Our Arrogance is Responsible for Hurricane Beryl
Overheated ocean water turned Beryl into a superstorm
Hurricane Beryl rapidly intensified to Category 4 status last Sunday, the earliest Cat 4 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic. Beryl then went on to become the earliest Cat 5 storm in history. Astonishingly winds topped 265 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hour).
This isn’t surprising given the warnings earlier this year about record-hot ocean temperatures from climate change set the stage for a hyperactive hurricane season. As I wrote in NtK back in May:
Ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are off the charts.
Hot water fuels hurricanes and the graph below shows there are record amounts of hot water to power plenty of hurricanes and perhaps a Cat 6 storm this summer.
Hurricane forecasters say this will be a “hyperactive hurricane season”. They anticipate 24 to 25 named storms including six major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).
Need-to-Know: We’ve already had several Category 6-equivalent hurricanes
Five storms in the past decade had off-the-chart wind speeds exceeding 309 km/h, according to a new study A storm with 309 km/h winds can do four times as much damage as a Category 5 storm with 250 km/h winds.
These should be considered Cat 6 storms.
It could easily get worse if global temperatures rise to 2 degrees C. Then we might see Cat 7 storms with winds topping 350 km/h.
Unfortunately, the very first hurricane of 2024 is Hurricane Beryl. It is smashing its way through the Caribbean. Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Jamaica have suffered damages and loss of life. On Union Island, 90% of the houses have been severely damaged or destroyed.
Need-to-Know: Denial and arrogance are why everyone in the world now faces the dangers of extreme weather.
Human arrogance towards the natural world is the underlying reason for the growing number of superstorms. These increasingly powerful and destructive storms are a direct consequence of our belief that we can do whatever we want to the natural world and not pay a price.
This belief is aided by our ability to close our eyes and minds to deny what is right in front of us. The climate film “Don’t Look Up” was all about that.
Our denial and arrogance are embedded in the economic system and culture we have created. That has to change. However, we must change ourselves first because our culture and economy are a product of our beliefs and values.
Need-to-Know: Our values determine our culture, and economic system
To change ourselves requires living by values long ignored or considered irrelevant in the wider modern world like wonder, gratitude, respect, cooperation, equality, and reciprocity.
These are not our culture's dominant values, which is why we’re in this mess.
I’m sure you can think of other values we need right now and I’d love to know about them.
Until next time. Be well.
I get emotional when someone uses a leaf blower, something so easy to not use. I am heartbroken about the way the world is going. It's such a beautiful planet. I don't know what else to say. Thanks for this piece.
Great piece and Happy-ish 4th of July.
For me the word and values comes down to simply…love💚. As Bill McDonough used to say it’s a question of “How do we love our kids, country and planet?” At the moment the answer is “not well enough.”😣 If I had to choose another few it’s what I most despise.
Arrogance, ignorance and greed, it’s an ugly combination and somehow we must prevail.