If you scrolled through Facebook or Twitter this weekend, odds are you saw at least a dozen different pictures of Hurricane Patricia. There’s a pretty good chance at least half of them were fake or misrepresented. If you have an internet browser, you have access to a quick and easy viral image debunker. The internet will be a better place if we all start using it.
Lows plunged well below freezing last night. In October! And there’s snow. In October? Yes! That’s what happens in October. It gets cold and it starts snowing. We go through this every year, and each year the reaction just gets worse. Our relatively new connection to the world outside of our bubbles is giving us weather amnesia.
When it became clear last week that the looming weather catastrophe wouldn’t be remembered for Hurricane Joaquin, but rather the historic flooding in the Carolinas, I knew that the internet would be plastered with videos of idiots driving through floods come Monday. Idiots came through. Don’t drive through a flood, you idiots.
There will be a partial solar eclipse this evening. You will want to look at it. Do not look at it.
There are people among us who cannot find where they live on a map. Holy hell.
How many times have you heard the phrase "there are no dumb questions?" People who are afraid of looking silly for asking simple questions are usually asking good questions! No, the truly stupid questions are those asked by people who are too lazy to read the answer right in front of them.
As dependable as the sunrise, every flash flood disaster produces photos of people who drive into floods only to get stuck and need to be rescued by emergency crews. Arizona actually has a law in place that charges these less-than-bright drivers for the full cost of their rescue, plus a hefty penalty.
In the past year, two high-profile television meteorologists have told people to evacuate from the relative safety of their homes to get out of the way of an oncoming tornado. That is the worst thing you could do, and this dangerous advice will get people killed one day.
Disasters like tornadoes or hurricanes bring out both the best and the worst in people. After any disaster, we hear stories of heroism where people risk and even sacrifice their own lives to save those of many others. But we also see incredible displays of stupidity blasted to the masses via the internet. People who bash disaster victims as well as those who threaten meteorologists for interrupting their precious television shows are among the most selfish, uncaring kind of fools there are.
