Fig. 1 CAT 5 Patricia |
The "largest" hurricane ever recorded in the Pacific Ocean, Patricia, of CAT 5 intensity, is bearing down on the Manzanillo area with 200 mph winds now, but expected to increase to 205 mph winds when it makes landfall sometime today.
The eye is just north of Manzanillo (see Fig. 1, click to enlarge; follow link for NOAA information).
This "greatest" hurricane (lowest millibar reading & fastest winds ever recorded) is just another "normal catastrophe" in a damaged climate system, because the propagandists call this "the new normal."
That is because they want you to think that anything is normal (The International Language: Doublespeak.gov).
The two tidal gauge stations for Manzanillo (737, 1818) are no longer operational, so take a look at the Acapulco tidal gauge station (PSMSL Station 686).
That gauge station is also spotty, but it shows about a 1.33 ft. sea level rise (SLR) since it began recording sea level in 1967.
The IPCC "global mean average" SLR adds 3ft or so to that (by 2100).
Thus, even the IPCC notoriously conservative estimate shows that, at the lowest estimates, this sea port will be unusable before 2100 (~85 years).
Patricia, in some ways the most powerful hurricane in the history of Pacific or Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, will not destroy Manzanillo, but sea level change (SLC) eventually will.
That is one reason for Dredd Blog posts such as (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Have a good weekend (more on the Manzanillo sea port here).