Ferocious wildfires in the U.S. West, torrential rains in Africa and record heat waves in the Siberian Arctic are all wild weather consistent with climate change, scientists say. And the world can expect even more extreme weather and higher risks from natural disasters as global emissions of greenhouse gases continue.
Fire broke out Thursday morning at a chemical plant in Westlake, La., local authorities said, sending thick smoke over a wide area and prompting shelter-in-place directives for residents in the communities of Westlake, Moss Bluff and Sulphur.
The 2020 hurricane season could be one of the more active seasons on record with twice as much storm activity as a normal year, forecasters say. The NOAA increased the chance of an above average hurricane season from 60% to 85%.
Following a record number of Atlantic Ocean storms over the past two months, including five that struck the United States, government scientists on Thursday updated their forecast for the remainder of the hurricane season, saying it was likely to be extremely active.
Gonzalo is the earliest named “G” storm since the satellite era began in 1966, according to the National Hurricane Center. In the Pacific, Hurricane Douglas is advancing toward Hawaii.
If jet streams are weak enough and a tropical storm floats north, the wild card that dictates its path forward is the Bermuda High, an offshore merry-go-round of air that can snag storms propelled from Africa and send them clockwise: west across the Bermuda Triangle, and up the United States coast.
In August, Donald Trump reportedly asked top national security officials to consider using nuclear bombs to weaken or destroy hurricanes. Now, one member of Congress wants to make it illegal for Mr Trump, or any president, to act on this idea.
Researchers find people's exposure to PFAS and certain flame retardants could be significantly reduced by opting for healthier building materials and furniture.
An expanding wood pellet market in the Southeast has fallen short of climate and job goals—instead bringing air pollution, noise and reduced biodiversity in majority Black communities.
