Thankfully, the climate change denying Ken Cuccinelli was defeated on Tuesday. But that doesn't end the larger problem of climate change denial in the Republican Party. Last year super storm Hurricane Sandy wrought catastrophic damage to the east coast of America, particularly in New York and New Jersey. Now, Typhoon Haiyan - which some are describing as the largest typhoon ever - has slammed into the Philippines with sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts of 235 mph. The suspected cause of the storm's frightening strength? Rising ocean temperatures. A phenomenon being witnessed in the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, here in Virginia the GOP will not allow any studies to even use the phrases "climate change" or "rising sea levels." Only "repetitive flooding" is politically correct in the insane GOP. Here are highlights from the
Washington Post on the disaster hitting the Philippines:
Huge, fast-paced Typhoon Haiyan raced across a string of islands from
east to west — Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay— and lashed beach
communities with over 200 kilometer (125 mile) per hour winds. Nearly
720,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes.
Due to cut-off communications, it was impossible to know the full
extent of casualties and damage. At least two people were electrocuted
in storm-related accidents, one person was killed by a fallen tree and
another was struck by lightning, official reports said. Southern
Leyte Gov. Roger Mercado said the super typhoon triggered landslides
that blocked roads, uprooted trees and ripped roofs off houses around
his residence.
Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 235 kph (147 mph)
with gusts of 275 kph (170 mph) when it made landfall. That makes it the
strongest typhoon this year, said Aldczar Aurelio of the government’s
weather bureau.
By 5 p.m. Friday, the typhoon — one of the strongest storms ever — was
centered to the west of Aklan province on Panay Island, 320 kilometers
(200 miles) south of Manila, after blasting the island resort of
Boracay.
The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said shortly before the
typhoon made landfall that its maximum sustained winds were 314 kph (195
mph), with gusts up to 379 kph (235 mph). Those measurements are
different than local weather data because the U.S. Navy center measures
the average wind speed for 1 minute while local forecasters measure the
average for 10 minutes.
Hurricane Camille, a powerful 1969 storm,
had wind speeds that reached 305 kph (190 mph) at landfall in the United
States, Masters said.
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