By Mary O’KEEFE

I often turn to science fiction when writing this column because, for decades, science fiction writers have shown us the extreme visions of a future world gone wild. Often the background is the price humans pay for abusing Mother Nature. We see the evolution of society as it deals with Earth’s payback for ignorance like that in “Mad Max,” “Waterworld,” “Snow Piercer” and “Soylent Green.”

These movies show us a version of a societal future after the Earth has been abused but what we are watching now with Hurricane Ian is perhaps a preview – or trailer – of what’s to come.

“Scientists have been warning us for years, maybe not about more hurricanes but more intense [storms],” said Bill Weir, chief climate correspondence for CNN.

Weir was reporting from Punta Gorda, Florida on Wednesday.

“[This hurricane] is a result of a warmer planet. The [hurricanes] we do get will be bigger, faster and wetter. Here is your exhibit A: Hurricane Ian,” he said.

The bottom line is the storms, the winds and the droughts we will be seeing in the future will be more intense.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida at 3:05 EST with 150 miles per hour winds. It appears that residents listened with many evacuating prior to the arrival of the storm. This is a lesson Californians should take to heart as we face evacuations due to wildfires. Leaving when told to by emergency responders actually helps protect not only residents but also emergency responders. Florida officials reminded residents that emergency responders would not go out if the winds were too strong. If they did not evacuate people may be in need of help for some time. This is the same warning law enforcement and fire personnel give residents of California for emergencies like wildfires and floods.

It is also a warning to residents in California when it comes to earthquakes. Since we don’t yet have an early warning earthquake system that would give people hours to prepare for a sizeable shaker, preparedness needs to happen now. Unlike hurricanes, which can be watched in high definition as they approach, earthquakes give little to no general warning so being prepared is the only thing that can be done.

For Floridians, we pray the effects of Hurricane Ian will be less devastating because of the early warnings issued and the preparations made by the state; however, this is a very large storm and something that, unfortunately, we will have to get used to seeing.

“Due to global warming, global climate models predict hurricanes will likely cause more intense rainfall and have an increased coastal flood risk due to higher storm surge caused by rising seas. Additionally, the global frequency of storms may decrease or remain unchanged but hurricanes that form are more likely to become intense,” according to “A Force of Nature: Hurricanes in a Changing Climate” by Angela Colbert, PhD NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

For the Crescenta Valley, temperatures will be a little cooler in the next few days with today’s high in the mid-90s and on Saturday it will only reach 81 degrees Fahrenheit. From that point forward temperatures should be in the 80s and of course and unfortunately, no rain is in sight.