Bethel has a story.

And then came Irma: Not behaving at all like a genteel, gracious lady at all.   She even brought friends to her soiree.  September 2017, Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Florida, and brought some tornadoes with her.   She definitely gave us something to think about it. These are the thoughts of Nicolette Bethel.

"Every thirty years or so, however, some regular shift in global weather patterns appeared to encourage the formation of hurricanes further north and increase the likelihood that they would affect The Bahamas and US eastern seaboard. These hurricanes would sweep across the Atlantic and not be disrupted by land or mountains until they were well inland in the USA." 

(My comment/observation.)  Extracted this excerpt because it seems to present a plausible explanation for 2017 being the year of the hurricanes.  In other words, maybe it's not the effects of climate change.  Maybe ... it's just normal weather patterns.  The global warming debate continues.

Author of the post republished by GlobalVoices.org is Nicolette Bethel, Bahamian teacher, writer, and anthropologist.

Visit her blog for more interesting posts. (It's a private site. You have to request permission.)

~ Original Article Source: Global Voices

Hurricane, Bahamas. Winslow Homer (1898). 

Image donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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(Recycling from Facebook.)

It's 2026, and it is officially the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The Atlantic season runs from June 1 through November 30 every year.

“A hurricane reminds us that nature is powerful — but so are preparation, community, and calm.”

“Storms may shake the coast, but calm hearts and ready hands weather anything.”

“Stay aware, stay prepared, stay calm — we face the season together.”

I'm sharing encouraging quotes after hearing a report that FEMA might not help. Apparently, Kristi Noem screwed it up before she left. Mind you. The agency wasn't that great to begin with. But it seems she made it worse.

HAPPY JUNE 1st. No really. Don't worry. Be happy.