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☆ Coral bleaching: Ocean heat is driving a mass bleaching event, and it could be the worst on record
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Rebecca Wright | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Coral reefs around the world are experiencing a mass bleaching event as the climate crisis drives record-breaking ocean heat, two scientific bodies announced Monday — with some experts warning this could become the worst bleaching period in recorded history. If ocean temperatures don’t return to normal, bleaching can lead to mass coral death, threatening the species and food chains that rely on them with collapse. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a climate scientist specializing in coral reefs based at the University of Queensland in Australia, predicted this mass bleaching event months ago. In February, scientists at the Coral Reef Watch program at NOAA added three new alert levels to the coral bleaching alert maps, to enable scientists to assess the new scale of underwater warming. Bex Wright/CNNIn mid-February, CNN witnessed extensive coral bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest coral reef system – on five different reefs spanning the northern and southern areas.

Persons: ” Derek Manzello, Ove Hoegh, “, Guldberg, ”, Lillian Suwanrumpha, Niña, El, Manzello, ” Manzello, Lady Elliot, Bex Wright, Selina Stead, ” Stead, David Ritter Organizations: CNN, Atlantic, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reef, Reef Watch, Pacific, University of Queensland, NOAA, Getty, Niña, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Park Authority, AIMS, UN, Greenpeace Locations: Pacific, Florida, Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Persian Gulf, Indonesia, Africa, Seychelles, Raja Ampat, Indonesia's West Papua, AFP, El, Lady, Greenpeace Australia

☆ Global ocean heat has been at record levels every single day for the last year
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

But he added that the records were unsurprising, given that ocean heat is being supercharged by human-caused global warming, a series of marine heatwaves and El Niño, a natural climate pattern marked by higher-than-average ocean temperatures. Global ocean warmth can add more power to hurricanes and other extreme weather events, including scorching heat waves and intense rainfall. Ocean heat sets the stage for more ferocious hurricanes. “Measuring ocean warming allows us to track the status and evolution of planetary warming,” Schuckmann told CNN. But, she added, it’s currently impossible to predict when ocean heat will drop below record levels.

Persons: ”, Joel Hirschi, El, Karina von Schuckmann, Brian McNoldy, ” Hirschi, ” Schuckmann, it’s, Derek Van Dam Organizations: CNN, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, University of Maine’s, National Oceanography, University of Miami Rosenstiel School Locations: Australia, France

☆ Australia: Mass coral bleaching event underway at Great Barrier Reef
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This is the seventh mass bleaching event to hit the vast, ecologically important but fragile site and the fifth in only eight years. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Elliot island on October 10, 2019. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images/FileBy continuing on the current pathway, “we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef and the $6 billion sustainable tourism industry,” said Schindler.

Persons: CNN —, El Niño, ”, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Dr, Lissa Schindler, Lady Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, Schindler, “, David Ritter, Derek Manzello Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian, Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Labor, Oceanic, NOAA, Reuters, Reef Watch Locations: Australia, Lady, Southern, Pacific

☆ Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers ‘extensive’ coral bleaching, as scientists fear seventh mass bleaching event
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The southern Great Barrier Reef is suffering from extensive coral bleaching due to heat stress, the reef’s managers said Wednesday, raising fears that a seventh mass bleaching event could be unfolding across the vast, ecologically important site. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty ImagesThe Great Barrier Reef’s managers plan to extend aerial and in-water surveys across the entire reef over the coming weeks. Hotter ocean temperatures caused severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Last year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided not to add the Great Barrier Reef to its list of sites “in danger,” despite scientific evidence suggesting the risk of another mass bleaching event. Greenpeace’s Ritter said that following the decision, “the Australian government promised to do everything it can to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Persons: Mark Read, Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, ”, Neal Cantin, Maya Srinivasan, ” Srinivasan, ” David Ritter, “, ” Ove Hoegh, Greenpeace’s Ritter Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, James Cook University, Marine Park Authority, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Foundation, Oceanic, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Labor Locations: Keppel, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, Cairns, Florida, Caribbean

☆ Mexico City may be just months away from running of out water
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Laura Paddison | Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Mexico City CNN —Alejandro Gomez has been without proper running water for more than three months. Historic lowsDensely populated Mexico City stretches out across a high-altitude lake bed, around 7,300 feet above sea level. The Cutzamala water system, a network of reservoirs, pumping stations, canals and tunnels, supplies about 25% of the water used by the Valley of Mexico, which includes Mexico City. She and her family often have to pay more than $100 for a tank of water from one of the city’s water trucks. “I don’t think anyone is prepared.”CNN’s Laura Paddison and Jack Guy reported from London, and Fidel Gutiérrez reported from Mexico City.

Persons: Mexico City CNN — Alejandro Gomez, Gomez, ”, Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, Jose Alfredo Ramirez, Cesar Rodriguez, it’s, It’s, Fabiola Sosa, ” Germán Arturo Martínez Santoyo, Raquel Cunha, Garcia, Becerra, La Niña, El Niño, UNAM’s Sarmiento, Conagua, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Martí Batres Guadarrama, Sosa, Rodríguez, “, Henry Romero, Márquez, doesn’t, ‘, ” Sosa, Amanda Martínez, Laura Paddison, Jack Guy, Fidel Gutiérrez Organizations: Mexico City CNN, CNN, Authorities, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Bloomberg, Getty, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Reuters, University of Northern, Local, Mexico City’s, Cape Town, Advisory, Mexico City Locations: Mexico, Mexico City’s Tlalpan, doesn’t, Mexico City, UNAM, Tenochtitlan, Spanish, Conagua, Cutzamala, Villa, Villa Victoria, University of Northern British Columbia, Iztapalapa, South Africa, Tlalpan, London

☆ Hurricane season 2024: Unprecedented ocean heat and La Niña could combine with dangerous effect
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Mary Gilbert | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Hurricane season is months away, but the waters where hurricanes roam haven’t received the memo. North Atlantic temperatures typically only go up from here, climbing in spring and reaching a maximum in early fall when hurricane season also peaks. The earlier La Niña arrives, the sooner it would influence hurricane season. “If you don’t want an active hurricane season, you would need La Niña to wait as long as possible to begin,” McNoldy said. Forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center believe La Niña could arrive as soon as summer, but more likely by fall.

Persons: haven’t, ” Brian McNoldy, “ We’ll, hasn’t, McNoldy, ” McNoldy, “, ”, Phil Klotzbach, Niña, Klotzbach, Rita, Irene, ” Klotzbach, El, Patrick T, Fallon, It’s, don’t Organizations: CNN, Hurricane, University of Miami, Central America, Colorado State University ., Getty Locations: West Africa, Central, Pacific, percolate, Hurricane, LaPlace, Louisiana, AFP

☆ Atmospheric river: Definition, relationship to hurricanes, potential benefits, and more FAQs answered
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Atmospheric rivers are rivers of water vapors low in the Earth's atmosphere. Below, we answer some FAQs about atmospheric rivers. What causes an atmospheric river? Atmospheric rivers and hurricanes have a few things in common, Cordeira said, but "the processes in the atmosphere that give rise to a hurricane are different than the processes that give rise to atmospheric rivers." In 1994, MIT researchers Yong Zhu and Reginald E. Newell published a paper about "atmospheric rivers and bombs."

Persons: Jason Cordeira, Cordeira, El, it's, Carlos Barria, they're, Yong Zhu, Reginald E, Newell, Ralph et al Organizations: Service, Los Angeles Times, Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Center, Western, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, West, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, REUTERS, MIT, University of California Locations: West Coast, Southern California, Mississippi, California, California , Oregon, Washington, Europe, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, West, Bolinas , California, Hawaii, San Diego

☆ Australia Records Its 8th Warmest Year as Climate Change Lifts Temperatures
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia experienced its eighth-warmest year in 2023, with the influence of climate change pushing average temperatures almost 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961-1990 average, the weather bureau said on Thursday. Forecasters warn that climate change will make Australia hotter and increase the severity of weather extremes. "Climate change continues to influence Australia's climate," the Bureau of Meteorology said. The national mean temperature was 0.98 C warmer than the 1961–1990 average, with the winter average 1.53 C above the 1961–1990 average, the bureau said. Forecasters expect El Nino to fade and perhaps swing later this year into its opposite, La Nina, which makes wetter weather more likely in Australia.

Persons: El, Nina, Peter Hobson, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: CANBERRA, Meteorology Locations: Australia, 473.70mm, Western Australia, El Nino, South America, Southeast Asia

☆ ‘Super El Niño’ is here, but will it last? What’s in store for the coming months
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Mary Gilbert | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The current El Niño is now one of the strongest on record, new data shows, catapulting it into rare “super El Niño” territory. It means a very strong El Niño is ongoing. El Niño influences weather around the globe, so its strength and demise will continue to have an impact on the weather we experience in the coming months. Average conditions during an El Niño winter across the continental US. El Niño has been known to enhance atmospheric river events on the West Coast.

Persons: El, El Niño, Niño, Michelle L’Heureux, ” L’Heureux, L’Heureux, El Niños, Javier Torres, There’s, CNN’s Rachel Ramirez, Brandon Miller Organizations: CNN, El, AFP, Getty Locations: El, California, West Coast, Americas, Chile, Valparaiso, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia

☆ January Was World's Warmest on Record, EU Scientists Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Kate AbnettBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The world just experienced its hottest January on record, continuing a run of exceptional heat fuelled by climate change, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. Last month surpassed the previous warmest January, which occurred in 2020, in C3S's records going back to 1950. Every month since June has been the world's hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years. "Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing," she said. Still, average global sea surface temperatures last month were the highest for any January on record.

Persons: Kate Abnett BRUSSELS, Samantha Burgess, Kate Abnett, Sandra Maler Organizations: El, Nina Locations: U.S, Paris

A handful of centuries-old sponges from deep in the Caribbean are causing some scientists to think human-caused climate change began sooner and has heated the world more than they thought. Other scientists were skeptical of the study's claim that the world has warmed that much more than thought. He said this study also supports the theory that climate change is accelerating, proposed last year by former NASA top scientist James Hansen. Carbon dioxide and other gases from the burning of fossil fuels are what causes climate change, scientists have established. “They are cathedrals of history, of human history, recording carbon dioxide in the the atmosphere, temperature of the water and pH of the water,” Winter said.

Persons: Malcolm McCulloch, ”, ” McCulloch, “, —, Amos Winter, James Hansen, Natalie Mahowald, McCulloch, Winter, Michael Mann, credulity, ” Mann, El, La Nina, Michael Oppenheimer, ” ___ Teresa de Miguel, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: University of Western, Associated Press, Indiana State University, NASA, Cornell University, United Nations, University of Pennsylvania, Caribbean, El Nino, La, Princeton University Locations: Caribbean, University of Western Australia, Mexico City, AP.org

☆ Scientists said the ozone hole was recovering. That good news was premature, one study claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But in a new study published Tuesday, some scientists claim it may not be recovering at all, and that the hole may even be expanding. In a paper, published by Nature Communications, they found that ozone levels have reduced by 26% since 2004 at the core of the hole in the Antarctic springtime. They used historical data to compare that behavior and changing ozone levels, and to measure signs of ozone recovery. “Altogether, our findings reveal the recent, large ozone holes may not be caused just by CFCs,” Kessenich said. “Those events have been shown to have strongly decreased the ozone hole size,” he said, “so including those events would probably have nullified any long-term negative trend.”

Persons: ”, Hannah Kessenich, didn’t, ” Kessenich, —, Martin Jucker Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, University of Otago, University of New, Science Media Center Locations: UN, Montreal, New Zealand, El, Southern, University of New South Wales, Australia

Mendoza, a former fighter for the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, dragged her children back inside the house. In interviews with Reuters, those people recounted how the attacks left conservation projects adrift, with conservationists withdrawing from environmental protection works because of fear of more violence. Municipal data from local environmental authorities and the Colombian Institute of Meteorology (IDEAM) also showed that in the year after each killing, deforestation at a local level was worse than national trends. Santofimio's killing brought his hard-fought conservation project to a halt. In the tree nursery, which stopped work after Santofimio's killing, saplings bask in the dappled sunlight beneath protective nets.

Persons: Duberney Lopez, Jorge Santofimio, PUERTO, Leidy Mendoza, Mendoza, Jorge !, they'd, Susana Muhamad, Muhamad, Colombia's, –, Armando Aroca, Santofimio, Lopez, Kevin Murakami, Comuccom, Aroca, Javier Franciso Parra, Francisco couldn't, Andres Felipe Garcia, Cormacarena, Parra, Garcia, Luisz Martinez, Martinez, La, KfW, Roberto Gomez, Gonzalo Cardona, Sara Ines Lara, Oliver Griffin, Julia Symmes Cobb, Katy Daigle, Claudia Parsons Organizations: Revolutionary Armed Forces, Colombian, Villagers, Reuters, Environment Ministry, Global, Colombian Institute of Meteorology, Comuccom, International Narcotics, Law, Affairs, U.S, National Liberation Army, UN, Programme, Meta, UNDP, Progress, World Wildlife Fund, Security, USAID, Thomson Locations: Colombia, PUERTO GUZMAN, Putumayo, Bogota, La, Meta, La Macarena, Amazonia, Puerto Guzman

Scientists say such extreme weather is becoming increasingly common globally because of climate change, which also intensifies the effects of El Nino. Never before has Lake Titicaca dried up like it is now. Experts say many of the factors contributing to the shrinking of Lake Titicaca could be linked to climate change. In global terms we have climate change, and phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina, which cause floods and droughts." Back at Lake Titicaca, Fredy Aruquipa, the person in charge of monitoring the lake's water level, watches it decline daily.

Persons: Alex Flores, Claudia Morales, Manuel Flores, El, Flores, Xavier Lazzaro, Rodney Camargo, La Nina, Fredy Aruquipa, Monica Machicao, Sergio Limachi, Isabel Woodford, Adam Jourdan, Andrea Ricci Organizations: REUTERS, El, Friends, Nature Foundation, El Nino, La, Thomson Locations: Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, South, El Alto, El Nino, Titicaca, United States, Asia

Unusually hot and dry weather in Mato Grosso has caught traders’ attention. October weather in North Mato Grosso BrazilIn Brazil’s southern state of Parana, October rainfall totaled around 350 mm (13.8 inches), the most for any month in at least 25 years. It is unhelpful in this analysis that there have not been many stronger El Ninos in recent years for comparison. Soy yield was 13% below trend that year, but otherwise, soy yields rarely miss in Mato Grosso, making it difficult to detect an impending disaster. In the south, Parana’s rainiest soy-growing seasons have most often coincided with El Ninos, but actual yield outcomes are mixed.

Persons: El Nino, Mato Grosso’s, Mato, La Nina, El, Karen Braun, Rod Nickel Organizations: Mato Grosso, Farmers, El Ninos, El Nino, Iowa, La, El, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Primavera, Mato, NAPERVILLE , Illinois, Brazil, Mato Grosso, North Mato, Brazil’s, Parana, U.S, Southern, Argentina

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Air pollution, a global scourge that kills millions of people a year, is shielding us from the full force of the sun. "It's this Catch-22," said Patricia Quinn, an atmospheric chemist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), speaking about cleaning up sulphur pollution globally. "If you implement technologies to reduce air pollution, this will accelerate – very significantly – global warming in the short term." The Chinese and Indian environment ministries didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the effects of pollution unmasking. As the implications of the pollution unmasking become more apparent, experts are casting around for methods to counter the associated warming.

Persons: poring, Patricia Quinn, Paulo Artaxo, Xi Jinping, Xi, El, Yangyang Xu, Xu, unmasking, Laura Wilcox, COVID, Sergey Osipov, Michael Diamond, Jake Spring, David Stanway, Sakshi Dayal, Katy Daigle Organizations: U.S . National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Reuters, World Health Organization, U.S . Clean, National People's, China Meteorological Administration, El Nino, M University, Britain's University of Reading, India Meteorological Department, India, Clean, Programme, King Abdullah University of Science, Technology, Florida State University, Thomson Locations: India, China, Beijing, 10.34C, Texas, Chongqing, Wuhan, SO2, heatwaves, Xinjiang, INDIA, Europe, Northern China, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Sao Paulo, Singapore, New Delhi

☆ How El Niño will affect the weather this winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Vehicles drive on the flooded Freeway 5 after an El Niño-strengthened storm brought rain to Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2016. Lucy Nicholson | ReutersThe El Niño weather pattern is still active heading into the winter this year and it will mean the northern and far west portions of the U.S. will have a warmer-than-usual winter. El Niño, meaning "little boy" in Spanish, and La Niña, meaning "little girl" in Spanish, are opposite weather patterns driven by a change in the trade winds in the Pacific Ocean. This is the first time in four years that El Niño has been active as winter begins, according to the NOAA. While El Niño rains will alleviate ongoing droughts in some regions, it may also drive the development of drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Persons: El, Lucy Nicholson, El Niño, Jon Gottschalck, Brad Pugh, Pugh Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Rockies Locations: Los Angeles, El, U.S, Alaska, Pacific Northwest, New England, Gulf, Mississippi, Great Lakes, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana

☆ An El Niño winter is coming: What could that mean for the US?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Mary Gilbert | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

El Niño is one of three phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which tracks water temperature changes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can have rippling effects on weather patterns around the globe. A wetter southern tier and a drier northern tier in an outlook for this winter from the Climate Prediction Center have all the fingerprints of an El Niño winter. El Niño winter patterns are less regular in California, the Southwest and the Northeast. The Northeast doesn’t have a well-defined set of expectations during an El Niño winter. A very strong El Niño during the 2015-2016 winter contributed to the warmest winter on record for the US mainland, according to NOAA.

Persons: it’s, Niño, El Niño, Niña, Harry Lynch Organizations: CNN, El, West, NOAA, Rockies, snowpack, ., Raleigh News, Observer, Tribune, Service, Carolinas Locations: El, Southern, Texas , Louisiana, Mississippi, South, Pacific Northwest, Plains, Midwest, Pacific, California, Raleigh , North Carolina, Texas, East Coast

☆ Why all signs point to an Australian summer of heat and fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On top of El Niño, there’s another climate fluctuation in the mix that amps up the likelihood of heat and drought. A fire rages in Bobin, 350 km north of Sydney, on November 9, 2019, during Australia's catastrophic Black Summer fire season. A combination of extreme heat and wind would likely fuel very intense fires “that will seem to come from nowhere,” he added. Whether summer heat will be unprecedented remains uncertain. “Increasing extreme heat is the clearest example,”he said, but it’s worsening the impacts of drought and extreme rain too.

Persons: CNN — It’s, El, ”, David Bowman, Steve Christo, ” Bowman, Karl Braganza, “, –, Peter Parks, Robb Webb, rainier, ” Braganza, Andrea Taschetto, Jason Evans Organizations: CNN, Sydney Marathon, University of Tasmania, Sydney, Getty, Australia’s, Meteorology, El, National Council, University of New Locations: Australia, New South Wales, AFP, Bobin, Sydney, Sydney’s, University of New South Wales

☆ Argentina wheat sales stall as farmers wait for election, rains
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Maximilian Heath | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This figure compares with 5.28 million tons recorded at almost the same date 2022/23, according to the farming secretariat. The Buenos Aires grains exchange forecasts a 2023/24 wheat harvest of 16.5 million tons, up from the previous drought-hit harvest but lower than a peak of 22.4 million tons in 2021/22. Reuters GraphicsWEATHER AT PLAYThe other factor that is holding wheat sales in the weather, after a historic drought hammered crops over the last year. Cane agreed that, along with a drop in international wheat prices compared with last season, climate uncertainty is weighing farmers as they wait for heavier rainfall. A report on Wednesday by the Rosario grains exchange said heavier rain may only arrive "in the last days of September or the first days of October."

Persons: Nina, Agustin Marcarian, Miguel Cane, Cane, Patricia Bullrich, Javier Milei, Sergio Massa, Roberto Frigo, Rosario de Tala, Frigo, Maximilian Heath, Nicolás Misculin, Adam Jourdan, Marguerita Choy Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Entre, Tala, Thomson Locations: Navarro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, BUENOS AIRES, El, Rosario de, Entre Rios, Rosario

☆ Opinion: Why we’re seeing so many deadly floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jessica Chia | Opinion Adam H. Sobel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Is this climate change, or just a particularly severe bunch of weather flukes happening in close succession due to the climate’s own natural variability? But climate change acts by loading the dice on many types of weather events. That shouldn’t be comforting; climate change could be playing a larger role than we expect in many of these events. Even without climate change, it would behoove us to catch up on their maintenance, or, where these dams are no longer truly needed, remove them. What we know about climate change and extreme weather should strengthen that motivation; what we don’t know should strengthen it even more.

Persons: Adam H, Sobel, Columbia University’s Lamont, Adam Sobel Danny Goldfield, Daniel, it’s, El Niño, El Niños, El Organizations: Columbia, Fu Foundation School of Engineering, Applied, Twitter, CNN, Humanitarian Affairs, El Locations: Massachusetts, Hong Kong, Greece, Spain, Libya, El, Europe

☆ Opinion | The Faustian Bargain of Reducing Air Pollution
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

This summer of extremes has been a summer of mystery, debate and even some confusion for climate scientists, who’ve been watching the news with the rest of us and asking, What, exactly, is going on? Is it just baseline global warming, trending upward, that explains the extreme temperatures on land and over sea? The arrival of a planet-warming El Niño in the Pacific? And when considering off-the-charts sea-surface temperatures, what role is being played by recent regulations designed to significantly reduce the sulfur emissions of ships, since less pollution in the air means more heat making its way to the water below? And almost certainly, the sulfur effect has been larger locally, along particular shipping routes in the world’s oceans, where some especially striking anomalies have been observed.

Persons: who’ve, what’s, alarmists, Robert Rohde Organizations: Berkeley Locations: Tonga, South, Phoenix

☆ Earth, wind and fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Earth, wind and fire The wildfire that ripped through Lahaina last week, reducing what had once been the jewel of the historic Hawaiian kingdom to rubble, was decades in the making, scientists say. Illustration of smoke rising above mountains How wind spreads fire As wind cascades over mountains, sinking air compresses, heats up and loses moisture. Over Aug. 7 to 9, gale-force wind gusts reached 67 miles per hour (108 kilometres per hour) in Maui County, according to the National Weather Service. Hot and dry air, colored in orange, moves over Hawaii throughout the timelapse. Today, over 90% of Hawaii’s native dry forests have disappeared, and non-native grasses cover roughly a quarter of the state, according to scientists.

Persons: didn’t, ”, Abby Frazier, Dora —, John Bravender, Dora, Hurricane Dora, “ Dora, Bravender, climatologist Frazier, Thomas Smith, Jennifer Balch, Mike Opgenorth, ” Smith, Matthew A, Foster, Handout Organizations: U.S . Drought Monitor, Clark University, National Weather Service, National Oceanic, Pacific Hurricane Center, North Pacific, London School of Economics, Political, University of Colorado Boulder, Pacific Fire Exchange, University of Hawaii, U.S . Army National Guard, Staff Locations: Lahaina, Lahaina —, West Maui, Lahaina simmered, Maui, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Maui County, Honolulu, Canada, India, South America, Caribbean, Lahaina , Hawaii, U.S

☆ Great Barrier Reef stays off UNESCO ‘in danger’ list but hot El Niño summer looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“A lot of climate scientists are shocked by the fact that it wasn’t put on the list,” Kimberley Reid from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and Monash University told CNN. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Environment minister Tanya Plibersek told reporters Tuesday she made no apology for lobbying UNESCO to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the “in danger” list. Bleaching events and global warming have done significant damage to the Great Barrier Reef. Tourists, divers and marine biologists enter and exit the waters of the Great Barrier Reef on August 10, 2022 on Hastings Reef, Australia.

Persons: El, wasn’t, Kimberley Reid, I’m, ”, Reid, Tanya Plibersek, Michael Robinson Chavez, ” Plibersek, that’s, Terry Hughes, El Niño, ” Hughes, David Booth, government’s, “ Will, Booth, Jodie Rummer, “ That’s Organizations: Australia CNN —, UNESCO World Heritage, ARC Centre, Excellence, Extremes, Monash University, CNN, “, Heritage, UNESCO, Labor, Washington Post, Coral Reef, James Cook University, Australian, of Meteorology, Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, World Meteorological Organization, UTS, Reef Society, Federal Government Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Paris, Hastings Reef

In June, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared that an El Nino is now under way. Meteorologists expect that this El Nino, coupled with excess warming from climate change, will see the world grapple with record-high temperatures. Here is how El Nino will unfold and some of the weather we might expect:WHAT CAUSES AN EL NINO? El Nino could offer a reprieve to the Horn of Africa, which recently suffered five consecutive failed rainy seasons. Historically, both El Nino and La Nina have occurred about every two to seven years on average, with El Nino lasting 9 to 12 months.

Persons: Kim Hong, heatwaves, El, El Nino, Michelle L'Heureux, Tom DiLiberto, DiLiberto, La Nina, Nina, Gloria Dickie, Jake Spring, Angus MacSwan, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, Nino, Reuters, El Nino, U.S . National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, El, Graphics, el nino, NINO, U.S . West, La, Sao Paulo, Thomson Locations: Cheongju, South Korea, China, United States, Beijing, Rome, Americas, Asia, El, Pacific, Peru, Philippines, Canada, Central, South America, Australia, of Africa, Eastern Pacific, El Nino, London, Sao

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