Editor's Note: Today, please welcome Jessica Hunt to the Celsias writing team. Jessica writes out of Florida, and will be writing on many areas of the environment.
In recent years, hurricanes have become more troublesome for people in the Gulf Coast and other coastal regions. From the Bahamas to Texas, people's lives have been drastically changed because of their growing number and intensity. In the past five years, there have been eight Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic region. That is out of the 31 known since 1886; when they first began monitoring hurricanes. That is a quarter of the most deadly hurricanes only in the past five years. Thousand have lost their lives and thousands more have lost everything they own.
Being a resident of the Florida Panhandle, I have experienced first hand the power and fury hurricanes have to offer. It is truly an amazing natural occurrence that, as formidable and breathtaking as it is, I would prefer not to encounter anymore in my lifetime. It all started in 1995 with Hurricane Erin in July. It was beautifully terrifying. Rains pound brick houses, winds rock trees to their doom, and tornados swirl in massive numbers. Only a few months later in October, Hurricane Opal did the same thing to the Gulf Coast. All the meteorologists thought it was just a busy season… boy were they wrong! The hurricanes continue to pound their fury into our souls. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan terrorized this area with 165 mph winds and rain. I remember sitting in a closet listening to tornados circle the house and destroy the outside. A year later, Hurricane Katrina demolished the Gulf region. From Florida to the ravaged New Orleans area, hundreds of thousands of lives changed forever and an entire city lay underwater. Unfortunately, these were only a few limited examples of the growing intensity of the hurricane season. Out of the top 10 most intense Atlantic Hurricanes, six have been in the past decade.
Is this all because of our terrible upkeep of the Earth or the natural ebb and flow of the Earth's cycles? Scientists debate that the intensity of recent hurricanes is caused by the greenhouse emissions that are growing in our atmosphere, causing the ocean water temperature to rise. With higher water temperatures, it becomes a breeding ground for some of the deadliest hurricanes in history. Many scientists believe that greater levels in CO2 from burning fossil fuels and the diminishing forests are contributing to the warmer waters. Alternatively, skeptics seem to think that the only thing that is causing the rapid increase in hurricane intensity and frequency is the natural cycles of the Earth and our heightened awareness due to advancement of technology. All I know is that it keeps getting worse.
As a coastal resident, I fear the upcoming decade of hurricanes. One could pack up and move, but climate changes are all around us. Flooding and tornadoes, widespread forest fires, deadly droughts, record snow storms; wherever you go, there will be a potential natural disaster waiting to happen. There is no cure for the disease of global warming. Only acknowledgement and change can make a difference in the years, decades and generations to come. A few thousand people recycling, conserving and preserving the Earth will not change things much. It will take a massive global movement. But those few thousand can make that global movement happen. We have to step up and demand change if we really want it. Our children and grandchildren depend on it.
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