Emergency declared in typhoon-ravaged Northern Mariana
In just 30 hours from October 23-24, 2018, a tropical storm in the western Pacific Ocean exploded into a category 5 super typhoon. Super Typhoon Yutu has tied Super Typhoon Mangkhut as the strongest storm on Earth this year.
Low water levels causing chaos in Germany
A new island in Lake Constance. A river in Berlin flowing backward. Dead fish on the banks of lakes and ponds. Barges barely loaded so they don’t run aground. A hot, dry summer has left German rivers and lakes at record low water levels, causing chaos for the inland shipping industry, environmental damage and billions of euros (dollars) in losses.
Climate change, rising sea levels a threat to farmers in Bangladesh
Rising sea levels driven by climate change make for salty soil, and that is likely to force about 200,000 coastal farmers in Bangladesh inland as glaciers melt into the world’s oceans, according to estimates from a new study from The Ohio State University.
Climate Change 101 – Glenn Loury & Patrick T. Brown, Video
A youtube video featuring Glenn Loury (Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University) and Patrick T. Brown (Stanford University).
Remote Hawaiian Island Wiped Off The Map
East Island was destroyed by storm surge from Hurricane Walaka, which roared through the northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a powerful Category 3 storm this month. “This event is confronting us with what the future could look like,” one federal scientist said about the loss of East Island.
Florida’s coral reefs provide window into the past
The Florida Keys coral reefs stopped growing or significantly slowed their growth at least 3000 years ago and have been balanced between persistence and erosion ever since, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Dolphins are simplifying their calls to be heard over shipping noise
The world’s oceans are getting noisier, humming with the near-constant sounds of ship engines, seafloor mining, and oil and gas exploration. Now, a new study has found that dolphins are being forced to simplify their calls in order to be heard over the noise.
This iceberg is perfectly rectangular—here’s why
Though it doesn’t fit our typical image of icebergs, experts say the common shape has a simple explanation.
Sierra Leone: Beaches under attack from sand miners
Twenty-four hours a day, seven-days-a-week, truckloads of sand are being hauled from the beach into Freetown to satisfy the needs of construction companies and contractors. Hundreds of tonnes of sand from the beaches is mined and sold to builders as construction material. The activity is technically illegal but laws, as is often the case, are not being implemented or enforced.