The system by Saturday had been dousing Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains for days
A tropical depression may form next week in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.
In a forecast on Saturday afternoon, the NHC said that an area of low pressure had formed over the Bay of Campeche in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico. It had been producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.
Continue reading...Hottest summer on record continues, with millions from Phoenix to Los Angeles to Seattle under heat alerts
An intense heatwave across the US west has brought unusually warm temperatures to the region – some of the highest of the season – and broken heat records.
Millions of Americans from Phoenix to Los Angeles to Seattle are under heat alerts. Even before this latest bout of extreme weather, which began on Wednesday and is expected to last through the weekend, summer 2024 was already considered the hottest summer on record.
Continue reading...Experts urge Australia not to delay target too long as report by Climate Change Authority identifies six barriers to net zero
The Australian government may delay the announcement of a 2035 climate target until after the February deadline and beyond the next election, in part due to uncertainty about the ramifications of the US presidential election.
Some big emitting countries are lagging in developing their 2035 emissions reduction targets, which under the Paris climate agreement are due before the UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil, in November next year.
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Continue reading...Residents tell of ‘apocalyptic scenes’ after more than 60mm of rainfall falls on Italian capital in less than an hour
Lightning has struck the Constantine Arch near the Colosseum in Rome during a violent thunderstorm, breaking off fragments from the ancient structure, officials have said.
The fragments were immediately gathered and secured by workers at the Colosseum Archeological Park, authorities in the Italian capital said. The extent of the damage, which occurred on Tuesday, was being evaluated.
“The recovery work by technicians was timely. Our workers arrived immediately after the lightning strike. All of the fragments were recovered and secured,” the park said in a statement.
Rome was hit by a sudden and powerful storm that dumped more than 60mm of rain in less than an hour, equivalent to a month’s rainfall in autumn. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, described it as a “downburst”.
Continue reading...Greenpeace urges Labour to ‘fulfil international obligations’ as critics question accuracy of official data
The UK’s worst methane hotspots include the last coalmine, livestock farm clusters, landfills, power plants and North Sea oil and gas wells, according to an analysis.
The process has also thrown up serious doubts over the UK’s ability to calculate its methane emissions.
Continue reading...Seabirds are in a precarious position as their breeding areas are threatened by climate breakdown and overfishing
Five seabirds have been added to the UK’s conservation red list, meaning they are at dire risk of local extinction.
The government has been urged to act as the arctic tern, Leach’s storm petrel, common gull, great skua and great black-backed gull join other seabird species such as the puffin on the list after severe population declines.
Continue reading...Fourteen hiker deaths reported in the park this season, with total fatalities at almost the annual average of 15
More than one dozen park-goers have died in Grand Canyon national park this summer, with three perishing in just over one week in August, as weather extremes linked to climate change make for increasingly dangerous conditions.
With 14 deaths reported in the park this season, total fatalities have already almost reached the annual average of 15, the Hill reported.
Continue reading...The 2024 winter was the second hottest on record since weather data collection began in 1910
Australia recorded its hottest August on record, with the national temperature 3C above average, as September kicked off with total fire bans in parts of New South Wales on Monday.
Bureau of Meteorology data showed average temperatures across the nation in August were 3.03C above the long-term average, easily beating the previous 2.56C record set in 2009.
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Continue reading...Unseasonably strong winds and record-breaking warm weather has been forecast to continue through the weekend
Winter has ended in Australia with weather records broken across the country – with expectations of August temperature records being broken on the final day of the month.
Amid wild winds in the country’s south, a warm run of weather was expected to continue through the weekend in central and southern Queensland, along with north-eastern New South Wales. Brisbane is expected to see multiple days of over 30C.
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Continue reading...Heat building up in country’s centre and driving south-east is causing ‘really unusual’ heatwave that is breaking winter records
Australia’s winter runs from June to August, but swathes of the country have felt like summer the past week with temperatures topping 40C and records tumbling.
“It doesn’t matter how you slice and dice it,” said Dr Linden Ashcroft, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne. “The temperature records have been gobsmacking.”
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Continue reading...In sit-down with CNN’s Dana Bash, vice-president defends shifts on policy issues and her support for Biden
Kamala Harris sat for her first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee with CNN’s Dana Bash alongside her running mate, Tim Walz, on Thursday, and defended her shifts on certain policy issues over the years and her support for Joe Biden.
In the interview, which was taped in Savannah, Georgia, earlier on Thursday, the vice-president said her highest priority upon taking office would be to “support and strengthen the middle class” through policies including increasing the child tax credit, curtailing price gouging on everyday goods and increasing access to affordable housing – all policies that she has announced since she started campaigning for the presidency.
Continue reading...Had fires been ranked alongside countries they would have been world’s fourth-largest emitter, study finds
Wildfires that swept Canada’s woodlands last year released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries, a study found on Wednesday, calling into question national emissions budgets that rely on forests as carbon stores.
At 647 megatonnes, the carbon released in last year’s wildfires exceeded those of seven of the 10 largest national emitters in 2022, including Germany, Japan and Russia, the study published in the journal Nature found.
Continue reading...Absence of legally binding targets for greenhouse gas reductions from 2031-49 deemed unconstitutional
South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled that part of the country’s climate law does not conform with protecting the constitutional rights of future generations, an outcome local activists are calling a “landmark decision”.
The unanimous verdict concludes four years of legal battles and sets a significant precedent for future climate-related legal actions in the region.
Continue reading...A day after agreement was ratified at the Pacific Island Forum, the country’s climate minister says ‘root cause of climate change’ must be addressed
Tuvalu’s climate minister has declared that “opening, subsidising and exporting fossil fuels is immoral and unacceptable”, just a day after Australia ratified a climate and security deal with the low-lying Pacific nation.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomed the agreement with Tuvalu on Wednesday, saying Pacific island countries were “fully aware of the commitment that we have to climate action” but gas would continue to play a role.
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Continue reading...Researchers warn Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replaced
The “hyper-violent” Typhoon Gaemi was made fiercer and more likely to strike by the climate crisis, scientists have found. They said “Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replaced”.
The typhoon hit the Philippines, Taiwan and Hunan province in China in late July, with floods and landslides destroying homes, killing at least 100 people and affecting millions. Winds reaching 145mph (233 km/h) sank two large ships, while floods in Manila were as deep as a one-storey building.
Continue reading...Extinct in central Europe for 300 years, 36 northern bald ibis are following an ultralight aircraft on their long-forgotten migration route from Austria to Spain
The northern bald ibis was extinct in central Europe for 300 years. Now, it has returned – and scientist “foster parents” aboard a tiny plane are teaching the birds to fly their long-forgotten migration routes.
Thirty-six of these endangered birds are now following an ultralight aircraft 1,740 miles (2,800km ) from Austria to Spain, on a trip that could take up to 50 days to complete.
Continue reading...Moisture from crops drives up already high humidity in areas where 55 million are under extreme heat alerts
You won’t believe your ears, but corn is making the extreme heat the US midwest is battling feel more intense, according to experts.
The moisture – or “sweat” – that corn and other crops release in high temperatures is contributing to the humidity in the air in the midwest US, where 55 million people have been under alerts for extreme heat in recent days. The increase in moisture pushes up dew points, making it harder for water vapor to condensate – and for it to feel cooler.
Continue reading...More than 21,500 US deaths over last two decades were connected to heat, top medical journal finds
As record-breaking heatwaves continue across parts of the US, a new report shows that heat-related deaths in the country rose by 117% between 1999 and 2023.
The report, released on Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama), found that from 1999 to 2023, there have been more than 21,500 heat-related deaths recorded in the US.
Continue reading...António Guterres calls for a ‘massive’ increase in finance and support for the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late”, the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering.
Continue reading...António Guterres to attend Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) in Tonga with climate crisis and unrest in New Caledonia among issues to watch
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, will attend a Pacific leaders’ summit this week in Tonga with a focus on climate change in the region, one of the world’s most vulnerable to rising sea levels and temperature changes.
The annual meeting of leaders is the top political decision-making body of the region. The week-long summit culminates in the leaders’ retreat, where key decisions are made, which may include an endorsement of a regional policing initiative promoted by Australia. The future for New Caledonia is among other big issues to be addressed at the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) which began in Tonga on Monday.
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