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FILE PHOTO: Boats make their way along the Mississippi river in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., August 28, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Oct 20 (Reuters) - Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern United States and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Crucial shipments of fertilizer, farm chemicals and road salt that move up the Mississippi River ahead of the winter have also been disrupted. "Across the lower Mississippi Valley, we are favoring continuation of below-normal precipitation," said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. "That would certainly, if the prediction is realized, lead to continued low water levels and exacerbate drought conditions there."

☆ Widespread drought expected to persist across the West this winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Little relief is expected for farmers, ranchers and reservoirs this winter in the Western U.S., as extreme drought is forecast to continue plaguing the region. That’s according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who predict "widespread extreme drought to persist across much of the West," according to Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operational prediction branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. Nearly 50% of the U.S. is in drought, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System, and more than one-third of the country’s population lives in areas affected by drought. Drought conditions have already drained reservoirs critical for drinking water supply, forced cutbacks on water use in the Colorado River and threatened farmers’ livelihoods. That should help relieve drought conditions in those areas.

☆ Latino meteorologist helps create better weather terms in Spanish.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Albinson Linares | Noticias Telemundo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

For meteorologist Joseph Trujillo, the right translation is more than a language issue, especially when it comes to weather-related warnings. A NOAA assessment revealed a lack of weather-related resources in the Spanish language that could have helped communities take action to save lives. But those linguistic differences can bring great challenges when translating emergency information, such as weather alerts, for all Hispanic people. They designed a new list of categories that better reflect the risk of climate emergencies in simpler terms: minimum, low, moderate, high and extreme. That first experience led him to pursue meteorology and his investigative work, which he presented to the National Weather Service.

☆ Alaska cancels snow crab season, threatening key economic driver
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Evan Bush | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

For the first time, crews in Alaska won't be braving ice and sea spray to pluck snow crab from the Bering Sea. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled the snow crab season earlier this week after a catastrophic population crash of the sizable crustaceans. "It's going to be life-changing, if not career-ending, for people," said Dean Gribble Sr., a 63-year-old crab boat captain who has fished for "opies" — snow crab — since the late 1970s. In summer, many small snow crab make their habitat in a cold pool that forms on the Bering seafloor. The newspaper was the first to report the snow crab season closure.

☆ Heating costs forecast to soar this winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Based on current estimates for fuel prices if, as forecast, there’s a slightly colder winter ahead, the EIA estimates that heating a home with natural gas heating costs will rise about $200 on average, or 28% to $931 for the winter. Still, that’s not as bad as heating oil costs, which are forecast to jump $1,200, or 27% to $2,354. Electric heating costs could rise $123, or 10%, to $1,359, while propane heating costs are expected to rise $80, or 5%, to $1,688. For example, heating oil costs jumped more than 50% for winter last year. Consumers who use heating oil can expect to pay nearly double what they paid for the winter of 2020-21.

The Coast Guard rescued three boaters from the water off Louisiana on Sunday, two of whom were “fending off sharks” when rescuers arrived, officials said. When crews aboard a helicopter and a 45-foot Coast Guard boat found them in the water around 2 p.m. Sunday, the boat crew “witnessed two of the boaters fending off sharks," along with injuries to both boaters' hands, the Coast Guard said. A Coast Guard helicopter rescues three boaters Sunday about 25 miles off Empire, La. The sharks were reported to be blacktips, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves said. The Coast Guard credited the relative who reported the boaters overdue and the fact that all were wearing life jackets with helping lead to the successful rescue.

☆ Beware, Florida homeowners. The worst is yet to come.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Dan Latu | James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

They were paying $750 a month for the lot in a mobile-home park and couldn't fathom paying $7,200 a year for homeowners insurance, let alone additional protections for floods. (Flood insurance costs an average of more than $600 a year in Florida and can stretch even higher in high-risk areas.) But just 57% of those homes are covered by flood insurance, a Bank of America analysis of data from CoreLogic and the National Flood Insurance Program found. Some owners may not even know that they need a separate insurance policy for flooding, assuming it's covered by their homeowners insurance. Roughly a dozen firms that provide homeowners insurance in Florida have gone under in the past two years, The Washington Post reported.

Competitively priced South American offerings have recently undercut U.S. business and the upcoming Brazilian soybean harvest looms large, increasing pressure on U.S. soybean exporters’ performance through the end of the year. The U.S. soybean harvest is likely picking up this week, so any logistical interruptions are poorly timed. Soybean export inspections are already lagging more than expected, having fallen below the range of trade estimates in three of the last five weeks. Argentine farmers for the first time in six years may increase soybean area for the upcoming season, potentially boosting output more than 15% on the year. Brazil’s recent record-large corn harvest has lifted shipments to or near all-time highs in the latest two months.

Share this -Link copiedFloridians are livestreaming Hurricane Ian on TikTok Floridians are giving TikTok users a front-row seat to Hurricane Ian. Storm surge map, they didn’t have a color for 12 to 15 feet," he said about the historic levels of storm surge expected near where Ian is expected to make landfall. Share this -Link copiedA view of Hurricane Ian from the International Space Station A view of Hurricane Ian from the International Space Station, on Monday. Share this -Link copiedSatellite images show Hurricane Ian approaching Florida Hurricane Ian over the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday. Share this -Link copiedIan expected to strengthen until making landfall, officials say Hurricane Ian is still forecast to strengthen until the hurricane makes landfall in Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.

☆ Cuban migrant boat sinks off Florida due to Hurricane Ian; 23 missing
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Border Patrol said on Wednesday that 23 people were missing off the coast of Florida after a Cuban migrant boat sank due to Hurricane Ian. The Border Patrol agents responded to a migrant landing in Stock Island, Florida, officials said on Twitter, adding that the U.S. Coast Guard had initiated a search operation for the 23 missing people. Four Cuban migrants swam to shore after their vessel sank due to inclement weather, Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said. The hurricane hit Cuba at a time of dire economic crisis. On Wednesday, the hurricane began lashing Florida's Gulf Coast with powerful winds and drenching rain.

☆ White House, FEMA urge Floridians to listen to local officials, evacuate if asked as Hurricane Ian approaches
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Tuesday urged Floridians not to underestimate Hurricane Ian and listen to local officials as the now Category 3 storm approaches the coast. The National Hurricane Center upgraded Hurricane Ian to a Category 3 storm Tuesday morning, which means it could bring winds of up to 125 miles per hour. Hurricane Ian is currently expected to make landfall "somewhere between Fort Myers and Tampa," Criswell said. FEMA's biggest concern is storm surge, Criswell said. Five people died as a result of storm surge in Florida in 2018's Hurricane Michael.

☆ NASA is evacuating its prized moon rocket from its Florida launchpad as Hurricane Ian approaches
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA was poised to launch its Space Launch System moon rocket for the first time Tuesday. Hurricane Ian is forcing the agency to roll SLS into a vertical steel building for shelter. Now a major hurricane may be its last obstacle to launch. Now, NASA is rushing to return the treasured rocket to shelter from Hurricane Ian in its Vehicle Assembly Building. Hurricane Ian is brewing trouble for FloridaSatellite imagery shows Hurricane Ian at 12:21 p.m.

The storm, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to make landfall in Cuba on Monday evening. Lugo was one of many Florida residents preparing for flooding from torrential rains could submerge streets and homes. In a grocery store in St. Petersburg, across the state on the Gulf Coast, only empty cardboard boxes remained where the store normally stocks distilled water. "This is a really big storm," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference, noting that the storm could potentially envelope both coasts of the state. From there, Ian could either make landfall north of Tampa Bay early on Friday or turn northwest toward Florida's Panhandle.

☆ As Storm Season Accelerates, Here’s Where Past Hurricanes Have Hit the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Carl Churchill | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. Atlantic coast gets hit by one to two hurricanes a year on average, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that tracks storms since the mid-20th century. Major hurricanes appear at least once every decade and can cause billions of dollars in damage. Some counties can expect a hurricane every five to seven years, and a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater) every 15 to 20 years. Florida receives more direct hurricane strikes than any other state in the U.S. Of the U.S. metro areas with the most potential financial risk from a hurricane, six of the top 10 are in Florida, according to a 2021 report from CoreLogic Inc.

☆ ‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ Tonga blast could warm the Earth temporarily
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK — When an undersea volcano erupted in Tonga in January, its watery blast was huge and unusual — and scientists are still trying to understand its impacts. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said lead author Holger Voemel, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. And since water vapor acts as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, the eruption will probably raise temperatures instead of lowering them, Toohey said. The water vapor will stick around the upper atmosphere for a few years before making its way into the lower atmosphere, Toohey said. The stratosphere stretches from around 7.5 miles to 31 miles above Earth and is usually very dry, Voemel explained.

☆ Melting ice in Alaska is forming new lakes full of bacteria 'belching' methane into the atmosphere, NASA scientist warns
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA is studying "thermokarsts" in Alaska, lakes that appear as permafrost there thaws. Walter Anthony has been working with NASA's ABoVE project to study Big Trail lake's effect on climate change. "As they decompose it, they are belching out methane gas," she said. Walter Antony is seen in a kayak on Big Trail lake in Alaska. It's only the newer lakes, like Big Trail, which appeared less than 50 years ago, that give off high levels of the gas.

☆ Millennials and Gen Z want to stop a climate catastrophe. But first they have to get elected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told young climate activists in 2019, "You didn't vote for me." AP Photo/Gemunu AmarasingheBut most policy debates aren't genuinely existential in the way climate change is. "Younger Democrats tend to have a much more friendly relationship and response to the party's activist class than older Democrats do." Fossil-fuel interests have played a central role in stymieing progress on climate change for decades. Nearly a decade later, Trump ran for and won the presidency — with Gingrich's early and staunch support — while calling climate change a "hoax."

☆ Duke Energy is one of the top leakers of a gas that is 25,000 times more polluting than carbon dioxide, EPA records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Phil Mckenna | Inside Climate News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +22 min

The emissions were equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of more than 59,000 automobiles, according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator. Under such a scenario Duke Energy would likely have years of low emissions punctuated by a single year of high emissions. While other utilities have participated for decades in a voluntary program with the EPA to reduce SF6 emissions to next to nothing, Duke Energy has not. Brooks said Duke Energy is also targeting its most leaky equipment for faster replacement. The figure is roughly half of 1% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, far smaller than yearly emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary driver of climate change.

☆ Rare video shows a seal inflating its nose like a balloon to attract a female in a mating ritual
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A rare video shows the mating ritual of hooded seals in the Arctic Ocean. In the video, a young male hooded seal appears bobbing along a slab of ice, where a female is nursing a pup. A male hooded seal is shown in an illustration. More than 600,000 hooded seals live across the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries. Hooded seal pups are weaned off the milk in just four days, the shortest time for any mammal.

CNN —Almost half of all deaths from tropical cyclones come from storm surge. “A storm surge is a rise in water level caused by a strong storm’s wind pushing water onshore,” said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the storm surge reached as high as 25 to 28 feet above normal tide levels. Due to the climate crisis, storm surge has become an even greater threat in recent years. ‘Reverse’ storm surge can be dangerous“Reverse storm surge” also can happen during strong storms.

Persons: ”, Brandon Miller, Ian, ” Miller Organizations: CNN, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: Southwest Florida

☆ Retailers pull lobster from menus after 'red list' warning
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Seafood Watch, which rates the sustainability of different seafoods, said this week it has added the American and Canadian lobster fisheries to its “red list” of species to avoid. Seafood Watch assigns ratings of “best choice,” “good alternative” and “avoid” to more than 2,000 seafood items based on how sustainably they are managed. Seafood Watch assigns ratings of “best choice,” “good alternative” and “avoid” to more than 2,000 seafood items based on how sustainably they are managed. The lobster fishing industry has come under scrutiny from Seafood Watch because of the threat of entanglement in fishing gear. Members of the lobster fishing industry, which is also coping with increased federal fishing restrictions to protect the whales, pushed back against the Seafood Watch rating.

☆ Above-average hurricane season forecast with several major hurricanes
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-24 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The official start to hurricane season is just a week away and forecasters are predicting another busy one. The CSU forecast called for 19 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major storms. However, during the announcement, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad recognized that the current hurricane cycle for the Atlantic is a busy one. “If you go back two years, the 2020 hurricane season broke records across the board and it’s the most active season on record with 30 named storms,” said Spinrad. “Yes, the loop current does look like 2005,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season outlook forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

☆ Photos: Wildfires burn in Colorado and Texas
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-29 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post/Getty Images An air tanker drops water on the NCAR Fire on March 26 as it burns in the foothills south of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. In pictures: Wildfires burn in Colorado and TexasHelen H. Richardson/Denver Post/Getty Images An air tanker drops water on the NCAR Fire on March 26 as it burns in the foothills south of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. It has already been a dreadful year for wildfires. But many of these recent fires haven't been igniting in California or the Pacific Northwest, which have endured several devastating fire seasons in a row. They've been popping up in places like Colorado and Texas, and they have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the past few weeks alone.

☆ Many Americans think of education and transportation as public goods, but they're actually heavily privatized. Here's why that's a problem.
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-29 | by ( Paul Constant | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cohen said the privatization of public goods like education won't benefit the majority of Americans. Many fields that ordinary Americans assume to be public goods — public education, libraries, public transportation — don't fit that strict description. "In that definition, healthcare is a private good, not a public good," Cohen said. We're all familiar with the trickle-down claim that under a profit motive, business can provide public goods more efficiently than the government. "The alternative of private control over public goods is public control over public goods," he said.

☆ Here’s why hurricane hunters fly their planes in weird patterns into storms
▼ + stars: | 2021-09-19 | by ( Allison Chinchar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —The second half of hurricane season is here and there have already been 17 named storms to keep hurricane hunters busy. But have you ever noticed hurricane hunters’ flight patterns shown by meteorologists on TV look like random, odd shapes? Hurricane hunters don’t fly away from these storms like commercial airlines do. There are two distinctive groups of hurricane hunters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force Reserve (USAF). Fixed missionsFixed missions are designated for systems that meet tropical cyclone qualifications, such as tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes.

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