First came Hurricane Milton – then came the conspiracy theorists and culture warriors

After the hurricanes came the storm of misinformation. Lies, wild accusations and even death threats have swirled after two major hurricanes smashed into the US in the last few weeks.

At the eye of the storm – as he has been in much of American life over the past decade – has been Donald Trump, who accused Joe Biden’s administration of a sluggish response as Hurricane Helene rampaged through six states, causing more than 220 deaths, one of the deadliest in the US since 1950.

Trump has claimed, falsely, that federal emergency funds have been handed over by Biden and Kamala Harris “to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season” and that Republican-voting areas have been “abandoned”.

More bizarrely, some of Trump’s allies, including the far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have pushed the idea that Biden directed the hurricane himself, like some sort of out-of-control, vengeful god.

More on how natural disasters are apparently culture war issues now, after this week’s most important reads.

The slew of falsehoods, spread eagerly online, has made some people reluctant to come forward for aid, slowing the disaster response once Helene was followed by Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida. The political attacks and misinformation have continued even as people are still struggling without power or water. “Get a life, man,” an exasperated Biden has muttered about Trump when asked about the conspiracy theories.

In many ways, the aftermath of the hurricanes is a grim yet familiar tale. It combines the proliferation of alternative realities via the internet, the breakdown of trust in institutions and a hyper-polarized US electorate. In a few weeks, of course, voters will be faced for the third election in a row with the choice of voting for Trump, a figure who defies all basic norms of political discourse.

Such a fetid cocktail has led to some very dark places, including death threats against aid workers (such as Fema workers, pictured above in North Carolina) and even the meteorologists who were warning about the onrushing storm.

There is also a broader, sobering lesson for those agitating for a greater response to the climate crisis. For years, it was received wisdom in activist and government circles that when climate-driven disasters such as storms, wildfires and deadly heatwaves started to bite, an anguished public would become galvanised in a way they hadn’t been before to face the challenge of global heating.

“Yet that just hasn’t happened – it’s frustrating,” Paul Bledsoe, who worked on climate policy as part of Bill Clinton’s White House, told me. While polls show a growing number of people accept the climate crisis is real and is affecting more and more lives, its manifestations are now being routinely used to prop up other preconceived political biases. The problem of the climate crisis itself is being drowned out.

Global heating, it seems, is not just an accelerant of extreme weather, it is also amplifying prejudices, conspiracy theories and other embedded political notions, rather than challenging them. Helene and Milton may not be the storms that will jolt people to reality as they prepare to vote.

Read more on Hurricane Milton:

The good news

The bad news

Down to Earth readers on the eco-friendly changes they made for the planet

In an effort to reduce her reliance on fossil fuels at home, reader Maggie Dale from Ontario, Canada, invested in an air-source heat pump, saying: “Our primary motivation for getting an air-source heat pump was to stop burning fossil fuels for heating – part of our plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions given the urgency of the climate crisis.”

The heating and cooling capabilities of the heat pump will help Dale cope with the weather extremes in her home town. “We expect to achieve a reduction in our GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from heating of at least two-thirds, given that we are switching from gas to electricity and the power supply in Ontario is more than 85% green. The air-conditioning function, a near-necessity in Ontario in the summer, uses 66% less power than our old AC.”

Dale’s advice to readers wanting to make a similar change is to start by doing some research. “We were impressed by the high satisfaction rates of those who had made the switch … It feels good to be part of the solution and it shows that change is possible right now.”

Let us know the positive change you’ve made in your life by replying to this newsletter, or emailing us on downtoearth@theguardian.com

Profiling the Earth’s most at-risk animals

Population: 17,464
Location: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya
Status: varies by species

Despite weighing between 1,800kg and 2,500kg, white rhinos – distinguishable by their square upper lip and nearly hairless bodies – are very good swimmers, crossing rivers and lakes with ease. They are the second-largest land mammal on Earth after elephants, but their less aggressive nature makes them extremely vulnerable to poaching, which remains their biggest threat. The northern white subspecies is critically endangered, with just two remaining, however the species’ first successful IVF embryo transfer, carried out in Kenya in January, raises hope that they could be saved from extinction.

For more on wildlife at threat, visit the Age of Extinction page.

One image that sums up the week in environmental news

Credit: Hikkaduaw Liyanage Prasantha Vinod

It can be hard to choose from the vast selection of mesmerising wildlife photography, but this little sleeping monkey immediately stole our hearts. The photo of a baby toque macaque enveloped in its mothers arms, with a faint sleepy smile and hanging arm, captures a moment of complete peace.

Taken by Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod from Sri Lanka, the photo won the “behaviour: mammals” category of the Natural History Museum’s 2024 wildlife photographer of the year competition.

For more of the week’s best environmental pictures, catch up on The Week in Wildlife.