extreme weather

Extreme temperatures can lead to an increase in online “hate speech,” according to a new study by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The United Nations defines hate speech as “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a […]

Hurricane Kay, which is currently churning off the coast of Baja California, could be the rare Northeast Pacific hurricane to impact the northern Mexican peninsula as well as drought-ravaged Southern California. The storm could bring relief to a state baking under a record-breaking September heat wave, but heavy rainfall poses risks as well.  “[I]t’s never […]

The state of California entered September with record-breaking temperatures that strained its electrical grid.  The record toppling began Thursday, the first of the month, when Death Valley reported the highest temperature ever recorded in September on planet Earth. Then, on Monday, areas around the Bay Area recorded daily, monthly and one all-time high.  “It’s definitely […]

Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deanne Criswell said the federal government’s flood maps are outdated following a rash of disastrous floods due to climate change-induced extreme levels of rainfall, reported The Guardian. “The part that’s really difficult right now is the fact that our flood maps don’t take into account excessive rain […]

By Ben Clarke, Friederike Otto, and Luke Harrington Pakistan is experiencing the most devastating and widespread floods in its history, with the country’s climate minister saying waters have reached across a third of the nation. The growing tally of impacts is dire. More than 1,100 people have been killed, a million homes have been destroyed […]

In the midst of wildfires, a late-summer heat wave and an ongoing drought, the state of California passed a rash of ambitious legislation this week to tackle the climate crisis.  Five of six climate-related bills championed by Governor Gavin Newsom passed the state legislature Wednesday, providing climate funding, limiting oil and gas wells and enshrining […]

As the unprecedented flooding that has destroyed whole villages and affected more than 33 million people continues in Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of an increased threat of the spread of waterborne and vector-borne diseases like diarrhea, malaria and dengue fever, the United Nations (UN) said in a press release.

The effects of climate change are outpacing poaching as the No. 1 threat to wildlife. In Zimbabwe, officials are now moving more than 2,500 wild animals from a reserve in the southern part of the country further north due to an ongoing drought. Rangers are relying on trucks, cranes and even helicopters to move the animals from the drought-stricken area.