Your Weather, Our Weather (1 Viewer)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already come under fire after the administration formally approved the use of far-right PragerU videos as educational material in K-12 schools, owing to these videos' distorted takes on American history, whitewashing of slavery and other issues.

But that's not the only way these videos misinform children — PragerU also spouts false claims about climate science, according to Scientific American.

"PragerU CEO Marissa Streit told Scientific American that the videos are meant to counterbalance information students are currently being taught about climate change.

"'Young kids are being taught climate hysteria," Streit said. "They’re hearing that the world is coming to an end, and we think that there needs to be a healthy balance.'"

These videos use a teenage character Ania, who is concerned about climate change, and has her fears allayed by narrators who tell her that the climate has always cooled and warmed "long before carbon emissions were a factor" — which is true but irrelevant to the current crisis, which is directly caused by emissions of carbon into the atmosphere.

Other videos attack wind and solar energy as harmful to the environment and unreliable. The material even compares climate activists to Nazis, having a survivor of Hitler's regime compare his own struggle to Ania being criticized by her teacher and classmates after she repeats PragerU's talking points.

All of this comes as Florida is battered by environmental disasters accelerated by human emissions, including a hurricane last year that drove over 100,000 people in Cape Coral out of their homes, and a scorching heat wave this year that has warmed the Gulf waters around the state to the temperature of a hot tub. Conditions are so severe, with so much risk of continued disasters in coming years, that home insurance companies are exiting Florida in droves, leaving residents with few options and skyrocketing rates............

Stupid is what stupid does. It is mind blowing that the Floridians accept that kind of politics from an elected politician.

Optimus Prime said:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already come under fire after the administration formally approved the use of far-right PragerU videos as educational material in K-12 schools, owing to these videos' distorted takes on American history, whitewashing of slavery and other issues.

But that's not the only way these videos misinform children — PragerU also spouts false claims about climate science, according to Scientific American.

"PragerU CEO Marissa Streit told Scientific American that the videos are meant to counterbalance information students are currently being taught about climate change.

"'Young kids are being taught climate hysteria," Streit said. "They’re hearing that the world is coming to an end, and we think that there needs to be a healthy balance.'"

These videos use a teenage character Ania, who is concerned about climate change, and has her fears allayed by narrators who tell her that the climate has always cooled and warmed "long before carbon emissions were a factor" — which is true but irrelevant to the current crisis, which is directly caused by emissions of carbon into the atmosphere.

Other videos attack wind and solar energy as harmful to the environment and unreliable. The material even compares climate activists to Nazis, having a survivor of Hitler's regime compare his own struggle to Ania being criticized by her teacher and classmates after she repeats PragerU's talking points.

All of this comes as Florida is battered by environmental disasters accelerated by human emissions, including a hurricane last year that drove over 100,000 people in Cape Coral out of their homes, and a scorching heat wave this year that has warmed the Gulf waters around the state to the temperature of a hot tub. Conditions are so severe, with so much risk of continued disasters in coming years, that home insurance companies are exiting Florida in droves, leaving residents with few options and skyrocketing rates............

MSN

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Their version of a healthy balance is denial, avoiding responsibility, and not acting when acting could/would make a difference. This is the same head in the sand bull shirt because "it might cost me money, or upset my economic equilibrium to deal with it"... that is until your house burns up, fills up with water, or is blown away. Then they'll be crying about how cruel life is. But they'll still feel good because they know they had nothing to do with it.

Dragon said:

Stupid is what stupid does. It is mind blowing that the Floridians accept that kind of politics from an elected politician.

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Huntn said:

Their version of a healthy balance is denial, avoiding responsibility, and not acting when acting could/would make a difference. This is the same head in the sand bull shirt because "it might cost me money, or upset my economic equilibrium to deal with it"... that is until your house burns up, fills up with water, or is blown away. Then they'll be crying about how cruel life is. But they'll still feel good because they know they had nothing to do with it.

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The real kicker/head-scratcher is that Florida is going to be the second most devastated geographic region on the planet as a result of current climate trends. The Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic will rise to the point that the coast will encroach all the way to the Everglades within 10 to 15 years if we don't start reversing current climate trends right now.

Dragon said:

Stupid is what stupid does. It is mind blowing that the Floridians accept that kind of politics from an elected politician.

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They've been taught to expect it.

So nice to know there's still hope in our youth...

Get ready for the next natural disaster. This has the potential to be terrible:

MT15 said:

Get ready for the next natural disaster. This has the potential to be terrible:

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I know the forecast rainfall amounts for Los Angeles don't sound like a big deal, but it will be a big deal if it happens. Here's some local perspective.

First off, when I saw the forecast for Sunday and Monday, I thought it was a joke. I moved here to Los Angeles (LA) in 1996. We've never had a drop of rain during August since I've lived here. We've also never had the amount of rain that's currently forecast and we have had significant flooding problems across LA since 1996. The flooding would not only be a problem for transportation, but it is possibly going to disrupt power, water, sewage, cable, internet and other infrastructure based services. LAX might even have to shut down temporarily.

If I lived on the ground floor of my apartment building, I'd be concerned about getting a few inches of water in my apartment. If I parked in a below surface level garage, which most apartments and buildings here have, I'd be worried about my car ending up in a concrete pond/swimming pool. The city is doing work on the sewer system just at the end of my block, so yeah, that's probably going to be a problem.

The other thing is that roofs in Los Angeles don't get these kinds of rain. I expect a lot of buildings to have roof leaks, not from winds damaging the roof, just from too much rain too fast for the roofs. I'm bringing my tarp into my apartment just in case I need to cover my computer and television.

I feel empathy for everyone in Southern CA who lives on a hillside/mountain, especially in burned areas.

Unless someone is foolish, it shouldn't be a life threatening storm, but if it drops as much rain as they are forecasting on LA, it's going to do a lot of infrastructure damage. It could really do a lot of damage and leave a lasting, disruptive mark that takes months to recover from.

LA - you probably know all this because of previous experience, but there is a thread for Angelenos:



There are several tweets after this one. Maybe you can share with people around you that have no experience?

MT15 said:

LA - you probably know all this because of previous experience, but there is a thread for Angelenos:



There are several tweets after this one. Maybe you can share with people around you that have no experience?

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I would, but I don't have any social media accounts, my father's in the hospital in Lake Charles waiting for neck spinal surgery, and I have to get an ex-stepsister, who's currently antagonizing everyone, out of my father's house because I recently discovered she was being negligent and abusive toward him. On top of that, I have to prepare for flooding and power outages for myself.

If any country music artists read the above, you're more than welcome to write a song about it. I'm sure there's one in there somewhere.

If anyone wants to spread my advice, I'd appreciate it. People here need to prepare like people in Cuba do, because of hillside/mountainside living which the Gulf Coast and South Atlantic Coast communities in the US don't have. Research Cuba's hurricane preparedness advice.

First and foremost, don't panic. Second, hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Protect people before you protect things. Don't hoard. Don't hoard. Don't hoard. Just get what you need to get through to Wednesday the 23rd. Even in the worst case scenario, help and support should be able to reach everyone by Wednesday the 23rd.

Always follow the advice of local and national officials over anyone who isn't an official, including me. Make sure you have a battery operated device with plenty of battery life, so that you can follow official reports. This is the quick advice that I have based on my experience and some knowledge.

If a US geological survey shows your hillside/mountainside property is susceptible at all to landslides, then it would be wise to evacuate by Saturday to be safe. You do not want to be caught in a tropical storm in your car. Empty out your refrigerators and freezers before you leave in case of power outage. Put plastic sheeting/tarps on the things you want to protect from roof and ceiling leaks.

Anyone on the coast that shelter's in place, which at the moment appears to be safe from wind threats, needs to make sure that they have access to a second floor or attic just out of an abundance of caution. Hurricanes and tropical storms are capable of last hour surprises.

Everyone who decides to leave, turn off all of your circuit breakers to protect your electrical appliances from power surges and lightning strikes. Empty out your freezers and refrigerators that way if there is a power outage while you're away, you want come hold to spoiled and toxic food in your freezer and refrigerator. If you're leaving vehicles behind, part them at the highest elevation that you can.

Everyone staying, eat as much of the food in your freezer as you can between now and Sunday. Start filling freezer safe containers with water and fill up your freezer to capacity with them today. It will take time for them to freeze solid. Make sure you have enough ice chest storage to move all of your refrigerated food into ice chests and use the containers of ice in your ice chests to keep your food at a safe temperature. Open the ice chests as infrequently as possible and keep them in the coolest part of your house and out of direct sunlight from windows.

Fill your bathtubs with water for cleaning, in case water service is disrupted. Turn off all the circuit breakers that you can during the storm. Have sheet plastic/tarps on hand to cover things in your house if the roof leaks. Have several buckets and a mop to contain any roof leaks. Starting now, eat your refrigerated foods and leave you shelf stable foods for when you run out of refrigerator foods. Make sure you have enough shelf stable food to get everyone through to Wednesday the 23rd. Make sure you have enough safe drinking water for each person to have a gallon of water a day through to Wednesday the 23rd.

Move things in your garage that you want to protect from flooding at least a couple of feet off of the floor/ground. If you have access to a second floor, then move the most important things you have there. Move your vehicles to the highest ground that you can, but don't fight with anyone about it. Now, more than ever, is the time for cooperation.

Thanks all I can think of real quick. With just basic preparation, this storm should not be much of a life threatening event. I wish I could say it's not life threatening at all, but something unexpected always happens with everything.

Anger is by far the most powerful emotional predictor of whether somebody plans to take part in a climate protest, research suggests.

The study, which asked 2,000 Norwegian adults how they felt about the climate crisis, found the link to activism was seven times stronger for anger than it was for hope. The effects were smaller for other actions, but fear and guilt were the best predictors of policy support, while sadness, fear and hope were the best predictors of behavioural change.

On average, people reported having fairly mild feelings about the planet heating.

“The problem isn’t that people feel too scared about climate change,” said Thea Gregersen, a climate psychologist at the Norwegian Research Centre and lead author of the study. “The problem, in Norway at least, seems to be that they’re not scared enough.”…..

Nearly 150 million Americans were under heat alerts Tuesday, after July marked the planet’s hottest month on record. Devastating downpours dumped two months of rain on Vermont in two days. Smoke from Canadian wildfires choked East Coast skies, causing the worst air quality on record for some locations. And Hawaii is reeling from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.


Yet while there is wide public concern over extreme weather, Americans are deeply divided — along partisan lines — on whether climate change is helping to drive these events, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.


The survey was conducted from mid- to late July, at the height of some of the hottest days the Earth has experienced in over 100,000 years. Not surprisingly, a large majority of U.S. adults — 74 percent — say they’ve experienced extremely hot days in the past five years.

But when asked if they think climate change is a major factor in those extremely hot days, 35 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say it is, compared with 85 percent of those who lean Democratic. Overall, 63 percent of Americans who experienced extremely hot days say climate change is a major factor.

There is a similar partisan divide over other extreme weather — such as severe storms, flooding, droughts and wildfires — with more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans attributing such events to climate change.


The vast majority of scientists have found that human activity has exacerbated the effects of climate change and its contribution to more-extreme weather.

The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found “unequivocal” links between human activity and the warming of the atmosphere, land and ocean, according to an IPCC report in 2021.

But the Post-UMD poll shows wide differences in how Americans view this science, and how their views have shifted. Since 2019, the polling shows, Republicans haven’t budged from their skepticism about climate change being a major factor in heat waves, while the percentage of Democrats making the link has increased from 79 percent to 85 percent……

Optimus Prime said:

Nearly 150 million Americans were under heat alerts Tuesday, after July marked the planet’s hottest month on record. Devastating downpours dumped two months of rain on Vermont in two days. Smoke from Canadian wildfires choked East Coast skies, causing the worst air quality on record for some locations. And Hawaii is reeling from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.


Yet while there is wide public concern over extreme weather, Americans are deeply divided — along partisan lines — on whether climate change is helping to drive these events, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.


The survey was conducted from mid- to late July, at the height of some of the hottest days the Earth has experienced in over 100,000 years. Not surprisingly, a large majority of U.S. adults — 74 percent — say they’ve experienced extremely hot days in the past five years.

But when asked if they think climate change is a major factor in those extremely hot days, 35 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say it is, compared with 85 percent of those who lean Democratic. Overall, 63 percent of Americans who experienced extremely hot days say climate change is a major factor.

There is a similar partisan divide over other extreme weather — such as severe storms, flooding, droughts and wildfires — with more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans attributing such events to climate change.


The vast majority of scientists have found that human activity has exacerbated the effects of climate change and its contribution to more-extreme weather.

The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found “unequivocal” links between human activity and the warming of the atmosphere, land and ocean, according to an IPCC report in 2021.

But the Post-UMD poll shows wide differences in how Americans view this science, and how their views have shifted. Since 2019, the polling shows, Republicans haven’t budged from their skepticism about climate change being a major factor in heat waves, while the percentage of Democrats making the link has increased from 79 percent to 85 percent……

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/23/extreme-weather-climate-change-poll/

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For the TLDR synopsis, Republicans are stupid and continue to be so.

"Candidates largely dismiss climate issues at first GOP debate

Climate change received little attention at the first Republican presidential debate Wednesday evening, with Vivek Ramaswamy dismissing it as a “hoax” in what was the most forceful comment on the matter throughout the night.

Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum broached the subject early, taking a viewer question concerning recent disasters such as Canadian and Hawaiian wildfires and record heat, as well as the issue’s importance to younger voters. Ramaswamy called climate change a “hoax,” to some boos from the audience, and implied the other candidates were unwilling to say the same due to being “bought and paid for.”

Watching CNN this afternoon as they talk about the hurricane moving towards Florida's west coast, I wonder, are they being a bit alarmist? I understand that people in its path should take appropriate actions, including evacuating some areas, etc.. but, how about less drama and more just plain recomendations?


Edited to add: they're doing better now

It appears that climate change is going to burn down my old stomping grounds of southwest Louisiana before it permanently floods it.

Here's some local news coverage of the most recent fire just 2 miles from my father's house. It's burning close to and toward the rural parish fire station. They've been fighting it for over 8 hours. Here's a local TV report on it with some footage. The fire started in dried out wetlands.

BullSheetBuddha said:

"Candidates largely dismiss climate issues at first GOP debate

Climate change received little attention at the first Republican presidential debate Wednesday evening, with Vivek Ramaswamy dismissing it as a “hoax” in what was the most forceful comment on the matter throughout the night.

Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum broached the subject early, taking a viewer question concerning recent disasters such as Canadian and Hawaiian wildfires and record heat, as well as the issue’s importance to younger voters. Ramaswamy called climate change a “hoax,” to some boos from the audience, and implied the other candidates were unwilling to say the same due to being “bought and paid for.”

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4168237-candidates-largely-dismiss-climate-issues-at-first-gop-debate/#:~:text=Climate%20change%20received%20little%20attention,the%20matter%20throughout%20the%20night.

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Is it harsh to say that the Human species collectively deserves to because of our poor judgement, unwillingness to accept reality? The information given to us just did not compute because it would require a sacrifice on our part? My biggest lament is that we are responsible for trashing the planet and taking down billions of life forms With us.

Insurance companies just bailing is an issue that needs addressing