Sammy

Good afternoon, Craig. 👋 I want you to take a look at these two photographs. I took the liberty to post them side-by-side below in the same image for your viewing pleasure. Stare at and study them until your eyes burn. 👀 The photo on the left shows Miami Beach, Florida near 63rd street in 1925. On the right, is approximately the same shot taken from Google Earth. The latest date of capture is from 2019. 🏝️ What do you notice about this comparison? That's right, there are high-rise 30-story condos that didn't exist a century ago. Heck, many of these didn't exist 40-years ago. I could provide similar comparisons for Tampa or Panama City Beach, but I think this drives home my point. My point being what exactly? 🤔 The increased placement of structures in our coastal regions, by convention, increases societal exposure to natural hazards (e.g., hurricane-force winds and storm surge) that have always existed. Natural 𝒉𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 have become natural 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 because there is just more stuff to destroy now. Here's an emoji equation to help you out, ⬆️👷‍♂️🏙️ + 🌀 = ⬆️🏚️ As a result, loss of coastal assets come with a higher price tag today. 🏷️ There is absolutely no evidence that hurricanes are making landfall in Florida at higher intensity. Seven of the top ten most intense Florida hurricane landfalls occurred more than 30-years ago. Six of those struck before 1960. 🔗aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/All… Using storm damage as evidence of climate change is disingenuous, at best. As a journalist, you should've reported on that. But, it doesn't fit the narrative you're trying to construct.