Sewage spill from Hurricane Michael causes Florida fish kills – “It was horrible down here. You couldn’t hardly breathe. It smells like pure crap.”

By Terray Sylvester 18 October 2018 APALACHICOLA, Florida (Reuters) – A sewage spill from a Florida wastewater plant during Hurricane Michael into a river feeding environmentally fragile Apalachicola Bay is suspected of causing mass fish kills downstream, state officials said on Thursday.Experts say the discharge of 80,000 gallons of partially treated sewage into the Apalachicola […]

UN report shows climate change causing “dramatic rise” in economic losses – “The next one that is going to hit us with an explosion is heatwaves”

10 October 2018 (UN News) – Climate-related and geophysical disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis have killed 1.3 million people over the last 20 years and left a further 4.4 billion injured, homeless or in need of emergency assistance, UN experts said on Wednesday.The findings [pdf], published by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction […]

Image of the Day: Satellite view of power failures in Panama City, Florida after Hurricane Michael

By Mike Carlowicz 16 October 2018 (NASA) – After making landfall as a category 4 storm on 10 October 2018, Hurricane Michael knocked out power for at least 2.5 million customers in the southeastern United States, according to the Edison Electric Institute. These images of nighttime lights in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama come from the […]

Hurricane Michael failed to end Florida’s red tide – “The factors that contributed to red tide outweighed the ones that would reduce it”

By Jennifer Kay 15 October 2018 MIAMI BEACH, Florida (Associated Press) – Hurricane Michael failed to break up a patchy and toxic algae bloom that has lingered in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s shoreline for the last year, experts said Monday, meaning the red tide outbreak could continue to cause problems in the weeks […]

Trump says climate change not a hoax, but denies lasting impact – “It’ll change back”

By Emily Holden 15 October 2018 (The Guardian) – Donald Trump has reiterated his doubts about climate change, suggesting that the climate could “change back again,” and that climate scientists are politically motivated. The US president has long questioned man-made global warming. In an interview with CBS programme 60 Minutes that aired Sunday night, he […]

At least 13 people killed as flash floods hit France – Worst flooding in Aude since 1891, with several months’ worth of rainfall in just a few hours – 2018 so far is France’s hottest year since 1900

15 October 2018 (Sky News) – At least 13 people have been killed in flash floods in the southwest of France, local officials say. Several months’ worth of rain fell in just a few hours overnight in the region of Aude, with one river rising by more than 20ft (6m). It is believe to be […]

Dangerous rapidly intensifying landfalling hurricanes like Michael and Harvey may become more common in a warmer world

Dr. Jeff Masters 12 October 2018 (Weather Underground) – As Hurricane Michael sped northward on 9 October 2018 toward a catastrophic landfall on Florida’s Panhandle, the mighty hurricane put on an phenomenal display of rapid intensification. Michael’s winds increased by 45 mph in the final 24 hours before landfall, taking it from a Category 2 […]

Climate warming to boost major hurricanes in active Atlantic seasons

27 September 2018 (NOAA) – New NOAA research that looks at the devastating 2017 Atlantic hurricane season projects that if similar weather conditions occur in the future, it’s likely that the number of major hurricanes (category 3 and higher) would increase by two in a similar active year at the end of century.This increase would […]

Here’s why hurricanes are rapidly exploding in strength

By Chris Mooney 11 October 2018 (The Washington Post) – The unforgettable thing about record-setting Hurricane Michael will always be how rapidly it became a near-Category 5 storm, perfectly timed for a sneak attack on the Florida Panhandle.On Tuesday morning, Floridians knew a storm was coming but not how strong it would be. As of […]

“Apocalyptic” damage as Florida Panhandle devastated by Hurricane Michael

By Jay Reeves and Brendan Farrington 11 October 2018 PANAMA CITY, Florida (AP) – The devastation inflicted by Hurricane Michael came into focus Thursday with rows upon rows of homes found smashed to pieces, and rescue crews struggling to make their way into the stricken areas in hopes of accounting for hundreds of people who […]

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