Climate Denial Crock of the Week

Taking advantage of a teachable moment – share these vids with anyone that might want to get up to speed on what we know about ‘canes and climate.

Above, 2015 interview with Kerry Emanuel and others, still current.

Below, more on Ocean heat and hurricanes with Kevin Trenberth and his research team.

More focus on Kerry Emanuel here.

Below, Katharine Hayhoe – was this hurricane caused by climate or not?

Miami New Times:

While Miamians are scrambling to sandbag their homes and batten down the hatches for Hurricane Dorian, some people seem to be forgetting their four-legged friends — and worse, others are purposely cutting them loose before the storm.
Meg Sahdala, the owner of the nonprofit Miami Animal Rescue, tells New Times that yesterday alone, the group rescued 17 dogs who were chained to trees or bushes or just left outside in parking lots only days before Dorian is expected to pass by or through Florida. Sahdala says some people have abandoned their animals because they are more concerned about their own safety than their pets’ and would rather not worry about them. 
“People are leaving their animals out in the streets, and we’re getting tons of calls about animals tied to bushes and trees,” she says. “People are just thinking about themselves.”

The animal rescue has received several calls from people who want the group to take their dog during the storm, but Sahdala says the organization is not a boarding facility. The nonprofit doesn’t even have a true headquarters — its home base is the Kendall Lakes PetSmart store, where the group feeds animals and prepares them to be fostered and adopted.
Luckily, not everyone in Miami is an asshole: Sahdala says she’s had several volunteers willing to foster dogs in their own homes, and as of now, Miami Animal Rescue already has foster placements for the 17 dogs rescued yesterday. Some people have even offered to take two puppies at a time, which helps to keep them from crying.

Making use of the teachable moment.

Not quite clear on the story here, but there’s a wildfire and a cute piglet involved.

I interviewed Hurricane expert Dr. Jeff Masters in December, and asked him to talk about the rash of rapidly intensifying hurricanes we’ve seen in the US.

Appropriate this week as we may be seeing this kind of event again, as Hurricane Dorian crosses bands of warm water on its way towards central Florida.

UPDATE 08/31:

UPDATE: from National Hurricane Center, Friday 08/30

CAT 6 Blog:

Dorian is in a position to take advantage of atmospheric and oceanic conditions that will support several days of strengthening, and perhaps one or more rounds of rapid intensification. For the remainder of today, intensification will likely be limited by the inner-core structure of the hurricane identified by the Hurricane Hunters. This morning, Dorian had concentric eyewalls—a tiny inner one with a diameter of just 6 miles, surrounded by a larger outer eyewall of about 30 miles in diameter. Until Dorian consolidates around one of these eyewalls, significant intensification is unlikely.

Over the next three days, wind shear is expected to be light, less than 10 knots, and mid-level relative humidity will increase from around 55% to around 65%. What’s more, Dorian will be passing over very warm water, with sea surface temperatures of around 29-30°C (84-86°F), about 0.5°C (1.0°F) warmer than average.