A new political cartoon shows a climate change denier standing on a tiny, flooded island who finally accepts the reality of global warming only after his surroundings have vanished beneath the waves.

The October 11, 2024, drawing by Christopher Weyant portrays two men on a palm-tree island ringed by rising water. One man raises a finger and declares he now believes in climate change and wants to return to the mainland before the next hurricane. The second man replies that the submerged area is the mainland. The exchange captures the moment denial gives way to belated recognition.

The cartoon arrives weeks after Hurricane Helene struck the Southeast in late September and Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on October 9. Both storms produced record rainfall and flooding across Florida and North Carolina, displacing thousands and causing dozens of deaths. Scientists have linked warmer ocean temperatures to heavier precipitation and stronger storms.

Weyant places the figures on a shrinking patch of sand to emphasize that some effects of climate change cannot be reversed by later acknowledgment. The red emphasis on the word IS in the reply underscores the finality of the situation. The image avoids naming specific politicians and instead focuses on the broader pattern of delayed acceptance.

Newspapers and online outlets have used similar imagery to illustrate public opinion shifts following major weather events. Polls conducted after Helene showed modest increases in concern about climate change among some previously skeptical groups in affected states. The cartoon distills that shift into a single, pointed exchange.

The drawing also nods to the long-running desert island motif in editorial art, updating it for current debates over emissions and adaptation. By showing the mainland already underwater, the cartoon argues that waiting for personal proof leaves little room for preventive action. Readers have shared the image widely on social media in the days since its release.