Satellite view of the extremely rapid intensification of Tropical Cyclone Ambali in the southern Indian Ocean, and then quick weakening, 6 December 2019. This entire satellite loop is only 24 hours. Photo: Stu Ostro / The Weather Channel

Two tropical cyclones set records in one week: Ambali has fastest intensification on record south of the equator, and Kammuri has tallest, coldest cloud tops ever

By Bob Henson 6 December 2019 (Weather Underground) – Barely a tropical storm on Wednesday night EST, Tropical Cyclone Ambali astounded weather watchers on Thursday as it pole-vaulted to the brink of Category 5 strength in the southwest Indian Ocean, counter to nearly all expectations. Ambali’s top sustained winds, as assessed from satellite data by […]

NOAA’s GOES East satellite captured this view of the strong Category 1 storm at 8:20 a.m. EDT, just 15 minutes before the center of Hurricane Dorian moved across the barrier islands of Cape Hatteras. Photo: NOAA

Rising sea levels are swallowing North Carolina’s Outer Banks beaches, new report says

By Hayley Fowler 20 November 2019 CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (The Charlotte Observer) – Hurricanes aren’t the only hazard lapping at the shores of the Outer Banks, according to a report examining the threat of climate change on some of the country’s most beloved natural landscapes. Thanks to creeping sea levels and erosion rates, Cape Hatteras […]

The home of Edward and Stella O’Neal is torn down due to damage caused by flooding during Hurricane Dorian in Ocracoke, North Carolina. Photo: Daniel Pullen / The Washington Post

Amid flooding and rising sea levels, residents of one barrier island wonder if it’s time to retreat – “Is this really sustainable? The answer is pretty clearly no.”

By Frances Stead Sellers 9 November 2019 OCRACOKE, North Carolina (The Washington Post) – On any normal late-fall day, the ferries that ply the 30 miles between Swan Quarter and this barrier island might carry vacationing retirees, sports fishermen and residents enjoying mainland getaways after the busy summer tourist season. But two months ago, Hurricane […]

Wild cows lounge on North Carolina’s Cedar Island in May 2019. On 6 September 2019, Hurricane Dorian blasted the island with Category 1 force winds and rain, creating what locals described as a “mini tsunami”. The low-lying marshlands were soon inundated with an estimated eight feet of water, and the cows were swept out to sea by the storm surge. They got lucky when they washed up at Cape Lookout National Seashore. Photo: Paula O'Malley Photography

Three cows swept away by Hurricane Dorian found on island miles from shore – “Who knows exactly, but the cows certainly have a gripping story to share”

By Antonia Noori Farzan 14 November 2019 (The Washington Post) – The only way to get to Cape Lookout National Seashore, a 56-mile chain of undeveloped barrier islands in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, is by boat. It’s not uncommon for visitors to spot bottlenose dolphins, or even the occasional seal. But last month, park officials […]

Trump holds an early projection map of Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office on 4 September 2019. The projected path of the hurricane has been extended into Alabama with a Sharpie pen, almost certainly by Trump himself. Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Internal NOAA emails detail blowback to Trump attacks on hurricane weather forecasters: “This has really gotten out of hand”

By Allan Smith 7 November 2019 (NBC News) – Internal emails at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released Thursday showed how the agency scrambled to respond to President Donald Trump’s inaccurate claims about Hurricane Dorian and Alabama. The emails, dozens of which were obtained by NBC News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, […]

A dog who survived Hurricane Dorian recovers on 7 October 2019 at Big Dog Ranch Rescue in West Palm Beach, Florida and is being called a “miracle” in the Bahamas. The people who rescued the dog have named him Miracle because he survived underneath rubble for about a month. Photo: WPEC-TV

“Miracle” dog that survived more than three weeks trapped in rubble after Hurricane Dorian to meet new adoptive family

2 November 2019 (NBC 6) – Miracle, the dog that was discovered after having spent more than three weeks trapped under destroyed air conditioning units in Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian, will meet his new adoptive family next weekend. Since the dog’s rescue in early October, he has been recovering at Big Dog Ranch […]

Logo of the investment firm, DeltaTerra Capital. Graphic: DeltaTerra Capital

“Big Short” investor David Burt’s new bet: Global warming will bust the housing market – “You end up with a very scary looking situation”

By Geoff Dembicki 1 November 2019 (Vice) – In 2007, almost no one would admit what became obvious in hindsight: The housing market was on the brink of collapse and would take a good chunk of the U.S. economy along with it. Lenders were getting rich, giving home loans to people who couldn’t afford them, investment banks […]

Satellite view of of Category 4 Typhoon Bualoi in the West Pacific on 22 October 2019. A 2.5-minute rapid scan Himawari8 Infrared images captures the rapid clearing of the eye. Video: SSEC / CIMSS

NASA finds Typhoon Bualoi rapidly intensified

By Rob Gutro 21 October 2019 (NASA) – Typhoon Bualoi rapidly intensified over 24 hours and quickly developed an eye and powerful thunderstorms. On 21 October 2019, the eye of Typhoon Bualoi was just over 50 miles from the island of Saipan when NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead. Saipan is the largest island of […]

Map of Zimbabwe showing the Acute Food Insecurity Phase for June 2019 to September 2019 and October 2019 to January 2020. Graphic: FEWS NET

“It’s a nightmare”: Zimbabwe struggles with hyperinflation – Extreme poverty surges to 34 percent as 1 million more added to poor bracket – “People should brace for worse”

By Alois Vinga 18 October 2019 (New Zimbabwe) – Extreme poverty in Zimbabwe has risen to 34 percent, with 1 million more citizens now added to the existing 4.7 million, World Bank (WB) said in a recent Poverty and Equity brief. The global lender said there has been a significant growth in the country’s poverty […]

Trump refers to a map, modified using a Sharpie, while talking to reporters following a briefing from officials about Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office at the White House on 4 September 2019. Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Top Commerce Department aides orchestrated NOAA’s Hurricane Dorian statement attacking NOAA meteorologists for contradicting Trump

By Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman 10 October 2019 (The Washington Post) – A letter sent Thursday from the chair of the House Science Committee to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reveals that it was the Commerce Department, not the leadership of its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that drafted a controversial NOAA statement on 6 […]

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