Hurricane Fiona Was a Warning

We’re all aware by now that climate change is dramatically impacting our weather, particularly by increasing the intensity of major weather events such as hurricanes.

In our little corner of the world, significant weather events have been few and far between over most of the past century — the 1938 Hurricane (hurricanes did not receive names then), the Blizzard of ‘78, and the 1991 No-Name storm.

However, to the extent that the lack of a major catastrophic weather event in 31 years has lulled us into complacency, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Fiona this past week in the Canadian Maritimes — the most-powerful storm ever to strike that area — should snap us back to reality.

This week, the impending havoc that potentially awaits the residents of the Tampa Bay area (which incredibly has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than 100 years) should make us aware that it’s only a matter of time before our turn comes due.

The consequences of the damage we have caused to the environment in the name of progress are far-reaching and complex — and will only get worse unless we take drastic measures to reverse direction.