(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 Florida’s 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.
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.
(1/16) For over 1000 years, people from all over Europe have walked through Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This summer, I followed in the footsteps of millions but with an extra challenge:
Spain has been facing the driest conditions for at least 1200 years.
(3/16) I needed a break from my usual focus on the climate and water crises, so I took five weeks to hike more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the French Pyrenees to the northwest of Spain.
I wanted to focus on my health, the beauty of nature, and people I would meet.
“I knew about newsletters from the early days of digitalization, some 30 years ago, when we all started with our first email accounts; likely your Hotmail address.”
3. Since hotmail, and Internet cafés, we moved on, got our Facebook accounts, then other social media, and the joy of having that virtual world in your smartphone apps.
But then, quite recently, there was suddenly the revival of the newsletter.