(1) Today's story was the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida. It is one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike Florida, and in the coming days, we will learn more about the damage and victims.
(2) Expect lots of shocking photos and heartbreaking videos on social media that will remind us of the power of nature, specifically when boosted by the additional energy we have trapped in the system.
(3) Man-made climate change has raised sea levels and warmed the oceans, which fueled Ian to a hurricane that, at a certain point, was just two mph shy of a Category 5.
(4) Twenty years from now, we will look back at the good old times of 2022, when the weather was still mild in the early days of the climate crisis when the oceans had only warmed about 1C (2F).
(6) Climate scientists, who have been right in their warnings for many decades, will again be proven right in the future: the climate will get worse if we continue on the path of business as usual.
(7) But for us in 2022, not yet having the benefit of hindsight, this is a year of climate disasters; you may have witnessed some of these when drought, heat, storms, or wildfires impacted your summer in the American West, Europe, or China.
(8) You may notice that this year's extreme weather is worse than in the past, and you will notice that future weather extremes will be worse than what we have seen this year.
(9) But the good news is that it is not too late; scientists agree that we can still avoid many of the predicted impacts of future climate change, but only if world leaders take compelling and urgent climate action.
(10) Hurricane Ian is the sixth in Category 4 or 5 to strike the Gulf Coast in as many years; it has tied hurricane Charlie from 2004 as the strongest storm to make landfall on Floridaβs Gulf Coast peninsula.
(11) The reminder for urgent climate action that nature sent to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the form of hurricane Ian may be lost on the governor who last year shared his insights on global warming:
(13) Like preserving nature on the only planet we have, taking care of the people who elected them, in other words: providing leadership during this existential crisis. It isn't too much to ask.
(1/9)
This week, Donald Trump promised to begin mass deportations with Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio.
He added this would be "the largest deportation in the history of our country."
A thread 𧡠with a historical perspective:
#news #history #opinion #politics
(2/9)
His followers wouldn't understand such an announcement without Trump having carefully prepared the ground for supporting such a policy.
Just days earlier, he had said to tens of millions of Americans watching the presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were abducting and eating pets. This inflammatory rhetoric didn't emerge in a vacuum; it was the culmination of a campaign of misinformation and fear-mongering that had started last month when neo-Nazis created the tensions Trump has been exploiting and advancing.
One of the leaders of the "Blood Tribe" organization said Jews should be blamed for the influx of migrants in Springfield that had been taken over by "degenerate third worlders". As Heather Cox Richardson reported, the "Patriot Front" then protested against "the mass influx of unassimilable Haitian migrants" on September 1. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate, JD Vance, reposted a post from a private Facebook group about Haitian immigrants butchering a neighbor's cat for food.
(3/9)
Within a month, the activities of some obscure neo-Nazis in Ohio and a debunked racist claim on a private Facebook group made it to a presidential debate and then to a campaign promise to start mass deportations of Haitians in Springfield.
Trump is to blame for fanning the flames of racism. The result so far is schools, businesses, City Hall, and hospitals in Springfield closed or in lockdown due to bomb threats. The ultimate price is regaining Senate control for the MAGA Republicans and a second presidency for Trump.
Authoritarian regimes have consistently used a similar sinister strategy like Trump is using today to consolidate power: exploiting cultural differences to create divisions in societies. History has shown that even established democracies are not immune to such divisive rhetoric.
Lessons of history
As a European, I grew up in a society that warned at school against falling for baseless conspiracy theories and the kind of propaganda used by authoritarian regimes to dehumanize targeted groups; we were taught to learn from the lessons of history. So, when Katie Sibley, a history professor at St. Joseph's University, pointed out in a recent interview that the language used against Haitians in Springfield echoes antisemitic blood libel myths dating back to the Middle Ages, this was a familiar historical parallel for me. These myths, which accused Jewish people of ritualistic sacrifice of Christian children, were later weaponized by Nazi propagandists to devastating effect.
(1/5) The aims of #COP27 this year are especially important as the world faces enormous challenges like climate change, energy, water, and biodiversity loss. @SuntoryGlobal is committed to contributing to a better, cleaner, and more sustainable planet. #SuntoryPartner
(2/3) By the end of 2022, @SuntoryGlobal is aiming to switch to 100% purchased renewable electricity in all of their directly-owned manufacturing sites and R&D facilities in Japan, the Americas and Europe. Learn more: bit.ly/3UEj8DQ#COP27#environment#SuntoryPartner
(1) I love forests for their beauty, the peace and calm I feel when I walk on forest trails, and their role in preserving biodiversity and the climate.
Today, I was reminded twice how diverse other people's attitudes toward natural forests may be.
Start of a thread π§΅
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(2) First, according to a BBC Panorama investigation, I learned that a firm that has received six billion pounds in green energy subsidies from UK taxpayers is cutting down forests that are essential to the Canadian ecology.
(3) Reporters concluded that millions of tons of imported wood pellets, classified as renewable energy, are burned at Drax's largest power plant in Britain. However, part of the wood came from Canada's old-growth forests, which took thousands of years to develop.
The Pakistan floods are not an isolated incident for the back page of your newspaper. The scale, and relevance for all of us, should make this the main headline wherever you live.
(3/) This summer was marked by extreme weather events all over the northern hemisphere. As a reader of this newsletter, you have likely experienced this too. For instance, many European readers will remember the record-breaking drought in Western Europe.