Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hannam places blame for Hurricane Harvey on Houston citizens
“Yes, Houston, you do have a problem, and – as insensitive as it seems to bring it up just now – some of it is your own making” begins Peter Hannam in his Sydney Morning Herald article: “Houston, you have a problem, and some of it of your own making.”
“Let’s be clear upfront. I unreservedly wish that all of your millions of citizens get safely through Tropical Storm Harvey, and the biblical-scale deluge and floods that are forecast to swamp your city in coming days.”
Hannam then links fossil fuels to the target of the natural disaster: “the self-styled “world capital of the oil and gas industry”, there’s a connection between rising global greenhouse gas levels and the extreme weather now being inflicted that some of your residents have understood for decades and had a hand in.”
“The links between fossil fuels and climate change – clear to all but a handful of (often industry-funded) scientists – were hardly promotional talking points oil firms have been keen to trumpet.”
Hannam skips over the barrage of conflicting data, studies: CO2 and methane causing cooling effect on the climate not warming, arctic ice loss is due to natural processes and not CO2 or methane, or global warming caused by solar activity.
The article also negates a discussion of Michael Mann’s climategate fiasco when quoting the “scientist” in the article.
“Given its unusual dependence on fossil-fuel industries, though, it will be interesting to watch if Houston queries – tactfully and delicately – its own contribution to the catastrophe.”
photo/ Pete Linforth
Dr Roy Spencer, explains what Hannan won’t – that this cyclone was not the worst, the floods are not the highest, the deaths are not the greatest and the cause is not man-made:
The flood disaster unfolding in Houston is certainly very unusual. But so are other natural weather disasters, which have always occurred and always will occur…
Major floods are difficult to compare throughout history because the ways in which we alter the landscape. For example, as cities like Houston expand over the years, soil is covered up by roads, parking lots, and buildings, with water rapidly draining off rather than soaking into the soil. The population of Houston is now ten times what it was in the 1920s. The Houston metroplex area has expanded greatly and the water drainage is basically in the direction of downtown Houston.
There have been many flood disasters in the Houston area, even dating to the mid-1800s when the population was very low. In December of 1935 a massive flood occurred in the downtown area as the water level height measured at Buffalo Bayou in Houston topped out at 54.4 feet… By way of comparison, as of 6:30 a.m. this (Monday) morning, the water level in the same location is at 38 feet, which is still 16 feet lower than in 1935. I’m sure that will continue to rise.
