Climate crisis worsens
Hurricane Ian increases in severity amidst the warming of ocean temperatures By Annabelle Julien, Grace Rossman & Gabe Goode MANAGING EDITORS & STAFF REPORTER GRAPHIC | Grace Rossman It’s not only hurricanes that are worsening The deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since 1935, Hurricane Ian, struck the southwestern coast as the climate changes. According to Roux, of Florida on September 28. Mass destruction the severity of storms across the country, followed, leaving homes and businesses including in Michigan, have been elevating. “We have seen 500 year floods happening either underwater or completely demolished. According to WDIV Channel 4 meteorologist, Brandon every couple of years,” Roux said. “But we are Roux, the severity of Hurricane Ian is the product of the getting summer rain events from storms that worsening climate crisis, and the rising ocean water are producing catastrophic flooding here every couple of years, where it should be every 500 temperatures. “The scientific belief is that the warming of to every 1000 years. It's not so much drought, the Arctic temperatures, both on land and in the temperatures, or the number of storms, it's the size and moisture content ocean, has [slowed] the of each individual storm steering winds,” Roux growing and intensifying said. “The ocean waters due to climate change.” are warmer, causing the According to Roux, steering winds to become the division in the United much less impressive States regarding the and make much less of a climate crisis is another force. They stall out and factor that has led to take two or three days to the extreme damage of get out of an area, where Hurricane Ian. Although in normal conditions, he acknowledges that it would be a day. All of there have been significant these storms produced attempts to end the climate biblical flooding because crisis, as a country, the of the slow pace that United States is struggling they move.” to put an end to the Senior Karly Harris problem. has been personally “I think there affected by the storm, as BRANDON ROUX WDIV Meteorologist has been significant she vacations in Sanibel change,” Roux said. Island with her family. “But, meteorologists It remains a mystery will tell you, it's never whether her family’s enough. There's too condo on Sanibel Island is still standing following the natural disaster. much politics in the way, there's too much division “No one knows what’s gone, and no one knows when with this country politically, to come together we’ll be able to go back,” Harris said. “It makes me sad and see things scientifically as they should be, because I have spent a lot of my childhood there and I so that division will lead to not enough change.” have a lot of my best childhood memories on the island. Although the hurricane continues to be a devastation According to science teacher Andrew Pola, across the country, Pola is optimistic that we will not only are Florida residents affected by learn and grow from the tragedy. “Looking at it in a positive light, [in the future] Hurricane Ian, the natural disaster has had adverse effects on the ecosystems in Florida. there'll be more zoning and regulation laws passed “Wetlands can be damaged and literally eroded away, to where there's higher protections put in place in and then there's a lot of silt that ends up washing out coastal communities,” Pola said. “Perhaps, there into the ocean,” Pola said. “Creatures that live on the [will be] zoning, where we're not building homes, bottom of the ocean, like oysters and corals can get businesses and developments that close to the coast, covered in sediment. Populations are going to decline.” so there are wetlands to buffer the storm surge.”
“
We are getting summer rain events from storms that are producing catastrophic flooding here every couple of years, where it should be every 500 to every 1000 years.
“
2
NEWS
NOVEMBER 2, 2022