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Weather
A new study conducted by Portland State University and the Science Museum of Virginia has revealed that a history of redlining in America has forced African Americans to live in neighborhoods that are much more affected by urban heat waves. As the authors explained, “Vulnerable communities—especially those within urban areas in the United States—are disproportionately […]
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Our favorite local National Weather Service forecast office tweeted out this important message on Saturday when a strong line of storms ripped through central Alabama. With extreme and severe weather becoming the new normal, the National Weather Service and local emergency managers’ warnings are more important than ever. Lives are at stake. This forecast office […]
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Cities in Alaska and the Southeastern U.S. saw some of the greatest extremes in weather in 2019 — with Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, coming in at 9.3 degrees warmer than average and Bozeman, Montana was 5.3 degrees colder than average, while Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas was the wettest with 25.02 inches more rain than average and of U.S. cities, Tallahassee, Florida, had a 20-inch rainfall deficit.
Why This Matters: There were some big extremes in 2019 — with an impressive list and geographic spread of U.S. cities seeing record-breaking weather. Record warmth for Alaska is one of the biggest stories of the year.
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As wildfires continued to rage in the New South Wales region, the average temperature in Australia reached its highest point ever at 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 F), according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology that exceeded the previous record set in 2013 at 40.3 Celsius (104.5 F). Major cities in Australia such as Sydney and […]
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An Associated Press report earlier this week went viral because it hits a little too close to home this time of year — unusual weather patterns are causing reindeer to go hungry because as rain (as opposed to snow) falls during the winter in the Arctic, it creates thick layers of snowy ice that blocks their access to food. In much of the U.S. we will likewise be battered with a “parade” of combo snow/ice storms for the days until Christmas, snarling all kinds of travel plans.
Why This Matters: Ice is only good in Disney movies.
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If you read my (Miro’s) Bright Ideas op-ed over the weekend then you saw that the tired argument of “yes the climate is changing, but we don’t know how much humans are contributing to it” has been around for at least 20 years. Luckily, that excuse for inaction is finally starting to wear thin as […]
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Forecasters are calling for three major storms this week to snarl travel plans for much of the country — with cities from Denver to Detroit expecting snow, freezing rain and soaking rain and winds on Tuesday into Wednesday, the heaviest travel day of the year. And in other weather news, the Trump Administration’s nominee to be the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is withdrawing his name from consideration — he was nominated but never confirmed — leaving the Acting Administrator to continue to lead the agency.
Why This Matters: This will be the longest time NOAA has gone without a confirmed Administrator in its history.
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by Miro Korenha and Alexandra Patel Venice called a state of emergency on Wednesday morning as flooding of the city’s famous canals reached levels that haven’t been witnessed in 50 years. Heavy rains caused waters to rise over 6 feet, inundated 85% of the city (including the historic St Mark’s basilica), and caused 2 deaths. […]
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Hurricanes are the most destructive natural disasters in the United States and the most dangerous and destructive storms are hitting the U.S. three times more frequently than they did a century ago.
Now, what are we going to do about it?
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Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, is being consumed by wildfires, with the city of Sydney at risk for the first time, and the government has declared a state of emergency in the region for the next week. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., a massive arctic front has shifted south, bringing bone-chilling cold and snow to the middle of the country today, with more than 67 million Americans are under winter weather alerts and hundreds of cold temperature records could be broken.
Why This Matters: This is more than just uncomfortable weather — it is dangerous. This type of “catastrophic” wildfire risk has never happened before in New South Wales — and the public is being warned not to be dismissive — with officials explaining that these conditions mean that lives are at risk. The same is true for bitter cold here — with snow from the Dakotas to New England over the course of the week, and it is not even mid-November.
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A new study predicts that in the future, continued warming over the western Pacific as a result of climate change promises conditions that will trigger more extreme El Niño events.
Why This Matters: Wetter El Niño years and dryer and hotter La Niña years can have deadly impacts for communities across the world.
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Take a look at the Atlantic’s roundup of images from the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, the equivalent of a category 5 storm that struck Japan this past week, causing billions of dollars of wreckage in its wake and claiming 66 lives. Not only did the storm sweep away Fukushima nuclear waste bags into the river […]
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