On the extreme weathers of 2017

With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Wednesday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength.

Franklin. Gert. Harvey. Irma. Jose. Katia. Lee. Maria. Nate. Ophelia.

Ophelia, far out in the Atlantic, does not pose a threat to the United States, though it may affect Ireland. But it puts this year in the history books by at least one measure. The last time 10 consecutive Atlantic storms became hurricanes was in 1893 — and because tracking technology was far more primitive then, meteorologists say, some weak tropical storms or tropical depressions may have gone undetected within that streak.

As wildfires continued to rip through Northern California’s wine country Wednesday and the death toll continued to rise, images of the blazes’ devastation capped one of the most extraordinary years of climate disasters that North America has ever seen.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria flattened numerous Caribbean islands, submerged Houston, broke rainfall and tropical cyclone intensity records and has left an estimated 94 percent of Puerto Rico without power nearly three weeks after Maria’s landing. It has left the world wondering if the devastation witnessed in 2017 will become more frequent as humans’ greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the globe.

https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/dr-michael-mann-extreme-weather-we-predicted-long-ago?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=RFP 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/was-the-extreme-2017-hurricane-season-driven-by-climate-change/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sustainability&utm_content=link&utm_term=2017-10-26_featured-this-week 

Global Warming Really Did Make Hurricane Harvey More Likely

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/global-warming-really-did-make-hurricane-harvey-more-likely/545765/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08808-y?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20171222&spMailingID=55620177&spUserID=MTA3NDk3ODg5NDMxS0&spJobID=1303752819&spReportId=MTMwMzc1MjgxOQS2

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180321130859.htm

https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/pix/user_images/tk/global_warm_hurr/Adjust_TS_Count.png