Dr. Jeff Masters 21 September 2018 (Weather Underground) – In a stunning demonstration of the destructive potential of typhoon storm surge—and the human propensity to under-engineer infrastructure designed to withstand the worst nature has to offer—Japan’s third busiest airport, Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay, was inundated by Category 2 Typhoon Jebi’s storm surge on […]
25 September 2018 (Desdemona Despair) – The first anniversary of the destruction of modern Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands by Hurricanes Irma and Maria brought numerous retrospectives in the media. Not many focused on the actual cost to rebuild PR. Although there are stories of recovery, a picture of widespread infrastructure failure and poverty […]
By David Nield 9 September 2018 (Science Alert) – Why is it sometimes so hard to convince someone that the world is indeed a globe, or that climate change is actually caused by human activity, despite the overwhelming evidence?Scientists think they might have the answer, and it’s less to do with lack of understanding, and […]
By Bob Henson 24 September 2018 (Weather Underground) – Storms are being classified and declassified at a snappy pace in the Atlantic, as several weak systems have been fighting off dry air and wind shear. We may yet see one or more of these systems strengthening as the week unfolds—and there is no question about […]
24 September 2018 (WXII 12 News) – Trees and debris aren’t all Hurricane Florence left behind. Hundreds of fish were stranded on the roadway along a stretch of I-40 in Pender County near Wallace after floodwaters receded. Firefighters were called in to help clean up the fish. Officials believe the fish traveled from their natural […]
By Peter S. Green 21 September 2018 (CBS News) – A year after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico, leaving some 2,975 people dead and knocking the economy on its back, it is becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. territory may never fully recover from the storm.Puerto Rico was already insolvent before the 2017 storm, […]
By Chris Heide 24 August 2018 (Second Nexus) – A USA TODAY report has determined that the United States has become the “most dangerous place to give birth in the developed world.”More than 700 women in the United States die from complications directly related to childbirth each year. In addition, more than 50,000 American women […]
By David Sharp 19 September 2018 BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) – Canadians are known as friendly folks, but these crabby brutes migrating from Canadian waters are better suited for the hockey rink.Green crabs from Nova Scotia are the same species as their cousins that already inhabit Maine waters, but are ornerier and angrier, threatening to accelerate […]
By Frances Robles and Jugal K. Patel 20 September 2018 PUNTA SANTIAGO, P.R. (The New York Times) – When it rains, Maritza Cruz Sánchez springs into a well-rehearsed, 30-minute ritual: She climbs a ladder to where her roof used to be and sucks on a hose to siphon puddles from the plastic tarp suspended over […]
By Bullit Marquez and Joeal Calupitan 20 September 2018NAGA, Philippines (AP) – A massive landslide buried dozens of homes near a central Philippine mountain Thursday, killing at least 15 people and sending rescuers scrambling to find survivors after some sent text messages pleading for help. The slide surged down on about 30 houses in two […]