Greetings to everyone! I hope this week’s post finds you happy, healthy and the weather is to your liking wherever you are. Across much of the western contiguous USA, drought conditions conditions to worsen. The climatological peak of the severe weather and tornado season has arrived across the North American great plains. If you’d like a detailed review of tornado and severe weather safety, please review posts from March and April. You’ll find a plethora of severe weather, tornado, and flooding safety information. It’s also important to remember that the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1. Next week, we’ll start a series of hurricane safety infographics. There are many good science reads to review, so let’s get started.

• Pollution from plastics is a problem that won’t go away easily. “World to waste one trillion more plastic bottles and bags by 2025 as production ramps up.”
• The chances are quite good that these wind up in your vegetable garden. “‘Forever chemicals’ found in home fertilizer made from sewage sludge.”
• These protected reserves should have never been disturbed in the first place. “Palaeontologists hope Biden will restore protections on fossil-rich US lands.”
• Taking into consideration the severity of the ongoing drought, this will be challenging months to come. “Melting Snow Usually Means Water For The West. But This Year, It Might Not Be Enough.”
• The climate crisis has far reaching effects on the Earth’s human population, and that includes mental health.
• Here’s new climate data from the World Meteorological Organization. “New climate predictions increase likelihood of temporarily reaching 1.5 °C in next 5 years.”
• In case you missed it, the annual Atlantic hurricane season outlook has been released by NOAA. A busier than normal tropical cyclone season is predicted.

A TORNADO & SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY REMINDER

PREPARING A SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCY KIT FOR HOME, VEHICLE, AND WORK

This handy checklist from the American Red Cross will help you put together an emergency kit for a variety of weather scenarios. A kit like this is very helpful in a variety of other difficult scenarios from wildfires to blizzards to tornadoes and hurricanes.

Where you get your weather forecasts, warnings, and other important information is as important as being informed. Discretion is of the upmost importance when you’re trying to stay weather aware. As of late, it’s been brought to my attention that there have been amateur ‘forecasters’ using graphics with the intention of appearing as professional and official sources of information on Twitter, Facebook, et al. They should NOT be taken as official sources of potentially life-saving warnings and weather forecasts and updates.

Social media is a very useful tool that can be misused for misinformation, disinformation, and hype. While this infographic is geared towards, winter weather, it certainly applies to ALL types of weather year round.

That’s a wrap for this post! As I mentioned in the introduction, if you’d like a detailed review of tornado and severe weather safety, please review the previous posts for further details. Starting 5 June 2021, we’ll take a look at hurricane preparedness. I’d like to extend a big ‘Thank You’ to my followers in social media. I’m glad you’re along for the fun! If you’re on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram, let’s connect! As for the COVID-19 pandemic, get vaccinated, sport a spiffy mask, practice good hand-washing hygiene, mind your social distancing, stay safe, and stay healthy!

See you next Saturday!

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