Climate

Why Atlantic Hurricane Season Is Quiet While the Eastern Pacific Is Roaring

It is a tale of two hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific. The former got off to a raging start with a late May storm that basically made it to the Great Lakes, while the latter was DOA. Now their roles have reversed, though, with the Atlantic taking a nap while the…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jul 2

The First Awful Heat Wave of the Summer Is Here

Dust off your sprinklers and get those popsicles in the freezer. The first disgusting summer heat wave is here for folks in the central and eastern U.S., and it’s only going to get worse. An upper-level ridge of high pressure, also known as a “heat dome,” will park itself over the northeast this weekend and…

Earth Science Maddie Stone Jun 29

A Massive Wildfire Is Burning Near Manchester in the United Kingdom

The bucolic countryside surrounding Manchester has been turned into a fiery inferno. The Saddleworth Moor fire erupted on Sunday night as hot, dry weather fanned the flames across the fields and peatlands. The blaze also has sent smoke streaming into Manchester, forcing school closures and evacuations. This is a view of the climate future we’re…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jun 27

The Next Decade Will Decide Our Future Climate

To fix climate change, everything has to change. This much is true and known. But new research out in Nature Climate Change this week shows how tall the task is in particularly stark terms. The study focuses on what researchers call “residual emissions,” which are basically all the leftover sources of carbon pollution we have…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Jun 27

Changing NOAA’s Vision to Exclude Climate Has Been a Long Time Coming

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) appears to be on its way to being Trumpified. No, it’s not getting encased in gold. Instead, climate and conservation are out, the economy and national security are in. The Commerce Department recently held a “Vision Setting Summit” where Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, NOAA’s acting administrator talked about…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Jun 25

How a Dust Plume Turned the Sun Red

On October 16 last year, the Sun turned red over the southern United Kingdom. People across the country documented the strange phenomenon on social media. Meteorologists figured out the reason pretty quickly—plumes of dust from the Sahara desert and the Iberian Peninsula got caught in a cyclone from Hurricane Ophelia. The dust became negatively electrically…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jun 25

TV Meteorologists Double Down on Climate Outreach as Ted Cruz Attacks It

On Thursday, TV meteorologists around the world busted out red, white, and blue striped ties, pins, and mugs on the air. It wasn’t a random burst of America pride, but rather an attempt to raise awareness about climate change. The accessories featured a recent visualization by University of Reading climate scientist Ed Hawkins showing average…

Climate Change Maddie Stone Jun 22

Monsoon Rains Are Already a Disaster For Rohingya Refugee Camps

Religious persecution has forced thousands of Rohingya people to flee their homes in Myanmar for Bangladesh over the past 11 months . Now the 900,000 people who settled in refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar are facing another threat: heavy rain and landslides as the monsoon season picks up. The monsoon has been dubbed one of…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Jun 15

Welp, We Might Get Another El Niño This Fall

My eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures watchers, get hype. An El Niño Watch is in effect. The climate phenomenon that starts with warmer than normal waters in the eastern tropical Pacific and alters weather around the world has a pretty good chance of forming later this year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jun 14

Our Capitalist Overlords Are Concerned About Climate Change

As the weather becomes more unpredictable, big business is paying the price. A new report finds that companies are increasingly talking about how climate change impacts their bottom line, with weather and climate more common topics of discussion in the earnings calls of S&P 500 companies than “oil”, “the dollar”, or even “Trump”. The report…

Environmental Justice Paola Rosa-Aquino Jun 12

The Eastern Pacific Just Saw Its Second Major Hurricane in Less Than a Week

After a sluggish start to eastern Pacific hurricane season, the basin is making up for lost time. Hurricane Bud is the second of back-to-back major hurricanes to form in less than a week. The Category 3 storm is currently churning toward Baja California, though it’s thankfully forecast to weaken before likely landfall this weekend. As…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jun 11

The First Eastern Pacific Hurricane of 2018 Is Now a Category 4 Beast

Well that escalated quickly. Hurricane Aletta became the first tropical storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season on Thursday, and by Friday morning it had spun up into a Category 4 monster. The storm might not be done ramping up, either. The meteorological marvel is thankfully not forecast to make landfall (though rip currents and…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Jun 8

Southern California Is Losing Its Clouds and That’s Bad News For Fire Season

June Gloom season is upon Southern California. For as long as anyone can remember, that’s meant clouds wrapping the landscape in a milky white cocoon as cool, moist ocean air known as the marine layer moves inland. But as with everything in our world, this is now changing. June—and summer as a whole, it turns out—is…

Earth Science Brian Kahn May 31

Revised Death Count Makes Hurricane Maria Deadliest Storm in Modern US History

The official death count for Hurricane Maria stands at 64 in Puerto Rico. New research shows that number is hugely flawed, and that the real death toll could be up to 70 times higher. The revised count would make Maria the deadliest storm in modern U.S. history. The Puerto Rican government has been criticized for…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn May 29

Mind-Boggling Canyons Discovered Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

Antarctica’s icy mantle hides a truly fantastical world, and we’re still trying to understand its contours. Case in point: a new study has revealed three monstrous canyons on par with the Grand Canyon. The discovery is both wow-worthy and vital to understanding what will happen to Antarctica’s ice as it melts. Scientists have long wondered…

Earth Science Brian Kahn May 28

This Climate Visualization Belongs in a Damn Museum

There’s a new global warming illustration that’s fit for the Museum of Modern Art or the Getty. Seriously, just look at that stunner up there. Ed Hawkins, the climate scientist who made the viral temperature spirals, is back at it again with another striking view of our warming planet. His latest visualization strips out all…

Climate Change Brian Kahn May 25

The 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Is Here (Sorry)

The respite from last year’s record hurricane season was too short and unsettled for residents from Houston to San Juan. And now it’s almost over. On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its outlook for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1 (though it could get underway before…

Earth Science Brian Kahn May 24

A Recent Hurricane Shot a Bolt of Antimatter Toward Earth

When you think of an alien world, you might think of a strange, stormy place with an inhospitable environment, frequent lightning strikes, and extreme radiation. But who needs an imagination when the storms here on Earth already beam radiation, including antimatter, down toward the ground? Hurricane Patricia in 2015 was the second most intense tropical…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum May 23

There’s Another Weird Tropical Cyclone Headed to the Middle East

Another rare tropical cyclone situation is unfolding in the Middle East. Cyclone Mekunu spun up on Tuesday and is now heading toward Salalah, the capital of Oman. It should make landfall somewhere in the region on Friday with 104 mph sustained winds, making it the equivalent of a robust Category 2 storm. Some areas could…

Earth Science Brian Kahn May 23

A Deadly Heat Wave Is Sweeping Over Pakistan

For the past month, South Asia has been home to some of the most extreme weather on the planet. Pakistan set an all-time world heat record for April, and India was bombarded by violent dust storms. Now another heat wave is rocking the region, killing at least 65 people in Karachi. Temperatures in the city…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn May 22

Why Atlantic Hurricane Season Is Quiet While the Eastern Pacific Is Roaring

The First Awful Heat Wave of the Summer Is Here

A Massive Wildfire Is Burning Near Manchester in the United Kingdom

The Next Decade Will Decide Our Future Climate

Changing NOAA’s Vision to Exclude Climate Has Been a Long Time Coming

How a Dust Plume Turned the Sun Red

TV Meteorologists Double Down on Climate Outreach as Ted Cruz Attacks It

Monsoon Rains Are Already a Disaster For Rohingya Refugee Camps

Welp, We Might Get Another El Niño This Fall

Our Capitalist Overlords Are Concerned About Climate Change

The Eastern Pacific Just Saw Its Second Major Hurricane in Less Than a Week

The First Eastern Pacific Hurricane of 2018 Is Now a Category 4 Beast

Southern California Is Losing Its Clouds and That’s Bad News For Fire Season

Revised Death Count Makes Hurricane Maria Deadliest Storm in Modern US History

Mind-Boggling Canyons Discovered Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

This Climate Visualization Belongs in a Damn Museum

The 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Is Here (Sorry)

A Recent Hurricane Shot a Bolt of Antimatter Toward Earth

There’s Another Weird Tropical Cyclone Headed to the Middle East

A Deadly Heat Wave Is Sweeping Over Pakistan

‘Good Omens’ Season 3 Is Still Just One Episode, Despite Being Called That

Steam Gaming Has Arrived on Apple Vision Pro, and It’s Unexpectedly Glorious

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