MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Maria has intensified into a dangerous Category 4 storm as it bears down on the Caribbean.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday the storm is growing in strength as it approaches land. The eye of the storm is expected to pass near the island of Dominica on Monday evening.
The center called the storm “extremely dangerous,” with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph).
At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east-southeast of Dominica.
A Hurricane warning has been issued for Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques.
In the same way that no single home run can be directly attributed to Barry Bonds’ use of steroids, no single storm is “caused by” global warming. But the climate is now on steroids and just like Barry’s hits, every storm is getting a boost, and some will be game-changers.
I hope nobody dies. And I hope, in spite of the technical correctness of “hurricane [X] was not caused by global warming”, that people start to reconsider the whole “theory” and whether or not they “believe in” the science. Lot of frogs in this pot; a few of them need a kick in the ass to get with the whole “theory of boiling water.”
Maria! I just met a storm named Maria!