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☆ An orca pod has been harassing and killing porpoises for decades — but they don't eat them. Scientists still don't know why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But oddly enough, the killer whales don't eat the animals. Orcas are killing porpoises but not eating themFrom 1962 to 2020, researchers recorded and studied 78 episodes of Southern Resident Killer Whales harassing and, in many cases, killing multiple types of porpoises. They lead the majority of their lives in a group setting, in pods of up to 20 other killer whales, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The orcas' choice not to eat the porpoises was consistent with what Marino had seen in her years in the field. And sometimes they show them how to do it and then they don't actually eat the animal," she said.

Persons: —, Eric Lowenbach, Lori Marino, Martin Ruegner, Marino, We've, orcas, Serge Melesean, Deborah Giles, Giles Organizations: Service, Southern, Mammal, British Columbia, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Newsweek Locations: Pacific, North Pacific, Washington , Oregon, British, Mayotte, France

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is calling on the federal government to enact emergency rules to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with large ships. The groups filed their petition with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Sept. 28 in an effort to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The groups cited a proposed rule from the agency designed to prevent such ship strikes by making more vessels slow down for whales. NOAA has yet to release a final updated speed rule despite proposing new rules more than a year ago, the environmental groups said. The right whales were once abundant off the East Coast, but they were decimated during the commercial whaling era.

Persons: “, can’t, Kristen Monsell, Katie Wagner, Wagner Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Center for Biological Diversity Locations: PORTLAND, Maine, Atlantic, New England, Canada, Florida, Georgia, East Coast

The high-quality video includes the official identification of the Akagi, while also providing new clues about the final hours of the aircraft carriers. “I just hated to see my ship torn up like that.”All three aircraft carriers were found previously, the Yorktown in 1998 and the Japanese ships four years ago. Besides sinking the Akagi, the Kaga and two other Japanese aircraft carriers, U.S. forces shot down more than 250 Japanese airplanes. When ordered to abandon ship, Taylor jumped overboard and tried to swim to a nearby destroyer, U.S.S. “I was really upset because I loved that ship,” Taylor said.

Persons: Akagi, Kaga, Julian Hodges, ” Hodges, “, —, Bob Ballard, ” Daniel Wagner, it’s, Michael Leggins, Hodges, Robert Taylor, Taylor, Hans Van Tilburg, ”, Balch, Wagner, “ Nobody’s, ” Taylor, ” ___ Thiessen Organizations: Pacific, Imperial Japanese Navy, Yorktown, Ocean Exploration, Papahānaumokuākea, Northwestern, Ocean Exploration Trust, Associated Press, Nautilus, Midway, U.S . Pacific Fleet, Navy, AP, National Oceanic, Marine Sanctuaries Locations: U.S, . Yorktown, Yorktown, Northwestern Hawaiian, Honolulu, “, videoconference, Midway, Asia, Johnson City , Tennessee, Auburndale , Florida, Anchorage , Alaska

☆ Orcas Learned to Steal Fish From Lines, May Be Killing Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But it could also be a fad spreading simply because the killer whales find the behavior entertaining. AdvertisementAdvertisementObservers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are now investigating what exactly has caused the recent spike in killer whales' deaths near Alaska. Thankfully, resident fish-eating killer whales in Alaska are not endangered. NOAA estimates there are in excess of 1,920 living near Alaska. But all killer whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which means any death or injury needs to be reported, per NOAA.

Persons: —, They've, they've, That's, orcas Organizations: Service, Anchorage Daily, Portland Press Herald, Getty, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Mammal Protection Locations: Alaska, Seattle, South Africa

☆ 9 orcas have died so far this year after they were trapped in fishery equipment off the coast of Alaska
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Nine orcas have died after becoming entangled in fishing equipment off the Alaska coast this year. Only five orcas died from fishing equipment in the region between 2016 and 2020. From 2016 to 2020, meanwhile, just five orcas were caught and killed by fishing gear off the Alaska coast, NOAA reported. These orcas likely aren't members of the Southern Resident species, of which there were only 73 individuals left in 2022. Orcas made headlines throughout this summer, but for a very different reason: killer whales began ramming into boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal almost daily.

Persons: Hannah Myers, orcas, Orcas Organizations: Service, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Anchorage Daily, Southern Locations: Alaska, Wall, Silicon, Anchorage, Northern California , Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Spain, Portugal

The Office of Management and Budget reminded senior agency officials Friday to update and review shutdown plans. Those plans can vary from shutdown to shutdown. The nearly 4 million Americans who are federal employees will feel the effect immediately. Essential workers will remain on the job, but others will be furloughed until the shutdown is over. For many of them, a shutdown would strain their finances, as it did during the record 35-day funding lapse in 2018-2019.

Persons: “, ”, Doreen Greenwald, Everett Kelley, Pell, disbursing Pell, It’s, treasurers Organizations: CNN, Management, National Treasury Employees Union, American Federation of Government Employees, Transportation Security Administration, Social Security, TSA, of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, Business Administration, Futures, US Centers for Disease Control, Drug Administration, Safety, Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, ”, Smithsonian, National, National Archives, National Park Service, of Education, Federal Student Aid, Federal, Department of, Assistance, SNAP, US Department of Agriculture, Women, of Housing, Urban Development, Commission, Research, NOAA, Oceanic, Administration, National Science Foundation, Peace Corps, State Department, Defense Department Locations: United States, America, Washington, DC, shutdowns

☆ Weakening Ophelia brings more rain and flood risk to U.S. East Coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tropical storm Ophelia approaches North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, U.S. in this image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-East weather satellite, September 22, 2023. NOAA/Handout REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSept 24 (Reuters) - Ophelia, downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, brought more rain and wind as it moved along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, forecasters said on Sunday. Between one and three inches of rain could fall in areas impacted by Ophelia, and forecasters warned that life-threatening surf and rip currents would impact much of the East Coast throughout the weekend. The National Weather Service in New York expected one or two feet of "inundation above ground level" in waterfront areas of Long Island's Suffolk County. Tropical storm Philippe was about 1,175 miles (1890 kilometers) west of the Cabo Verde islands which are near the West Coast of Africa.

Persons: Ophelia, Philippe, Maria Caspani, Chizu Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Handout REUTERS, National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, Thomson Locations: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, U.S, United States, Emerald Isle , North Carolina, New England, East, New Jersey, New York, Long Island's Suffolk County, Cabo Verde, West Coast of Africa

☆ Tropical Storm Ophelia lashes Mid-Atlantic with fierce winds, heavy rains
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tropical storm Ophelia approaches North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, U.S. in this image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-East weather satellite, September 22, 2023. NOAA/Handout REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSept 23 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ophelia came ashore on Saturday along the Atlantic Coast where it doused the region with torrential downpours and unrelenting winds that caused flooding and widespread power outages. Nearly 8 million people across the Mid-Atlantic - from New York to South Carolina - were under tropical storm, storm surge and flooding warnings as of midday on Saturday, the National Weather Service said. After making landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina around 6:15 a.m. EDT (10:15 UTC), Ophelia was moving inland on a northerly path as it dumped heavy downpours and whipped strong winds in its wake. By midday, more than 65,000 homes and businesses in the North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and were without power, according to Poweroutage.com.

Persons: Ophelia, Bryce Shelton, Brendan O'Brien, Franklin Paul Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Handout REUTERS, National Weather Service, Franklin Paul Our, Thomson Locations: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, U.S, New York, Emerald Isle , North Carolina, Washington , North Carolina, In Virginia, North Carolina , Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Chicago

☆ Tropical storm Ophelia could slam mid-Atlantic states on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tropical storm Ophelia approaches North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, U.S. in this image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-East weather satellite, September 22, 2023. In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm, dubbed Ophelia, which is expected to hit the state on Friday evening. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for much of the area, along with storm surge warnings, the National Weather Service said. Late Friday, the agency also issued a hurricane watch for parts of Eastern North Carolina, saying that Air Force Reserve hurricane hunters had found that Ophelia had strengthened. In addition to life-threatening storm surges along the coast, Ophelia could spur flooding from North Carolina to New Jersey through Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Persons: Glenn Youngkin, Ophelia, Youngkin, Sharon Bernstein, Josie Kao, Timothy Gardner Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Handout REUTERS, National Weather Service, Air Force Reserve, Air Force, Thomson Locations: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, U.S, Delaware, Chesapeake, Potomac, Eastern North Carolina, New Jersey

☆ Earth’s Hottest August on Record Followed a Record-Breaking June and July
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Last month was the planet’s warmest August in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 174-year record, agency officials said on Thursday. The global surface temperature for the month was 2.25 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.25 degrees Celsius, above the 20th century average. July and June were also the warmest on record globally, and global surface sea temperatures hit a record high for the fifth month in a row. In the United States, this August was the ninth-warmest on record. But Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi were especially hot, with all three states experiencing their warmest August ever.

Organizations: Oceanic Locations: United States, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi

Decade to decade, costly extreme weather events are increasing in both frequency and intensity as greenhouse gases build up in our atmosphere. The true cost of extreme heatLois Nigrin grew up on a farm and loved getting outdoors. Her ordeal points to the rising cost of extreme heat, the leading weather-related killer in the US. The true cost of floodingBarb Grant has built her life's work around helping others. The true cost of inactionThere is more to this story than a set of ruinous tragedies.

Persons: Lois Nigrin, —, Yoon, Nigrin, Read, Dale Murden, who's, He's, he's, Murden, Jason Garza, Barb Grant, Grant, Miriam Alarcón Avila, She's Organizations: Center for American, Atlantic Council, The Texas Tribune, Administration, Texas, Citrus Committee, M, Pew Charitable Locations: heatstroke, Texas, Arizona, Nebraska, Harlingen , Texas, Mexico, Southeast Texas, Iowa

☆ Deep-sea mining could help solve the global critical minerals shortage, but it's a lightning rod for controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But extracting these metals via deep-sea mining has become a lightning rod for global controversy, as many fear the potential ecological disruptions it could cause in a part of our planet that remains largely unexplored. The Metals Company has announced that it's planning to submit its application next summer and begin exploitation in 2025, leaving many concerned about the potential implications. "What I am absolutely convinced of is that we can slow down or maybe even stop the growth in rainforest nickel," Barron said. Deep-sea mining avoids the emissions associated with blasting, as well as sulfidic tailings, a waste material that can contaminate groundwater. Great unknownsA few years ago, the World Wildlife Fund released a business statement calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

Persons: Jessica Battle, Gerard Barron, we're, Barron, Andrew Miller Organizations: Clarion, United Nations, International, Authority, ISA, Metals Company, Mining, The Metals Company, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Metals, World Wildlife, Google, Samsung, BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Renault, WWF, CCZ, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: Indonesia, Congolese, U.S, Texas

Forecasting solar storms is especially difficult right now, even as the sun is getting more active. CMEs fling charged, super-hot plasma into space, and sometimes — like in the case of this CME — that plasma strikes Earth. On the bright side, these solar storms also make stunning displays of the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, visible in the middle of the US. On a different day, all of these effects combined could have created a very violent solar storm. In the worst-case scenario, which is very rare, all the conditions align to send a very fast and very powerful solar storm to Earth.

Persons: oozing, Keith Strong, Lockheed Martin, Dean Pesnell, Rune Stoltz Bertinussen, Matt Owens, Bryan Brasher, Daniel Verscharen, Owens Organizations: Service, Lockheed, NASA, Dynamics, Prediction, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reuters, CME, University of Reading, University College London, NASA Solar Dynamics Locations: Wall, Silicon, Tromso, Norway, Montana , Missouri, Virginia

☆ A giant eruption from the sun could bring the Northern Lights as far south as New York, Chicago, and Portland overnight Monday and early Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The reason for this brilliant display is the sun, which shot a giant eruption of charged particles toward Earth on Sunday. The colorful Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, appear when electrically charged particles from the sun interact with molecules in Earth's atmosphere. Northern Lights may appear unusually far southTypically these dazzling green, red, pink, and purple lights only appear around the Arctic Circle, or around the South Pole (there it's called the aurora australis). That's because our planet's magnetic field lines channel the steady stream of particles, called the "solar wind," to the poles. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhere the aurora might appear tonightThe below map of the Space Weather Prediction Center's aurora forecast shows where late-night or early-morning sky watchers might be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights.

Persons: Dean Pesnell, Keith Strong, Lockheed Martin, Mike Hapgood, there's Organizations: Service, NASA, Dynamics, Lockheed, NOAA, Prediction Center, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Administration Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York , Illinois, Oregon

Like most lobstermen, the Maine House Republican leader scrambled to complete his work ahead of the remnants of Hurricane Lee. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham was rushing home from sea when a giant wave rose up, seemingly from nowhere, and towered over his boat. Suffering a black eye, facial fracture and stitched lip, Faulkingham counted Polk and himself lucky to be alive Monday. In the meantime, the Coast Guard, responding to the beacon, alerted Faulkingham's wife at 12:20 p.m. and the search was on. He hauled them onto his lobster boat and rush to shore, where an ambulance took them to the hospital.

Persons: Hurricane Lee, Rep, Billy Bob Faulkingham, Alex Polk, ” Faulkingham, Faulkingham, Polk, It’s, ”, Faulkingham's, Mikie Faulkingham, Lee, Diolanda Caballero, “, — it’s, ” Caballero Organizations: Maine House Republican, Atmospheric Administration, . Coast Guard, lobstermen, Coast Guard, Associated Press, National Weather Service Locations: Hurricane, Winter, Desert Island, Acadia, Gulf of Maine

☆ Ten countries and territories saw severe flooding in just 12 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Hong Kong CNN —September started with a typhoon that ripped through Hong Kong, uprooting trees and flooding the city. People walk past houses destroyed by heavy rain and flooding in Derna, Libya, on September 13, 2023. Elsewhere in Europe, a separate storm – Storm Dana – saw torrential rain across Spain, damaging homes and killing at least three people. Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters An aerial view of the devastation after flooding caused by Storm Daniel on September 15. Abdullah Mohammed Bonja/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images This satellite photo shows the extent of Derna's flooding on September 12.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Jung, Eun Chu, Esam Omran, Chu, they’ve, Storm Daniel, Angelos Tzortzinis, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Theodoros Skylakakis, “, Megala, Giannis Floulis, Dana –, Cross, Martin Griffiths, Ciaran Donnelly, Amr Alfiky, Ayman Al, Zohra Bensemra, Yousef Murad, Muhammad J, Abdullah Doma, Ahmed Elumami, Jamal Alkomaty, Abdullah Mohammed Bonja, Omar Jarhman, Ali Al, Saadi, Haikui –, Saola, Haikui, Maria Clara Sassaki, Rick Cinclair, Phil Klotzbach Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, UN, City University of Hong, Getty, Greek, CNN, International Committee, International Rescue, United Arab Emirates, Reuters Volunteers, Reuters, Elalwany, Anadolu Agency, Reuters Workers, Planet Labs PBC, AP, AFP, CNN Brasil, Worcester Telegram, Gazette, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University Locations: Hong Kong, Libya, City University of Hong Kong, Derna, Europe, Greece, Palamas, AFP, Megala Kalyvia, Turkey, Istanbul, Bulgaria, Spain, Libyan, Shahhat, Asia, Taiwan, China, Shenzhen, Americas, Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazilian, United States, Nevada, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Leominster , Massachusetts, El

☆ These bonds offer high yields for taking on hurricane and other disaster risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Hurricane Lee is just the latest in what is expected to be an above-normal hurricane season this year. To help potentially pay for damages borne of these extreme weather events, companies in the insurance industry sell catastrophe bonds. There is just over $38 billion in outstanding cat bonds on the market right now, and she thinks it could push over $40 billion by the end of the year. How cat bonds work Cat bonds pay the issuer when a predefined disaster risk is realized, known as an attachment point. Investing in cat bonds While catastrophe bonds mainly target institutional investors, Amundi's Pioneer Cat Bond Fund has A shares available for retail investors.

Persons: Hurricane Lee, Corey Anger, Guy Carpenter, Artemis, Anger, Steve Evans, Amundi's, Morningstar Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, GC Securities, Treasury, AAA, World Bank, Cat Bond, Artemis Deal Locations: United States, U.S

☆ Hurricane Lee path: Vast stretches of coastal New England face hurricane and tropical storm watches ahead of storm's arrival
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Elizabeth Wolfe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Hurricane conditions, heavy rainfall, and coastal flooding are possible in portions of eastern Maine on Saturday,” the National Hurricane Center said. The area is under a hurricane watch, as is parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A tropical storm watch has also been issued for large swaths of coastal New England, including Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. ET Thursday and was churning with maximum sustained winds of up to 100 mph, according to a hurricane center advisory. The storm is on track to sweep past Bermuda to its west Thursday, prompting an island-wide tropical storm warning.

Persons: Lee, Lee doesn’t, Josh Rannenberg, ” Rannenberg, CNN’s “ Erin Burnett Organizations: CNN, National Hurricane Center, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: New England, barreling, Maine, Atlantic Canada, Atlantic, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Vineyard , Massachusetts, Bermuda, New Hampshire, Rhode

They come as New Jersey continues to grow as a hub of opposition to offshore wind projects from residents' groups and their political allies, mostly Republicans. The state's Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature want to make the state the East Coast leader in offshore wind energy. “Our goal is to bring offshore wind energy monitoring activities into this partnership. Opponents of offshore wind blame the deaths of 70 whales along the East Coast since December on offshore wind site preparation work. Earlier this week, Republicans in the state Senate called for a moratorium on all offshore wind projects.

Persons: Doug Perkins, “, ”, Jon Hare, Perkins, David Shanker, ” Shanker, Wayne Parry Organizations: CITY, Democratic, East Coast, Grid Ventures, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, Atlantic City, National Marine Fisheries Service, Right Whales Coalition, Twitter Locations: N.J, New Jersey, Essen, Germany, New York, Long, , New York, Denmark, Ocean City, Atlantic, East Coast, American, Orsted, www.twitter.com

☆ Last month was the hottest August ever recorded, as year of climate extremes continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Palestinian Mustafa Abdo, 75-years old, repairs a fan at his shop amid a heat wave at Shati refugee camp. Multiple heat records have been shattered this summer. Last month was the hottest August ever recorded, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records stretching back 174 years. Global sea surface temperatures were the highest for any August on record, and it was the fifth month in a row where global ocean sea surface temperatures set new highs for each respective month. The sea surface temperature anomaly, or measurement of the departure from a long-term average, for August 2023 was also the largest anomaly on record.

Persons: Mustafa Abdo, Abdo Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Southern Hemisphere

☆ Stunning video appeared to show 2 humpback whales trying to save a seal from a pod of orcas, but the seal may have been trying to hide behind the gentle giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

National Geographic captured humpback whales interrupting orcas that were hunting a seal in Antarctica. But then, Gregory said in the video, two humpback whales appeared out of nowhere. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile killer whales do not pose a direct threat to adult humpback whales, which are much larger than orcas, killer whales do prey on humpback whale calves. While most people believe the humpbacks are swimming over to save the seal, the seal may actually be swimming toward the humpbacks to save itself. Sea lions and seals have been captured hopping onto boats in order to evade killer whales.

Persons: Bertie Gregory, Gregory, Leigh Hickmott, Andrew Trites, Trites, Robert Pitman, Pitman Organizations: Geographic, Service, University of St, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, Biologists, US, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Hakai Magazine Locations: Antarctica, Wall, Silicon, Andrews, Scotland, University of British Columbia, Canada, British Columbia

☆ A Record for Billion-Dollar Disasters Shows the Limits of America’s Defenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | More About Christopher Flavelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United States has suffered 23 billion-dollar disasters so far in 2023, a record for this point in the year that highlights the country’s struggle to adapt to the effects of climate change. In one sense, the growing cost of disasters is unsurprising. The burning of fossil fuels is causing air and water temperatures to increase, which in turn makes it possible for hurricanes to become stronger, rainfall to become more intense and wildfires to spread faster. The NOAA data, which tracks the number of billion-dollar disasters in the United States, adjusted for inflation, shows a relatively steady upward march, from three such disasters in 1980 to 22 in 2020. The current year has already exceeded that record set in 2020.

Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Locations: States, Maui, Florida, Minnesota, United States

☆ 2023 severe weather: $57 billion in damage and 253 people dead so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The nation has been hit by 23 such disasters so far in 2023, the highest number since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration started keeping records in 1980. The previous record was set in 2020 with 22 separate disasters that each caused a billion or more dollars in damage. The 23 disasters this year have caused more than $57.6 billion in damage and killed at least 253 people, according to the NOAA report. The number of billion-dollar weather disasters has been increasing since 1980. In the most recent five years, there have been 18 such disasters annually on average, according to NOAA.

Persons: Idalia Organizations: U.S, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Locations: Hawaii, Florida, West Maui, Big Bend

“I would not expect things to slow down anytime soon.”NOAA has been tracking billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States since 1980 and adjusts damage costs for inflation. Political Cartoons View All 1152 Images“Exposure plus vulnerability plus climate change is supercharging more of these into billion-dollar disasters,” Smith said. NOAA added eight new billion-dollar disasters to the list since its last update a month ago. “This year a lot of the action has been across the center states, north central, south and southeastern states,” Smith said. Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field called the trend in billion-dollar disasters “very troubling.”“But there are things we can do to reverse the trend," Field said.

Persons: Adam Smith, ” Smith, “, Smith, ”, Craig Fugate, Katharine Jacobs, Jacobs, Chris Field, Seth Borenstein Organizations: Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Emergency Management Agency, El Nino, University of Arizona, Stanford University, Twitter, AP Locations: Hawaii, United States, America, California, Midwest, Minnesota, Nebraska , Missouri , Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan , Wisconsin , Ohio , Tennessee, Georgia, Northeast, Pennsylvania, Missouri , Illinois, El

☆ Flood insurance swamps US government
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The U.S. government’s flood coverage could soon find itself financially underwater. The National Flood Insurance Program, which covers nearly 5 million properties, needs to be reauthorized by Congress by the end of the month to avoid a housing crunch. A FEMA report seen by the Associated Press estimated another 1 million fewer Americans will buy flood insurance by the end of the decade, further starving the program of much-needed funds. The program’s flood fund lost nearly $1.9 billion in fiscal 2022, up from a $236 million loss the year prior. Follow @BenWinck on XCONTEXT NEWSCongressional authorization for the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program is set to lapse on Sept. 30 if lawmakers don’t approve a new extension.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Evelyn Hockstein, Hurricane Lee, Lee, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Flood Insurance, National Association of Realtors, FEMA, Associated Press, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Association, U.S, National Flood Insurance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Hurricane Center, Thomson Locations: Oak, Florida, U.S, United States, Singapore, East Coast

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