All posts tagged: Extreme weather

Trump budget cuts would eliminate much of NOAA’s climate research

Trump budget cuts would eliminate much of NOAA’s climate research

Published by skeptic

Protestors gathered in March outside the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Trump administration aims to cut funding for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by more than $1.6 billion relative to last year, according to an internal budget document obtained by New Scientist. The cuts would include the elimination of the agency’s office focused on climate and weather research. “Trump’s budget plan for NOAA is both outrageous and dangerous. They’re wholly destroying critical offices,… Source link

Four ways cuts at NOAA will make weather forecasts less reliable

Four ways cuts at NOAA will make weather forecasts less reliable

Published by skeptic

A destructive tornado near Minden, Iowa in April 2024 Jonah Lange/Getty Images Widespread firings and staffing changes at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could make the country’s weather forecasts less reliable, according to multiple researchers and the American Meteorological Society. “The consequences to the American people will be large and wide-ranging, including increased vulnerability to hazardous weather,” the organisation said in a statement. More than 880 NOAA employees have been fired under the administration of President Donald Trump, according to a statement from US Senator Maria Cantwell. That includes researchers working to improve hurricane forecasts and build the next generation of weather models, and more than 200 people within the National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA. An additional 500 people also accepted an earlier “fork in the road” offer to resign, further hollowing out the agency – which was already understaffed, according to two former NOAA employees. A spokesperson for NOAA declined to discuss the firings and staffing changes. They said the agency will “continue to provide weather information, forecasts …

Extreme heat may speed up biological ageing in older people

Extreme heat may speed up biological ageing in older people

Published by skeptic

A woman drinks water during a heatwave in Hyeres, France Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images Extreme heat seems to speed up biological ageing in older people, suggesting that it could raise the risk of age-related diseases. “This is one of the first large-scale studies to link long-term heat exposure to biological ageing in humans,” says Eun Young Choi at the University of Southern California. “Older adults living in areas with more extreme heat days aged biologically faster than those in cooler regions.” Choi and her colleagues analysed genetic data extracted from blood samples collected by other researchers in 2006-7 from 3600 people across the US. All were aged 56 and over at the time. They estimated each participant’s biological age using three so-called epigenetic clocks, which involves looking at patterns of chemical tags called methyl groups on DNA. These patterns alter as we get older and such changes have been linked to age-related diseases. The researchers also examined daily air temperature readings taken within a few kilometres of where participants lived for the six …

2024 may have been the rainiest – as well as hottest – year on record

2024 may have been the rainiest – as well as hottest – year on record

Published by skeptic

Flooding in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2024 S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock In 2024, Earth received about 2.9 millimetres of rain per day. That may not sound like much, but it could represent a new record amount of precipitation for the planet. Last year’s global average precipitation was about 3 per cent greater than the average since records began in 1983, and it just surpasses the previous record, set in 1998. The 2.9-millimetre number, based on preliminary data compiled by researchers at the Global Precipitation Climatology Project, may still change slightly as the data is finalised. But if it holds, it… Source link

California wildfires fuelled by months of unusual extreme weather

California wildfires fuelled by months of unusual extreme weather

Published by skeptic

The Palisades Fire advancing on homes in Los Angeles Ethan Swope/Associated Press/Alamy Fast-moving wildfires in the Los Angeles area are burning out of control long after fire season normally ends in California. Powerful Santa Ana winds are not unusual for this time of year but they have arrived after months of drought. The combination has led to a disastrous series of fires, in a possible indication of how climate change is shifting the way fires behave in the state. “While Santa Ana fires are nothing new in southern California, this type of explosive fire event has never happened in January before, and it’s only happened once in December,” says Crystal Kolden at the University of California, Merced. As of 8 January, at least four wildfires were burning in the Los Angeles area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The two largest fires are the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, which have each burned more than 4000 hectares (10,000 acres) in a day. The fires have killed at least two people …

Milton Disrupted the Flow of Drinking Water—so Florida Deployed a Machine to Harvest It From Air

Milton Disrupted the Flow of Drinking Water—so Florida Deployed a Machine to Harvest It From Air

Published by skeptic

David Stuckenberg, cofounder and chief operations officer at Genesis Systems, explains that the WaterCube uses proprietary liquid and solid sorbents—materials that absorb water—that essentially “form a handshake with the water in the air.” The machine then heats these materials to extract the water. Atmospheric water generators typically require a substantial amount of energy to run, but Stuckenberg claims the company’s materials work 400 percent better than those that are currently commercially available, and that they have a very high affinity for water. But the tech comes at a steep price. The WaterCube delivered to St. Petersburg is listed at $860,000. The company just started selling a second, smaller device for home use called the WaterCube 100, which retails for $20,000 and is about the size of an HVAC system. That device can generate about 100 to 200 gallons of water per day. Efficiency ranges from 0.07 to 0.8 kilowatt-hours per gallon of water and costs anywhere from $10 to $80 a day to operate, depending on cost of energy and humidity. A WaterCube can run …

Monsoon rains from Typhoon Gaemi strike Philippines – in pictures | World news

Monsoon rains from Typhoon Gaemi strike Philippines – in pictures | World news

Published by skeptic

Residents evacuated in Metro Manila and nearby provinces as flooding wreaks havoc Main image: Rescuers help people on a boat as they wade through a flooded road after heavy rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi, in Marikina, Metro Manila, Philippines. Photograph: Lisa Marie David/Reuters Thu 25 Jul 2024 10.31 BST Last modified on Thu 25 Jul 2024 11.10 BST Source link

Are cold and wet UK summers here to stay? – podcast | Science

Are cold and wet UK summers here to stay? – podcast | Science

Published by skeptic

Here in the UK talking about the weather is already a national pastime, but this month the water-cooler weather chat has ramped up a notch as rain, grey skies and biting temperatures have put summer firmly on hold. Ian Sample talks to Matt Patterson, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, to find out what’s causing the chilly weather, whether it’s really as unusual as it seems, and whether any sun is on the horizon for the UK How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

Hottest April on record is the 11th record-breaking month in a row

Hottest April on record is the 11th record-breaking month in a row

Published by skeptic

  A truck sprays water on a road in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to lower the temperature during a heatwave in April MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images The records just keep being smashed. Global temperatures last month were the highest ever recorded for the month of April, making this the 11th month in a row to set a record, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The average global surface air temperature during April 2024 was 15.03°C (59.05°F), which is 0.14°C above the previous record for April set in 2016. This means average global temperatures were 1.6°C higher during April 2024 than the average for April between 1850 and 1900, regarded by climate scientists as the pre-industrial benchmark. The global average for the past 12 months is also the highest on record, at 1.6°C above the 1850 to 1900 average. As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledged to try to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate scientists won’t regard the 1.5°C limit as being breached until the long-term average …

Vietnam temperature records tumble as heatwave scorches South and Southeast Asia

Vietnam temperature records tumble as heatwave scorches South and Southeast Asia

Published by Sam

HANOI: More than 100 temperature records fell across Vietnam in April, according to official data, as a deadly heatwave scorches South and Southeast Asia. Extreme heat has blasted Asia from India to the Philippines in recent weeks, triggering heatstroke deaths, school closures and desperate prayers for cooling rain. Scientists have long warned that human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and intense heatwaves. Vietnam saw three waves of high temperatures in April, according to data published on Friday (May 3) by the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, with the mercury peaking at 44 degrees Celsius in two towns earlier this week. The mark is only slightly below the highest temperature ever recorded in Vietnam – 44.2 degrees Celsius on May 7 last year. In all, 102 weather stations saw record highs in April, as northern and central Vietnam bore the brunt of the heatwave, with temperatures on average 2 to 4 degrees Celsius higher than during the same period last year. Seven stations recorded temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius, all on Tuesday. The most …