Sunday, October 29, 2023

I know prominence given to deaths is subject to all sorts of odd influences, but still...

...I am a bit bothered when media seems to be giving bigger prominence to Matthew Perry's unexpected death than to the equally unexpected HURRICANE THAT INTENSIFIED RAPIDLY TO BECOME INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS AS IT SMASHED INTO A MAJOR MEXICAN CITY AND HAS KILLED AT LEAST 39 PEOPLE.

From Science:

Early Wednesday morning, Hurricane Otis became the strongest storm in recorded history to strike the Pacific coast of Mexico. The Category 5 hurricane made landfall near Acapulco, where its heavy rain and 265-kilometer-per-hour (kph) winds unleashed massive landslides and knocked out power lines, killing at least 2 dozen people and causing widespread devastation.

But just 2 days earlier, meteorologists doubted whether Otis—then a tropical storm—would even achieve hurricane status. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center expected the storm to undergo “gradual strengthening,” with most computer models predicting maximum wind speeds of about 100 kph. Instead, as Otis careened toward Mexico’s coastline, its winds increased by 180 kph in 24 hours, a record amount of “rapid intensification.”


1 comment:

John said...

Try an ad hoc poll and ask people if they are aware of the recent findings in Antarctica.

"The extent of sea ice around Antarctica is falling off a cliff this winter, with Australian scientists now concerned it may not recover."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PDZZHIO7Z8


It's done. Perhaps I'm too pessimistic because I find it inconceivable we will make the necessary adjustments.