Climate Watch: Could a Green New Deal Stop Deadly Hurricanes
- Details
- Category: Earth, Air, Space Science
- Published on Friday, 01 September 2023 13:11
- Written by Dr. Jane M. Orient, M.D.,
Hurricane season is starting, bringing more arguments that the rising earth's temperature that can turn a tropical storm into deadly destruction and evidence producing guilt for using "fossil fuels" which cause and contribute to "climate change."
The figure shows the path of the storms in the most active hurricane season in the U.S.—in 1886. Indianola, Texas, was wiped off the map.
Climate and the Future
The graph shows the trend over decades.
Would switching to electric vehicles help?
A continuous increase in CO2 emissions from burning coal, oil, and natural gas has not been accompanied by an increase in violent storms. Your ICE (internal combustion engine) and millions of others are not guilty.
Climate and the Future
A couple of cautions about EVs:
Don't use one as your evacuation vehicle. You might be stuck in traffic for a long time with nowhere to recharge.
The power may be out at the recharging station.
High storm surges are expected. And saltwater flooding can turn a lithium battery into a "ticking time bomb." Residual salt within the battery or battery components can form conductive "bridges" that can lead to short circuit and self-heating of the battery, resulting in fires. The time frame in which a damaged battery can ignite has been observed to vary widely, from days to weeks, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Fires are extremely difficult to extinguish.
NOVA "Chasing Carbon Zero" Explores What It Will Take To Achieve Its Climate Goals
Tips to Remember When a Hurricane is Forecasted:
If you are in an area where a hurricane is predicted, be ready, and do not wait until the last second to evacuate.
Have your ICE vehicle fueled and packed. Have your EV parked on high ground, especially near a body of salt water.
Even if you don't expect to evacuate, stock up on things you need.
Have plenty of light sources—candles, lanterns, flashlights, headlamps, and spare batteries.
Have a radio that does not depend on the electric power grid to get weather and emergency reports.
You can't have too much clean water.
Additional information:
Climate change IQ question 1: Would lowering atmospheric CO2 prevent or mitigate hurricanes?
· Lecture by world-class hurricane expert, the late William Gray
Stunning Jupiter Images from NASA’s James Webb Telescope (Pics)
Jane M. Orient, M.D. obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974. She completed an internal medicine residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University of Arizona Affiliated Hospitals and then became an Instructor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a staff physician at the Tucson Veterans Administration Hospital. She has been in solo private practice since 1981 and has served as Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) since 1989.
She is currently president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. She is the author of YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare, and the second through fifth editions of Sapira's Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis published by Wolters Kluwer. She authored books for school children, Professor Klugimkopf's Old-Fashioned English Grammar and Professor Klugimkopf's Spelling Method, published by Robinson Books, and coauthored two novels published as Kindle books, Neomorts and Moonshine.
More than 100 of her papers have been published in the scientific and popular literature on a variety of subjects including risk assessment, natural and technological hazards and non-hazards, and medical economics and ethics. She is the editor of AAPS News, the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter, and Civil Defense Perspectives, and is the managing editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
If you would like to discuss these issues, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
