Earth’s Dynamism vs. CO2 Fixation: 2024 Helene Floods and 2025 Bristol Cold

By Lewis Loflin | Published May 25, 2025

The CO2 crowd blames Hurricane Helene’s 2024 floods in Erwin, Tennessee, and Western North Carolina on CO2 (~420 ppm), but the conditions—cold fronts, ocean-land clashes—mirror the 1960s–1970s storms I witnessed in Richmond (1969) and Norton (1976–77) under low CO2 (~325–340 ppm), detailed in 1970s_weather.htm. Bristol, Virginia, my home, saw a cold April–May 2025, echoing Norton’s cold summers. These events, driven by Earth’s dynamic climate, not CO2, were worsened by poor infrastructure and sprawl. Fixation on CO2 blinds us to natural variability and local oversights, as this page shows.

Climatic Volatility: Natural Drivers, Not CO2

Helene’s 2024 floods and Bristol’s 2025 cold spring were driven by natural forces, not CO2. A cold front on September 25, 2024, saturated soils, amplifying Helene’s 6–24 inches of rain, fueled by warm Gulf waters (~28°C) clashing with cooler air, per NOAA. Jet stream dips, tied to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation, brought cold air to Bristol in April–May 2025 (~55–65°F highs). The AMO’s warm phase (1995–present) may enhance storms, but the 1970s’ cool phase saw similar floods like Camille 1969 and Wise County 1977 with lower CO2 (~325–340 ppm), as I saw in Virginia (1970s_weather.htm).

Cold fronts and Gulf moisture drove Helene, like 1970s storms.
Jet streams caused Bristol’s 2025 cold, echoing Norton 1976–77.
CO2 (~420 ppm) is irrelevant; 1970s low-CO2 events were as extreme.

Green forest in Appalachia.

2024 Helene Flooding: Erwin, TN, and Western North Carolina

Hurricane Helene (September 26–27, 2024) devastated Erwin, Tennessee, ~50 miles from Bristol, with 6–9 inches of rain flooding the Nolichucky River to 30.5 feet. Nine deaths in Tennessee included six at Impact Plastics, swept away in floods, sparking a TBI probe. Fifty-four people were rescued from Unicoi County Hospital’s rooftop. Damages hit ~$100 million. Western North Carolina’s Asheville and Swannanoa saw 12–24 inches, 10+ deaths, and ~$1 billion in damages, with rivers like the French Broad surpassing 1916’s records. Poor infrastructure and sprawl, not CO2 (~420 ppm), worsened impacts, mirroring Camille 1969’s flooding I witnessed in Richmond (1970s_weather.htm).

Erwin’s weak drainage echoed Wise County 1977’s failures.
NC’s sprawl and wetland loss amplified flooding, like Agnes 1972.
1970s low-CO2 storms prove Helene’s natural, not CO2-driven, cause.

Bristol’s Cold Spring 2025

Bristol, Virginia, endured a cold April–May 2025, with highs ~55–65°F and lows ~30–40°F, ~3–5°F below average, per NOAA’s Tri-Cities Airport data. Jet stream dips and a negative NAO drove this, similar to Norton’s 1976–77 cold summers (~45°F lows) I experienced (1970s_weather.htm). These anomalies, seen in the low-CO2 1970s (~335 ppm), show Earth’s natural variability, not CO2 (~420 ppm), as the driver, challenging the CO2 crowd’s warming narrative.

Jet streams caused 2025’s cold, like 1976–77’s summers.
Appalachian topography enhanced cooling, as in Norton.
CO2 fixation ignores natural cycles seen in 1970s and 2025.

Earth’s Climatic Dynamism

Helene’s floods and Bristol’s cold reflect Earth’s dynamic climate—ocean-atmosphere interactions, jet stream shifts, and Appalachian topography—not CO2. The AMO’s warm phase (2024) and 1970s cool phase fueled similar volatility, as in Camille 1969 and Wise County 1977 (1970s_weather.htm). The CO2 crowd’s claims crumble against 1970s low-CO2 storms, proving natural cycles dominate.

Gulf moisture and cold fronts drove Helene, like 1970s storms.
Jet streams caused 2025’s cold, mirroring 1976–77.
1970s low-CO2 parallels debunk CO2 as Helene’s cause.

Local Ecological Mismanagement

Human oversights, not CO2, amplified damages. Poor flood defenses in Erwin (2024) and Wise County (1977), sprawl in Asheville (2024) and Fairfax (1972), and weak planning in Richmond (1969) worsened flooding. These mirror the 1970s failures I saw (1970s_weather.htm). Local mismanagement, not CO2, is the obvious culprit.

Inadequate infrastructure increased flood vulnerability.
Sprawl and wetland loss magnified damages.
Local fixes—better drainage, planning—beat CO2 policies.

Event	Year	Region	Impact	Local Oversight	CO2 Level
Hurricane Helene	2024	TN, NC	19+ deaths, $1B damages	Poor infrastructure, sprawl	~420 ppm
Bristol Cold Spring	2025	Virginia	Cold anomalies, ~55–65°F highs	None	~420 ppm
Hurricane Camille	1969	Virginia	153 deaths, $1.1B damages	Poor flood defenses	~325 ppm
Wise County Floods	1977	Virginia	Millions in damages	Poor drainage, sprawl	~335 ppm

Conclusion

The CO2 crowd wrongly blames Helene’s 2024 floods on CO2 (~420 ppm), but from Bristol, I saw the same natural drivers—cold fronts, Gulf moisture—as the 1960s–1970s storms, like Camille 1969’s Richmond flooding I witnessed, under low CO2 (~325 ppm) (1970s_weather.htm). Bristol’s cold 2025 spring, like Norton’s 1976–77 summers, confirms Earth’s dynamism, not CO2, drives these events. Poor infrastructure and sprawl, not CO2, worsened damages. Local fixes—better drainage, planning—are the answer, not CO2 hype.

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