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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Our recent fire catastrophe in Spokane was human caused, but nature also played a big role: the wind enabled a lone arsonist to destroy hundreds of homes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Generally we mark the era of modern meteorology from 1960, with the launch of the first successful weather satellite. TIROS-1 enabled humans to observe and measure hurricanes out at sea. In the 66 years of data we now have, the record for the latest in the year for the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, was set by Erin, which formed a tropical depression on 11 August 2025 and reached hurricane strength on 15 August. Every other year since 1960, there were hurricanes earlier in the season than the ides of August.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Now, on 4 August, NOAA is saying there is no tropical cyclone activity expected in the Atlantic in the next seven days, which takes us out to 11 August. If the Atlantic doesn’t get with it right away, we could have two record setting years in a row.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>All this leads me to a question I have long had: if climate changes, how do we know the change is necessarily for the worse?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>