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☆ Aid groups seek green light from Myanmar junta to access cyclone-hit state
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A view of the damage caused by Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe, Myanmar in this handout image released May 17, 2023. The U.N. Development Programme, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and U.N. refugee agency UNHCR also said their requests were pending approval. "It is important for humanitarian actors to ascertain damage, needs and provide immediate lifesaving assistance, not least as the monsoon season nears," UNHCR spokesperson Reuben Lim Wende said. State media on Wednesday said junta leader Min Aung Hlaing had visited affected areas in Bagan, another region, and separately met with a UNHCR representative to discuss relief efforts. About 5.4 million people were expected to have been in the storm's path, the majority of whom were considered vulnerable.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain is accelerating plans to protect London from flooding caused by a warming climate and rising sea levels, bringing forward its scheme of work to protect the city centre by 15 years. The government statement said the change was based on improved climate change models which showed the "heightened risk of flooding from a warming climate and rising sea levels." Rising sea levels, in part caused by melting glaciers and record ocean temperatures, are a global threat posing existential risk to some low-lying island states and coastal cities. In April, the World Meteorological Organization said global sea levels were rising at more than double the pace they did in the first decade of measurements in 1993-2002 and touched a new record high last year. ($1 = 0.7923 pounds)Reporting by William James, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cyclone Mocha tears into Myanmar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Cyclone Mocha barrels into Myanmar The powerful storm unleashes its fury, disrupting communications in the regionAround midday on Sunday, Cyclone Mocha pummelled western Myanmar and southern Bangladesh. Map shows the path of Cyclone Mocha. It originated in the Bay of Bengal three days before it hit the coast of Myanmar on May 14. Satellite images show Sittwe before and after landfall of Cyclone Mocha, in Myanmar. Myanmar’s coast bore the brunt of the storm surge from Mocha, according to data from the EU’s Joint Research Centre.

Since forming in the Bay of Bengal early Thursday, tropical Cyclone Mocha has intensified to a high-end Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, with sustained winds of 240kph (150mph). Tropical cyclones (also known as hurricanes, typhoons and tropical storms depending on ocean basin and intensity), feed off ocean heat. They need temperatures of at least around 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit Fahrenheit) to form, and the warmer the ocean, the more moisture they can take up. The waters in the Bay of Bengal are currently around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit Fahrenheit), about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average for May. Climate-change fueled sea-level rise adds to the risks, worsening storm surges from tropical cyclones and allowing them to travel further inland.

☆ Hurricanes of Data: The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Porter Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +35 min

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea Shortly after dawn on Sept. 30, 2021, Richard Jenkins watched a Category 4 hurricane overrun his life’s work. That August, a sister ship, SD 1031, successfully entered Tropical Storm Henri, but only in its early stages. Hurricane research, modeling and forecasting requires many terabytes of data for every square mile the storm passes through, including vitally important sea-level data from inside a storm. The next day, the depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and officially given the name Sam. And four months later, Tropical Storm Megi killed more than 150, wiped out several villages with landslides and displaced more than a million people.

☆ Cyclone Ilsa rapidly intensifies as it approaches landfall in Western Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —A massive cyclone swirling off Australia’s western coast will likely make landfall as a category 5 storm – the strongest on the national scale – according to the country’s official forecaster. “Communities in those coastal areas hopefully are already hunkered down, ready to ride this one out. The last major cyclone of this strength to hit the Western Australian coast was Cyclone George in 2007 with winds that reached 275 kph (170 mph). The strongest storm ever to hit any part of Australia was Cyclone Monica, which arrived in 2006 with sustained winds around 290 kph (180 mph), as it swept across the eastern and northern parts of Australia. That cyclone missed highly populated areas but brought down trees and caused severe damage to vegetation along with a storm surge up to six meters high.

☆ Billionaire founder of Paul Mitchell and Patron invests in man-made coral reefs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Coral reefs, often called the "rainforests of the sea," support roughly 25% of all known marine species. And the planet has lost half its coral reefs since the 1950s due in large part to climate change. The annual value of U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries dependent on coral reefs is $200 million. Brosnan has been studying coral reefs for more than 25 years, with a specific focus on the Caribbean. So right now today, we lose more coral reefs in a day than we can restore in a decade."

☆ A hidden time bomb? A 'Big Short' investor sees financial disaster brewing in housing markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Josh Edelson | Afp | Getty ImagesMore than a decade after a U.S. mortgage meltdown threatened to destroy the international financial system, a "Big Short" investor once again sees financial disaster brewing in the real estate market. Now, Burt believes an overlooked climate risk could see history repeating itself. U.S. housing market overvalued? watch now"The biggest reason why it matters from our perspective is that climate risk isn't being priced into the housing market," Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications at First Street Foundation, told CNBC. 'A humanitarian crisis'Far from a domestic issue, Burt stressed the climate risks associated with the U.S. housing market posed a major problem for countries worldwide.

☆ New York will demolish and elevate a waterfront park to fight floods, angering some neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

A waterfront area in Battery Park City, which is at the center of a major climate resilience project. Emma Newburger | CNBCWagner Park, a cherished waterfront greenspace in Battery Park City, boasts unobstructed views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. Wagner Park will soon be demolished and built ten feet higher as part of the Battery Park City Resiliency Project. "The Wagner Park plan has gotten some critical attention from a few, but it's also gotten a lot of support." "This community is going to be fine one way or the other," Pawlowski said of Battery Park City.

☆ Why Everyone Is Moving to Florida: Jobs, Economy, Cost of Living, Taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Emil Skandul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

For other states to compete, they will need to pay attention to what Florida is doing right. Floridians pay no income tax and fewer taxes overall than people in states like New York, California, or Massachusetts. But a low tax rate isn't the only thing people care about. Despite having a budget half the size of New York's and a larger population, Florida, by many metrics, is able to do significantly more with the taxes it collects. Florida is also outshining New York and other major population centers in tackling the soaring cost of housing.

☆ Mauritius halts flights, shuts stock exchange as cyclone Freddy approaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PORT LOUIS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Mauritius on Monday grounded flights and shut its stock exchange as Tropical Cyclone Freddy approached, posing a "direct threat" to the Indian Ocean island. A Class III cyclone warning was in force in Mauritius, allowing about six hours of daylight before the occurrence of wind gusts of 120 kilometres per hour. Mauritius, along with other Indian Ocean countries like Madagascar and African coastal nations like Mozambique, is regularly affected by severe storms and cyclones capable of destroying homes, infrastructure and crops. "As Freddy approaches Mauritius, (a) storm surge is likely to cause coastal inundation in risk areas. Reporting by Villen Anganan; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 60,000 miles of US roads could be under water in a few decades. Here's how experts say we can save our critical infrastructure.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"In the Keys, if you redo your house, you have to mitigate it for sea level rise," he told Insider. The islands are particularly exposed to rising sea levels. Across the country, you can expect coastlines to rise an average of 10 to 12 inches over the next 30 years, according NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer, which lets you adjust sea level rise and visualize how in trouble your house or your commute might be. Then, he started doing what NOAA recommends, reading about sea level rise and the plans that individual communities are studying to increase their own resiliency. By understanding how to adapt incrementally, and starting to act as soon as possible, the US can learn how to adapt to rising sea levels.

☆ New Zealand's Auckland braces for ex-cyclone Gabrielle impact
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Residents of New Zealand's biggest city were urged on Sunday to prepare for the impact of a storm that buffeted Australia's Norfolk Island overnight. Gabrielle, downgraded to a sub-tropical low pressure system from a Category 2 cyclone, passed over Norfolk Island, its "most destructive winds" missing the island, the Australian outpost's emergency management authority said. Wind and rain were "starting to spread across NZ from the north", with a 133 kph (83 mph) wind gust reported overnight on the country's North Island, MetService said. The storm was on track to lie off Cape Reinga at the North Island's north end on Sunday afternoon, after moving away from Norfolk Island, MetService said. "There is still considerable clean up to be undertaken and it may take a while for services such as power to be restored," Emergency Management Norfolk Island said.

☆ New Zealand braces for more bad weather as cyclone set to track south
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Auckland Emergency Management said it was working with MetService, the meteorological agency, to track the storm, dubbed Cyclone Gabrielle. Gabrielle is sitting in the Coral Sea but is forecast to track south toward Aoetearoa, New Zealand, over the next few days and near the North Island on Monday. New Zealand weather forecaster WeatherWatch.co.nz said the cyclone, which will most likely become a Category 3 cyclone this weekend, will reach the country between Sunday and Tuesday. It added that the potential weather event would be concerning even if had Auckland not recently experienced serious flooding. Roughly one cyclone makes affects New Zealand each year.

☆ Fact Check-Clip of wooden cabin being swept away pre-dates Turkey-Syria earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A clip of a red wooden cabin being swept away by a storm surge was not filmed following two powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and northwest Syria on Feb. 6. The clip was filmed in Greenland and shows a tsunami that hit a village in June 2017. Examples of the clip being shared as if it showed the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Turkey on Monday can be viewed (here) and (here). A 7.8 magnitude quake first hit Turkey and northwest Syria before sunrise, followed by a 7.7 magnitude quake in the afternoon (here). The clip was filmed in a village in Greenland and was uploaded to YouTube in April 2021.

☆ California Braces for More Widespread Flooding, Damaging Winds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Forecasters expect California to experience more powerful storms with heavy rain, damaging winds and a significant risk of flash flooding, adding to weeks of rainfall and storm surges in the state. The National Weather Service forecast storms in northern and central California caused by what it called a relentless parade of cyclones moving across the Pacific Ocean. The storms are expected to bring rain and wind late Sunday and into Monday morning. Flooding concerns will continue into Tuesday. The National Weather Service has also forecast the potential for mudslides.

☆ California faces more torrential rain, high winds and flooding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A drone view of a tree that fell during a winter storm with high winds in Sacramento, California, U.S. January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Fred GreavesJan 9 (Reuters) - Tens of millions of Californians faced another bout of heavy downpours, high winds and flooding on Monday after the relentless weather over the last 10 days killed 12 people and left many thousands without power. Among the victims was a toddler who was killed by a redwood tree that fell and crushed a mobile home in northern California. The weather has also toppled trees and power lines, knocking out power for tens of thousands of Californians. The heavy rain and snow have caused significant flooding and ground saturation, meaning the next storm to move through this week would bring an additional flood threat, the National Weather Service said.

☆ Biden declares emergency for California due to winter storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for California after a week of storms killed at least 12 people in the past 10 days and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the state. The emergency declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts and mobilize emergency resources, the White House said in a statement. In the last week, severe weather spawned violent wind gusts that toppled trucks, flooded the streets of small towns along northern California's coast and churned up a storm surge that destroyed a pier in Santa Cruz. Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California storm leaves over 120,000 still without power
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 9 (Reuters) - More than 120,000 homes and businesses were still without power in California early on Monday, according to data from PowerOutage.us, after a massive storm last week that disrupted road travel with flash floods, rock slides and toppled trees. At least 12 fatalities have been reported from weather-related incidents in California in the past 10 days, Governor Gavin Newsom told a news conference. According to PowerOutage.us, the utility with the most outages was Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E) with over 73,000 customers without power, followed by Sacramento Municipal Utility District at 50,000. PG&E is a unit of California energy company PG&E Corp (PCG.N). Reporting by Rahul Paswan and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; editing by David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California braces for 'parade of cyclones' after storms kill 7
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Fred Greaves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/9] A drone view of a tree that fell during a winter storm with high winds in Sacramento, California, U.S. January 8, 2023. Forecasters warned on Sunday that northern and central California was still in the path of a "relentless parade of cyclones," promising little relief for the region until the middle of the week. The latest storms vividly illustrated the consequences of warmer sea and air temperatures caused by climate change. At least seven people have died from weather-related incidents in California since the New Year's weekend, including a toddler who was killed by a redwood tree that fell and crushed a mobile home in northern California. Another severe storm was supposed to hit on Monday.

☆ 'Communities like mine won't survive:' Queens residents battle monthly floods as sea levels rise, storms worsen
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Still, it's unclear how these vulnerable coastal communities — and others across the country — will ultimately fare. In this scenario, most of the communities surrounding Jamaica Bay would be inundated every day by high tides. These types of natural projects, some of which are already underway at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, would be balanced with the Army Corp's man-made engineered solutions. Additionally, the proposed Jamaica Bay Storm Surge Barrier, located to the east of the Marine Parkway Bridge, would close during major storms. Shoreline restoration is underway at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens.

☆ Hurricane Ian was the costliest disaster and the second-largest insured loss on record after Hurricane Katrina
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Remains of destroyed restaurants, shops and other businesses are seen almost one month after Hurricane Ian landfall in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, U.S., October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloHurricane Ian, a category 4 Atlantic hurricane that struck Florida and South Carolina earlier this year, was the costliest catastrophe and the second-largest insured loss on record after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to a new report from reinsurer Swiss Re. Ian caused between $50 billion and 65 billion in insured damages after it made landfall in western Florida in late September with extreme winds and torrential rain. Insurance losses from catastrophes were also high, with estimated damages of $115 billion, higher than the 10-year average of $81 billion, the report said. Insured losses from extreme weather events have been rising as climate change triggers more frequent and destructive hurricanes, floods and wildfires, the reinsurance firm said.

☆ After a slow start, the 2022 hurricane season roared in with memorable and destructive storms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As the hurricane season closes, a handful of blockbuster storms made history after an eerily quiet first half of the season gave false hope. In fact, we didn’t have any named storms from July 3 to August 31, the first time that’s occurred since 1941. One of those storms was Hurricane Ian, which hit land in late September and will go down as the most memorable storm of the 2022 season. “Tropical storms have formed in every month outside of hurricane season, and there have been a few hurricanes, too,” NOAA said. Historically, we’ve seen at least 15 named storms form in the month of December, even all the way up to December 30.

☆ Dozens of times drought, ice melt, and storm surge unearthed unusual and unsettling discoveries this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Among the unearthed finds are old sites, ancient artifacts, rare fossils, and even human remains. This summer, low water levels created an eerie boat graveyard of previously sunken ships and beached boats, the Associated Press reported. The manmade reservoir's plummeting water levels also revealed human remains on at least six occasions since May, The Guardian reported. In Spain's Vilanova de Sau in the Catalonia region, plummeting water levels in a reservoir exposed a 11th century Romanesque church, the Associated Press reported. Switzerland's melting glaciers revealed the remains of a 1968 plane in August.

Lee County suffered none of the state’s 123 Irma deaths. That experience influenced many people’s decisions not to flee Hurricane Ian. “Hurricane Ian is going to be the strongest outreach messaging for southwest Florida ever,” said Gleason, the Charlotte County spokesman. “When you live through it, then that message sinks in deep and forever.”A view of the Matanzas Pass side of Estero Island, home to Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Fort Myers Beach is expected to take years to rebuild. Thomas Simonetti for NBC NewsMichael Yost's two closest friends in Fort Myers Beach drowned in Hurricane Ian.

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