Auchtoon!

I was over at my folks’ house this week and the news on the TV was showing clips of the latest devastation suffered in Louisiana. I joked with my Mom, “Aren’t you glad now you and Dad decided against buying that retirement home in the bayou?” She gave a little chuckle but then also grimaced at the very idea. Louisiana is one of the last places on earth she would ever want to live. She has never been able to tolerate heat and humidity, and those are pretty much the main ingredients there.

But as I watched more, my little joke got less and less funny. Louisiana has now endured Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas in a two week span. The flooding and damage have been biblical. And hurricane season is not over.

It is true that we’ve experienced some quirky weather patterns here in Michigan recently. And I hesitate to call them “quirky” because they have caused some very real damage. But they hardly rate relative to what has been going on along the Gulf Coast. Thankfully.

Makes you wonder if maybe our scientific community has looked into this. You know, tried to figure out why storms are becoming more violent and more frequent, and what we might be able to do about it. Yep, sure makes you wonder… (That’s also a joke that gets less and less funny).