News Analysis |
After hammering Northern Cuba, Hurricane Irma has turned towards Florida and is expected to batter the state with surging waves, heavy rain, and destructive winds. Authorities in Florida are busy in warning citizens of the impending storm with door-to-door canvassing.
According to the CNN, the Category 4 storm had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph Saturday morning. Before it was slightly downgraded, it made landfall on Cuba’s Camaguey Archipelago as a Category 5 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said Friday night.
As the US is beset with two potentially destructive crises in nuclear brinkmanship with DPRK and the hurricanes, Trump is under huge pressure owing to his off the cuff decisions and statements
Irma is expected to be near the Florida Keys and South Florida by tomorrow, and many residents there have moved inland. About 5.6 million people in the state have been ordered to evacuate, Gov. Rick Scott said. “If you have been ordered to evacuate, leave now. Not tonight, not in an hour, now,” Scott added. Staying in homes could subject residents to storm surge as high as 12 feet, the governor said.
Read more: U.S withdrawing from the Paris Accord could deepen rift with allies
Trump under fire
French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot took a dig at President Trump over his stand on climate change. He said that by calling global warming a hoax, Trump ignored the reality of man-made climate change, which most renowned scientists regard as an established fact.
Trump’s promise to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and undoing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is the exact opposite of what we need to see in the face of this lethal reality
Trump said in May that he was pulling the United States out of the landmark 2015 global agreement in Paris to fight climate change, saying it negatively impacts the US economy. Trump has called the hurricane with the potential to cause historic destruction. Hulot, when asked if the carnage will help Trump change his position said: “What will change in the United States are the federal states, the cities, a whole section of society. I think that is what will make up for the reservations of the American president on the links between cause and effect.”
The hurricane has already obliterated Cuba and Bahamas is likely to cause considerable damage in Florida. People have criticized Trump for walking out from the Paris Accord and have also taken exceptions to the nonchalant response to the issue.
Read more: In opting out of the Climate Change Agreement: Trump panders to…
The cost of the reckless climate policies espoused by Donald Trump will be paid in the lives of people living in these places and the trillions of dollars lost in places like Miami and New York
“The cost of the reckless climate policies espoused by Donald Trump will be paid in the lives of people living in these places and the trillions of dollars lost in places like Miami and New York, not to mention the economic disruption and the money needed to rebuild cities suffering from floods and storm damage,” said Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s International Climate Lead. Last year this organization published a report showing that Miami tops the list of most vulnerable cities to climate change induced coastal flooding.
“Trump’s promise to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and undoing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is the exact opposite of what we need to see in the face of this lethal reality. As seas get warmer, providing more energy to tropical storms, the people of Florida and the Caribbean will continue to suffer until leaders like Trump start to reduce the carbon emissions which drive climate change,” Adow added further.
Trump has called the hurricane with the potential to cause historic destruction. Hulot, when asked if the carnage will help Trump change his position said
Even actress Jennifer Lawrence said that the hurricanes are “Mother Nature’s rage” and “wrath” for America for electing Donald Trump and not accepting man-made climate change.” “You know, you’re watching these hurricanes now, and it’s really hard, especially while promoting this movie, not to feel Mother Nature’s rage [and] wrath,” Lawrence said while referring to her new movie: Mother.
Read more: Cooperation in the Arctic Ocean?
As the US is beset with two potentially destructive crises in nuclear brinkmanship with DPRK and the hurricanes, Trump is under huge pressure owing to his off the cuff decisions and statements.