To understand the scale of the climate emergency, look at hurricanes

‘Hurricanes are heat engines, powered by expanses of hot ocean. The ocean is absorbing excess energy trapped by human greenhouse gas accumulation, and this means more energy for more intense storms.’ Photograph: Courtesy Orange County Government, Florida

I became a climate activist 16 years ago. Back then, not many people cared about climate change. The eye rolls were audible. Media coverage was scarce, and what little there was glibly included “both sides”. It was frustrating and tragic to see such a clear and present danger and to know that it was still mostly avoidable, yet ignored by society.

I assumed that intensifying, in-your-face climate disasters would serve as a sort of backstop to finally force action. I even hoped that humanity would listen to scientists and start acting before things got that bad. I didn’t think this was too much to expect; after all, the scientific fundamentals are easy enough to grasp.