Climate

While Florida residents are being told to flee before the hurricane makes landfall, it may not be possible for all

On 7 October, as Hurricane Milton was just days away from making landfall in Tampa, Florida, the city’s mayor Jane Castor issued a dire warning to residents in evacuation zones: “If you choose to stay … you are going to die.”

But leaving one’s home to avoid the category 5 hurricane is not possible for everyone.

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Analysis shows Gulf’s heat that worsened Helene 200-500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating

As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf’s heat that worsened last month’s Hurricane Helene was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.

Helene, one of the deadliest storms in US history, gathered pace over the Gulf before crashing ashore with 140mph winds.

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IEA says faster clean energy rollout being led by solar power in China with country set to boast half of world’s renewables by 2030

China is expected to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s highly influential renewable energy report found that over the next six years renewable energy projects will roll out at three times the pace of the previous six years, led by the clean energy programmes of China and India.

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The Joides Resolution has contributed to our understanding of climate crisis, the origin of life, earthquakes and eruptions. But funding cuts mean it may have sailed its last expedition

In the early summer of this year, a ship set sail around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. But this wasn’t any ordinary ship. For almost 40 years the Joides Resolution drilled into the ocean floor to collect samples and data that helped scientists to study Earth’s history and structure. Expeditions on the vessel have made a vital contribution to our understanding of the climate crisis, the tectonic plates theory, the origin of life on Earth and natural hazards such as earthquakes and eruptions. Yet the two-month voyage around Svalbard was to be its last.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), the US agency that provided scientists at Texas A&M University with funds for the ship, announced last year it would not give money for the drilling vessel past September 2024. It was a declaration that shocked the global scientific community and meant that Svalbard would be the ship’s final outing.

The vibration isolated television is attached to the drillpipe and is used to image the seafloor before drilling begins. Photograph: Lisa Crowder/IODP JRSO

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John Morales, who has forecast weather for decades, went viral after choking up on air while discussing Hurricane Milton.

Dado que las olas de calor en el mar aumentan con el cambio climático, cabe esperar frecuentes episodios de intensificación rápida.

In cooler times, a similarly rare storm over the Southeast would have delivered less rain and weaker winds, a team of scientists concluded in an analysis.

A famed explorer was sure the ice hid something profound. Ninety years later, scientists have put forth the strongest evidence yet that he was right.

Después de 40 años de carrera, John Morales ha pasado de esforzarse por ser un meteorólogo “no alarmista” a ser alguien que admite horror ante las crecientes amenazas del calentamiento global.

Emma Pinchbeck will take over as chief executive of Climate Change Committee next month

The government’s official climate watchdog has appointed the head of the energy industry’s trade association to lead its work helping to drive the UK’s emissions to net zero by 2050.

Emma Pinchbeck, the head of Energy UK, will take up the role of chief executive of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) from early next month after four years at the helm of the trade association.

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An entire family was killed less than a month before wedding day as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida

As the country turns its attention to Hurricane Milton, which is expected to bring life-threatening conditions to parts of Florida after it makes landfall later this week, communities in much of the south-east US are still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene almost two weeks ago.

In western North Carolina, home to many mountain communities such as Green Mountain, entire towns were destroyed and washed away during the storm. Residents became isolated as roads became impassable. Electricity and cellphone service went out.

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New rules will require utilities to replace lead pipes nationwide. That will take time, but you can protect yourself by taking these steps.

In her last newsletter for the Times, a Climate Forward reporter reflects on the intertwined problems of climate change and biodiversity loss.

As Floridians prepare to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, debris from Helene still litter swaths of the state

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene lashed the Florida coastline, an even more powerful hurricane is hurtling toward the state.

It’s the kind of double hit becoming more common as the climate crisis persists, further complicating hurricane preparation, experts say.

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Milton grew into a Category 5 hurricane in less than a day as it crossed warm oceans across the Gulf of Mexico.

Complaint against NW Natural, the state’s biggest provider, marks first time a utility faces climate deception charges

Oregon’s most populous county has sued the state’s biggest gas provider for allegedly sowing climate doubt, marking the first time a utility has faced charges of climate deception.

Last year, Multnomah county sued 17 fossil fuel companies and interest groups for allegedly deceiving the public about the climate crisis. The lawsuit came two years after a record-shattering heat dome killed 69 people across the county.

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Record emissions, temperatures and population mean more scientists are looking into possibility of societal collapse, report says

Many of Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts have said.

More and more scientists are now looking into the possibility of societal collapse, says the report, which assessed 35 vital signs in 2023 and found that 25 were worse than ever recorded, including carbon dioxide levels and human population. This indicates a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”, it says.

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Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report finds

The destruction of global forests increased in 2023, and is higher than when 140 countries promised three years ago to halt deforestation by the end of the decade, an analysis shows.

The rising demolition of the forests puts ambitions to halt the climate crisis and stem the huge worldwide losses of wildlife even further from reach, the researchers warn.

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Fewer than 10 percent of the agency’s disaster workers are available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other calamities.

• Sport England chair to deliver keynote speech
• Clubs encouraged to stop taking short-haul fights

Premier League clubs must step up and put themselves on the right side of history when it comes to climate change, Sport England’s chair, Chris Boardman, will warn on Tuesday.

In a keynote speech to the Sport Positive Summit, seen by the Guardian, Boardman will question why 10 Premier League clubs flew to the US for pre-season friendlies and Tottenham and Newcastle played a match in Melbourne three days after the final day of season.

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