In the era of worsening climate change, record-setting weather events have become less shocking, but remain as gut-wrenching as ever. So it is with Hurricane Ian, which made landfall as a category 4 hurricane and ripped through Florida Wednesday with 150 mph winds and flood waters engulfing numerous beachfront communities. As the Washington Post reports, this is "one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States." But of course, worse-than-ever is the new normal in the 21st century, when the Earth's average surface temperature is already 1.51°F above the 20th-century average.
Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis loves to hog the headlines as one of America's most aggressive culture warriors, with stunts like censoring acknowledgment of LGBTQ identities in school and luring a group of asylum-seekers to Martha's Vineyard with false promises. But as the floodwaters rise, he's temporarily reskinned himself as a responsible steward of his people's safety, thanking President Biden for his help and saying, "We all need to work together, regardless of party lines."
