When I woke up this morning, the NPR programing on the radio was repeatedly interrupted with emergency broadcasts by the National Weather Service that new tornado watches were issued for the Atlanta area.
The weather app on my phone warned of severe thunderstorms, not tornados. but included ominous wording about "extraordinary threat to life or property," and damage to roofs, trees, and buildings.
At 8:00 am, the warnings were until 11:00 am. At 11:00 am, the warnings were extended until noon. At noon, the warnings were extended until 1:00 pm. Now (1:15 pm), light rain is forecast for the next half hour.
Welcome to the new climate - more intense and more frequent storms, tornados, and hail, and we're not even in hurricane season yet. According to The Guardian, s poll of hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists finds most expect global heating to blast past the 1.5° C target, and the planet is headed for at least 2.5° C of heating with disastrous results for humanity. Many of the scientists envisage a “semi-dystopian” future, with famines, conflicts and mass migration, driven by heatwaves, wildfires, floods and storms of an intensity and frequency far beyond those that have already struck, as well as alien abductions and malevolent AIs.
Okay, I'm just kidding about the last two, trying to keep it light here. But still, we're making the planet less habitable for life on Earth and there's nothing funny about it.
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