Not as bad as the hurricane stories, but two anecdotes:

1. Recently, we were in Southern France at ~200 kms from Bordeaux. During the wildfires. It had been in the high 30s (Celsius that is, we use science units). At one point, just before sunset, the wind started turning from the direction of the sea, a penetrating smell of smoke started rolling in and it suddenly got very dark. It felt apocalyptic. I feel bad for all people who had to deal with wildfires in any way.
2. Many years ago, I was on a trip to Scotland on a motorcycle trip with a few buddies. It must have been late August, early September. We were in Fort William, which is pretty much at sea level. One day, me and two of my friends decided to climb Ben Nevis, which is the highest peak in the UK at a (relatively modest) 1375-ish meters. We started with sunny weather in the low 20s and as we progressed, we had rain, hailstorms, snow and fog. Oh, and it was freezing at the top. I have not seen so many weather changes in a single day.

Same. If I am ever going to get a tattoo, it will day “Don’t panic” in big friendly letters as well. It’s… fitting nowadays.

It’s never either-or. Sometimes, it is neither.

IMHO, a good Sci-Fi story has a well built world against which a story will play. I loved the ‘Parable’ series by Octavia Butler. The science level is basically the sameas ours (heck, it even plays ‘now’) and is not particularly important to the story itself. However, this series is one of the best dystopian Sci-Fi series I have ever read.

Favourite: Frank Zappa Least favourite: One Day Fly or Tenacious D (too much Jack Black - he’s not that funny)