How sea level rise made Idalia’s storm surge worse – the Washington Post

Geo Color imagery of post-tropical Cyclone Idalia (courtesy of NOAA, public domain).

In mid-November 2021, a great storm begins brewing in the central Pacific Ocean north of Hawai‘i. Especially warm water, heated by the sun, steams off the sea surface and funnels into the sky.

A tendril of this floating moisture sweeps eastward across the ocean. It rides the winds for a day until it reaches the coasts of British Columbia and Washington State. There, the storm hits air turbulence, which pushes it into position—straight over British Columbia’s Fraser River valley….

Why a sudden surge of broken heat records is scaring scientists – the Washington Post

Global temperatures on July 4th, 2023 (courtesy of Climate Reanalyzer.Org | University of Maine | NOAA CC BY-NC 4.0).

New precedents have been set in recent weeks and months, surprising some scientists with their swift evolution: historically warm oceans, with North Atlantic temperatures already nearing their typical annual peak; unparalleled low sea ice levels around Antarctica, where global warming impacts had, until now, been slower to appear; and the planet experiencing its warmest June ever charted, according to new data. And then, on Monday, came Earth’s hottest day in at least 125,000 years. Tuesday was hotter…

Seas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade – the Washington Post

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida looking south down the Atlantic coast (by Aron M. CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Multiple new studies highlight a rate of sea level rise that is ‘unprecedented in at least 120 years’ along the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. coast.

Scientists have documented an abnormal and dramatic surge in sea levels along the U.S. gulf and southeastern coastlines since about 2010, raising new questions about whether New Orleans, Miami, Houston and other coastal communities might be even more at risk from rising seas than once predicted…

There are 21,000 pieces of plastic in the ocean for each person on Earth – the Washington Post

Microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (by Chesapeake Bay Program CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

And plastic pollution has been doubling every six years.

Humans have filled the world’s oceans with more than 170 trillion pieces of plastic, dramatically more than previously estimated, according to a major study released Wednesday.

The trillions of plastic particles — a “plastic smog,” in the words of the researchers — weigh roughly 2.4 million metric tons and are doubling about every six years…

Retreat in Rodanthe Interactive Feature – the Washington Post

Rodanthe Homes (by Rick Rowland CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

Along three blocks in a North Carolina beach town, severe erosion is upending life, forcing hard choices and offering a glimpse of the dilemmas other coastal communities will face…

Early last year, a house crumbled into the sea in this small Outer Banks community, home to some of the most rapid rates of erosion and sea level rise on the East Coast.

Not long after, another house fell. And then another…