Waves crash over Lake Pontchartrain as Hurricane Zeta makes landfall on Oct. 28, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
Hurricane Zeta slammed into storm-weary Louisiana as a Category 2 storm Wednesday, killing at least one person and breaking the record for the most named storms to hit the state in a single season.
<p>Zeta is the fifth named storm to clobber Louisiana this year and follows the especially devastating one-two punch of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-laura-louisiana-gulf-of-mexico-2647106305.html" target="_self">Hurricanes Laura</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-delta-laura-louisiana-2648175286.html" target="_self">Delta</a> in August and October. Around 3,600 people are still displaced following the two previous storms and most of them are living in six hotels in New Orleans, which took a direct hit from Zeta, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/28/us/hurricane-zeta-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>"It's one (storm) after the other. We're just a target. I told my friend they're zeroing in on us. They're looking for us," 71-year-old Laura evacuee Billy Ewing, who has been staying in New Orleans hotels since August, told CNN. "And we can't control it. What's the matter right now is we can't control anything. I'm not in control of what my status is. I'm not in control of where I live."</p>
<p>Zeta made landfall near the fishing village of Cocodrie, Louisiana around 4 p.m. Wednesday, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/hurricane-zeta.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. It then tore through New Orleans and ripped along the Mississippi coast.</p><p>The storm killed at least one person, <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/dead-as-hurricane-zeta-barrels-northeast/2388048/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC News Bay Area reported</a>. A 55-year-old man was electrocuted by a downed power line in New Orleans.</p><p>New Orleans had been in the projected path of six different storms this season, but they had all veered east or west. This time, the city's luck ran out and it took a direct hit.</p><p>"This is not a drill," Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned residents ahead of the storm, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>The storm cut out power to more than 500,000 people in Louisiana, and most of New Orleans was dark after it passed, according to NBC News Bay Area. More than 200 trees were downed, and one person was hospitalized with minor injuries after a structure collapsed.</p>
<div id="ebd95" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6944cdac6522e9abb00edf77aabf3d99"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1321604205208129538" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Hurricane Zeta knocks out power on Bourbon Street. @FOX8NOLA https://t.co/sgu7JCzYuO</div> — Garland Gillen (@Garland Gillen)<a href="https://twitter.com/garlandgillen/statuses/1321604205208129538">1603929971.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Although we have made it through, we have been damaged, we have been hit," Cantrell said.</p><p>The storm was and is fast moving. This means that high winds were the biggest safety hazard, even blowing the roofs off of some houses, The New York Times reported. However, the advantage of the fast pace meant that it did not stall and pour rain in one place. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making storms <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">wetter</a>, and slow, wet storms have caused major <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> in recent years.</p><p>"It's not going to sit there and pound for hour after hour," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a briefing on Wednesday, as The New York Times reported. "It should move through the area relatively quickly."</p><p>However, this also means a wide range of the Southeast will feel its effects, CNN pointed out. Strong winds were projected to reach inland Mississippi and Alabama, while heavy rain was projected to pummel Georgia and the Carolinas Thursday.</p><p>Zeta weakened to a tropical storm over central Alabama early Thursday morning, the <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1321693259631001601" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported</a>. However, it is still packing a punch. The NHC warned of wind gusts strong enough to down trees and cause power outages in northeastern Alabama, northern Georgia, the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia Thursday.</p>
<div id="d01e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b31220072eb1b43fbf722e7c774396d4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1321736884666556416" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the 4 AM CDT Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Zeta, which is racing across the southeastern United States… https://t.co/Yr7UBOTKMM</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1321736884666556416">1603961604.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>As of 6:55 a.m., there were already more than 920,000 people without power in Georgia, <a href="https://www.wsbtv.com/weather/live-updates-zeta-brings-risk-flooding-damaging-wind-brief-tornadoes/MPUQUP55GNDLRI2L3GL2TDNYWU/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WSB-TV 2 Atlanta reported</a>.<br><br>Zeta is the earliest 27th named storm on record in an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season and the 11th hurricane, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/27/louisiana-hurricane-warning-mexico-yucatan" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. An average hurricane season has six hurricanes and 12 named storms. In addition to making storms wetter, the climate crisis is also making them <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">more intense</a>.<br></p>
From Your Site Articles
- New Orleans Convent Will Become Flood-Resistant Wetland Garden ›
- Zeta, Earliest 27th Named Storm on Record, Could Hit Gulf Coast as ... ›
- Hurricane Delta's Rapid Intensification Is Fueled by Climate Change ... ›
- Louisiana Faces Faster Levels of Sea-Level Rise Than Any Other ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Floods Parts of Louisiana Still Recovering From ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Residents get in a car after leaving their homes to move to evacuation centers in central Vietnam's Quang Nam province on Oct. 27, 2020, ahead of Typhoon Molave's expected landfall. MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP via Getty Images
Typhoon Molave is expected to make landfall in Vietnam on Wednesday with 90 mph winds and heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding and landslides, according to the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. To prepare for the powerful storm that already tore through the Philippines, Vietnam is making plans to evacuate nearly 1.3 million people along the central coast, as Reuters reported.
<p>On Tuesday, hundreds of flights were grounded, and schools were closed as Molave churned over the South China Sea. When Molave hits Vietnam on Wednesday, it will be the fourth storm to strike the central region in October. Those successive storms have caused floods and landslides that killed 130 people. Many are still missing, according to the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/vietnam-braces-for-typhoon-molave-20201027-p5695g.html" target="_blank">Sydney Morning Herald</a>.</p><p>"This is a very strong typhoon that will impact a large area," said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as Reuters reported.</p><p>Molave is moving over a part of the South China Sea with warm waters, which creates favorable conditions for the storm to strengthen, according to <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/more-than-1-million-vietnam-residents-to-evacuate-ahead-of-typhoon-molave/837600" target="_blank">AccuWeather</a>.</p><p>Vietnam has a long coastline, which makes it particularly vulnerable to storms and coastal flooding. Phuc ordered boats to be brought ashore and for security forces to ready themselves for humanitarian efforts.</p><p>"Troops must deploy full force to support people, including mobilizing helicopters, tanks and other means of transportation if needed," he said in a statement, according to Reuters.</p>
<p>The storm is expected to move over Vietnam quickly and weaken as it moves inland, but its heavy rainfall will likely trigger widespread flooding and weaken mountain slopes, which increases the risk for mudslides. AccuWeather predicts up to 16 inches of rain in areas of the country that have already experienced extreme rainfall and flooding since Oct. 11.</p><p>"We must keep our guard up to protect the lives of the people. That is the utmost important task to get people to safe places," Phuc was quoted as saying in a meeting with disaster response officials, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/international-news-typhoons-floods-philippines-vietnam-f9e9129e2bfd53cbae8f16adce1c0d00" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>People in low-lying areas, who are vulnerable to the winds and coastal flooding, will head for shelter inland, according to the AP.</p><p>Typhoon Molave blew away from the Philippines on Monday, leaving flooding and a trail of destruction in its wake. There are 13 people missing in the Philippines, including a dozen fishermen who sailed out to sea over the weekend in violation of a no-sail order, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/typhoons-south-china-sea-floods-philippines-manila-a0debd28194861b71af0a6cbd6515aab" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p><p>The storm, which traveled south of Manila, displaced at least 25,000 villagers. Its heavy rains swamped farming villages and the winds downed trees and power lines, according to Humerlito Dolor, governor of an affected province, as Deutsche Welle reported.</p><p>"Villagers are now asking to be rescued because of the sudden wind which blew away roofs," he said, as Deutsche Welle reported.</p>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The Silverado Fire rages near a home in Irvine, California on Oct. 26, 2020. Mario Tama / Getty Images
California's devastating wildfire season raged on Monday as new blazes in Orange County injured two firefighters and forced around 90,800 people to flee their homes, The New York Times reported.
<p>The two firefighters suffered second and third degree burns over most of their bodies while battling the larger Silverado Fire and had to be intubated. They are 26 and 31 years old.</p><p>"They are gravely injured. Their families are with them," Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said, as <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/26/california-wildfires-60-000-evacuated-irvine-silverado-fire/6042915002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY reported</a>. "We are giving them all the support we can."</p>
<p>The Silverado Fire was first reported at 6:47 a.m. near Irvine, <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/10/26/irvine-fire-silverado-wildfire-evacuations/" target="_blank">California, CBS Los Angeles (LA) reported</a>. At first, it was only 10 acres, and firefighters hoped it could be limited to the brush in a less populated area of the city, USA TODAY reported. But the flames were fanned by strong winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 70 miles per hour. In three hours, it grew to 2,000 acres, CBSLA reported.</p><p>"The wind is crazy, my family has been through it in Malibu," evacuee Ruby Johnson told CBSLA. "It's a crazy thing, never had to experience it ourselves. You can replace clothes and things, but you can't replace your lives. I've got all the pictures and valuables, so we're ready to go."</p>
<p>As of Monday evening, 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, which had spread to 7,200 acres and was zero percent contained, <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1320945060968419328" target="_blank">OCFA tweeted</a>.</p><p>The second fire of the day was the Blue Ridge Fire, which ignited just before 1 p.m., as <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/10/26/blue-ridge-fire-threatens-yorba-linda-homes/" target="_blank">CBSLA reported further</a>. It broke out in the Chino Hills above Yorba Linda, according to USA TODAY. On its own, it prompted almost 5,000 evacuations, according to CBSLA. It seriously damaged at least one residence.</p><p>By the end of the day, there were around 200 firefighters working on it and it was zero percent contained, OCFA tweeted. By late Monday night, it <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1320972199742697472" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">had spread</a> to 6,600 acres.</p>
<p>As with every <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> event during the 2020 hurricane and fire seasons, evacuations were complicated by the ongoing spread of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. Fire evacuee Kelsey Brewer told USA TODAY how she and her three roommates had to make a plan for where they could safely shelter. They decided to head to the home of her girlfriend's mother because it was spacious and she lived there alone.</p><p>"We literally talked about it this morning," Brewer said. "There's nowhere you can go to feel safe."</p><p>The new blazes also come amidst a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wildfires-california-washington-oregon-photos-2647585008.html" target="_self">devastating fire year</a> for the U.S. In California, fires since August have killed more than 30 people and forced thousands to flee, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54694971" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Fires in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington State have scorched more than five million acres, The New York Times reported.</p>
<p>And the nightmare is far from over for Southern California, as the arrival of the Santa Ana winds brings low moisture, National Weather Service Sacramento meteorologist Jim Mathews told USA TODAY. He said the weather conditions now were similar to those that had fueled destructive fires in the past, like the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-wildfires-kincade-2641099755.html" target="_self">Kincade Fire</a> in 2019 or the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/camp-fire-cost-paradise-california-2625457443.html" target="_self">Camp Fire</a> in 2018.</p><p>"This is our severe weather season right now: fire weather," he told USA TODAY.</p><p>Scientists say the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making fire seasons more extreme as warmer, drier weather makes plants more likely to burn, The New York Times reported.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Losses From California Wildfires Top $1 Billion, Expected to Rise ... ›
- California Wildfires Burn 10,000 Acres in a Single Day - EcoWatch ›
- Wildfires, Heat Waves, Sea Level Rise to Be Increasingly ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Support Ecowatch
Tropical Storm Zeta could be the fifth storm to hit Louisiana this season. National Hurricane Center
The extremely active 2020 hurricane season has another storm in store for the beleaguered Gulf Coast.
<p>Tropical Storm Zeta, the earliest 27th named storm of any hurricane season, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane Monday, <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/zeta-likely-to-become-hurricane-before-hitting-yucatan-later-gulf-coast/2311873/" target="_blank">NBC6 South Florida reported</a>. It will likely remain at or near hurricane strength when it nears the U.S. Gulf Coast Wednesday, <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1320653142271291394" target="_blank">according to a 5 a.m. EDT update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC)</a>.</p><p>"It is unfortunate we face another tropical threat this late in a very active season," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/zeta-likely-to-become-hurricane-before-hitting-yucatan-later-gulf-coast/2311873/" target="_blank">in a statement Sunday</a>. "We must roll up our sleeves, like we always do, and prepare for a potential impact to Louisiana."</p>
<div id="f8b4d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07a8f5b962dcee1052414695d13a244d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320413961926356992" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This storm is expected to make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast by midweek, meaning we have a few days to prepa… https://t.co/DNiY0VpHCI</div> — John Bel Edwards (@John Bel Edwards)<a href="https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov/statuses/1320413961926356992">1603646195.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Louisiana has been especially hard hit during the 2020 hurricane season, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/26/us/tropical-storm-zeta-louisiana/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. Late August's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-laura-louisiana-gulf-of-mexico-2647106305.html" target="_self">Hurricane Laura</a> was the strongest storm to strike Louisiana since 1856. It killed at least 25 people in Louisiana and Texas and forced thousands to evacuate.</p><p>More than 8,000 of these evacuees were still living in shelters when <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-delta-laura-louisiana-2648175286.html" target="_self">Hurricane Delta</a> arrived six weeks later, flooding roads, downing power lines and killing at least four people in total.</p><p>If Zeta does make landfall in Louisiana Wednesday, it will be the fifth to do so this year and it would break the record for the most named storms to hit Louisiana in one season.</p><p>The storm could also make landfall along the Florida Panhandle, which was drenched in September by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-sally-flooding-2647677628.html" target="_self">Hurricane Sally</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/us/tropical-storm-zeta.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>"There's no question there's a lot of hurricane fatigue, but we're still going to have to prepare," NHC meteorologist and spokesman Dennis Feltgen told The New York Times.</p><p>Before it menaces the U.S., though, Zeta is forecast to move over or near the Yucatan Peninsula Monday. The government of Mexico's Quintana Roo state is preparing 71 shelters for residents and tourists, NBC6 South Florida reported. The government is still providing aid to people in the Yucatan who were impacted by Hurricane Delta and Tropical Storm Gamma.</p>
<div id="d1466" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fec06e280e1a846e21135e60632542d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320653142271291394" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here the 5 AM EDT Monday Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Zeta. Zeta is expected to become a hurricane later this… https://t.co/HJtPl4d9SJ</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1320653142271291394">1603703220.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>2020 is in the running to dethrone 2005 as the most active hurricane season on record. The 2005 season had 28 named storms — 27 that were named as they occurred and one that was discovered after the fact and became an "unnamed named storm," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach told NBC6 South Florida.</p>
<div id="a9ccc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eaa5510d6ed3a84110e165e17bf58275"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320251178244952066" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Zeta has formed in the NW Caribbean - the 27th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic #hurricane season to date and earl… https://t.co/KImnD2m5dJ</div> — Philip Klotzbach (@Philip Klotzbach)<a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/statuses/1320251178244952066">1603607384.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">wetter</a> and more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">intense</a>. Scientists <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-extreme-weather-2647096018.html" target="_self">are not sure</a> how it will impact the total number of storm systems, but the most destructive ones are likely to become more frequent. Hurricanes and tropical storms are fueled in part by warm water, and almost all of the tropical Atlantic Basin has seen higher temperatures than normal this season.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Hurricane Delta Floods Parts of Louisiana Still Recovering From ... ›
- Hurricane Delta's Rapid Intensification Is Fueled by Climate Change ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Breaks Record for Earliest 25th Named Storm ... ›
- Pence Dismisses Climate Action at RNC as Hurricane Hits Gulf Coast ›
- Deadly Hurricane Zeta Breaks Records as Fifth Named Storm to Hit Louisiana - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
A flooded shop is seen next to Rodanthe Sound as Hurricane Dorian hits Cape Hatteras in North Carolina on September 6, 2019. Jose Luis Magana / AFP / Getty Images
North Carolina's Outer Banks are dotted with vacation beaches and historic communities. But the sweeping water views do not only draw tourists. They give locals a front row seat to sea-level rise.
<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/16201181/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>Many, like Jamie Anderson, face more frequent floods. Anderson is the owner of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.duckscottage.com/about-us">Downtown Books</a> on Roanoke Island. Since she opened the store there eight years ago, it's flooded six times, with anywhere from an inch to two feet of water.</p><p>Sometimes storms are the cause, and other times all it takes is wind and a high tide.</p><p>"No rain, no hurricane, but water's an inch deep in my store," Anderson says.</p><p>To protect her inventory, Anderson keeps books off the floor.</p>
<p>"We use lots of tables and don't do anything to the floor," she says. "We just kind of paint it with floor paint every couple of years because it's going to get wet, so there's no point having any carpet down there."</p><p>Before big storms, she has what she calls "moving parties" where volunteers help her put everything up higher than three feet. And she packs up valuable items so she can take them with her.</p><p>Despite the hassle, Anderson plans to stay put. She says she'd lose customers if she moved.</p><p>"We're going to tough it out and continue to be there," she says. "And it's just kind of part of our story."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/10/what-its-like-to-own-a-small-business-on-front-line-of-sea-level-rise/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a mild winter for most of the U.S. Thursday, forecasting that the drought that now covers nearly half the country will get worse, according to The New York Times.
<p><br/></p>
<p>NOAA's <a href="https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Climate Prediction Center</a> released its winter outlook for 2020-2021 Thursday and predicted that much of the South and Southwest will remain dry this winter, while areas in the Pacific Northwest and the Upper Plains will have the opposite problem — they will have a wetter than average winter, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/15/weather/2020-winter-forecast-noaa-outlook/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>That means that the current drought that blankets just under 47 percent of the continental U.S. will only get worse during the months that usually bring relief. The country is currently in its most widespread drought since 2013.</p>
<p>NOAA's <a href="https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=2" target="_blank">prediction model</a> said that this year's La Niña will drive warmer and drier weather through the southern part of the country this winter. This zone includes areas where wildfires are currently burning, like Southern California and Colorado.</p><p>"With La Niña well established and expected to persist through the upcoming 2020 winter season, we anticipate the typical, cooler, wetter North, and warmer, drier South, as the most likely outcome of winter weather that the U.S. will experience this year," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-winter-outlook-cooler-north-warmer-south-with-ongoing-la-nina" target="_blank">in a news release</a>, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/15/noaa-winter-outlook/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The model splits the lower 48 states into three stripes. One massive stripe runs coast-to-coast from Southern California to North Carolina. It will see a dry winter. A band that encompasses Oregon and Washington and runs along the northern part of the country to Michigan will see a wet winter. The rest of the country will see fairly normal conditions, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-weather-united-states-1e67f7a2fa8093c748a8741dad55ca84" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p>
<p>Halpert added in a call with reporters that La Ninas, which are periodic cooling of waters in the tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean, usually reduce the odds of large snowstorms on the East Coast. However, the model cannot predict extreme events months ahead of time, according to the AP.</p><p>The climate prediction model is also forecasting above average temperatures for much of the country, with the largest spikes above the average in southern Texas. However, each month may see fluctuations that differ from the overall trend toward warming, as <a href="https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2020-10-14-winter-2020-2021-temperature-outlook-united-states" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a> reported.</p><p>"The typical La Niña response is for warm November, cold December, and warm January/February; however, January and February can have significant volatility depending on if high-latitude blocking occurs," said Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company, as The Weather Channel reported. High-latitude blocking stymies the flow of La Niña from west to east and allows cold air from the Arctic to make its way south.</p>
<p>Studies show that the Southwest, which has been in a drought for the past two decades, is in the grips of its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southwest-drought-climate-crisis-2645742986.html" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported.</p><p>Halpert said the high likelihood of a worsening drought in the region this winter is directly linked to La Niña, which started in August and is expected to continue through December, as The New York Times reported.</p><p><span>Halpert also emphasized that the prediction is based on mathematical models and that sometimes the impacts of La Niña and El Niño systems do not play out.</span></p>
From Your Site Articles
- Puerto Rico Drought Leaves 140,000 Without Running Water ... ›
- Missouri River Drought Was Its Worst in 1,200 Years, Study Finds ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The Glass Fire burns on a mountainside with the Beckstoffer Vinyards in the foreground on Sept. 28, 2020 in St. Helena, Californai. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
As the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires across the western United States and melts Arctic sea ice at an alarming rate, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that Earth just experienced the hottest September on record and that 2020 is on pace to be one of the three hottest years on the books.
<p><a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-just-had-its-hottest-september-on-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to</a> NOAA, "the 10 warmest Septembers have all occurred since 2005, with the seven warmest Septembers occurring in the last seven years."</p><p>"We've broken the climate system," tweeted meteorologist Eric Holthaus. "We are in a climate emergency."</p>
<p>NOAA <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/202009/supplemental/page-2" target="_blank">found</a> that 2020 has a 65% chance of beating out 2016 as the warmest year on record, a 35% chance of being the second-warmest ever, and will almost certainly rank in the top three.</p><p>Climate scientists emphasized that this year's record-setting temperatures have been accompanied by an unprecedented wave of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> events. A <a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank">report</a> published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction examined the "staggering" increase in climate-related disasters, which doubled from 3,656 between 1980 and 1999 to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019, as Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/13/uninhabitable-hell-millions-un-report-sounds-alarm-humanitys-continued-destruction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUyMzM4My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDUzMTg0OH0.rbCjdegltKGIl4s67tRVN9oy5BzfGCgrV2YFQHTmbCc/img.png?width=980" id="c59fd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="14b10059877082736fc58eae8cd9a837" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Researchers at Yale <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/10/september-2020-was-warmest-september-on-record-noaa-reports/" target="_blank">found</a> that eight weather-related disasters causing $1 billion or more in damage occurred across the world in September alone, bringing the annual total thus far to 35. There were 40 such events in both 2018 and 2019.</p><p>With 16 extreme weather events so far in 2020, the U.S. has already tied its record for most billion-dollar weather disasters in a single year. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUyMzM5MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTE4MDgxOH0.NdmxdhaKwzDvkn784hESu2ZA4P5NNIDvthK11NopCZ8/img.png?width=980" id="3a4e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dc302971d3a01053e3841558a704bfbe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>NOAA's findings echo a European Union study published one week ago. As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/07/scientists-warn-2020-pace-become-hottest-year-ever-september-heat-smashes-previous" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, one of the EU climate scientists who contributed to the analysis noted that the planet "will carry on warming if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the rate they are at the moment."</p><p>"It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our own destruction," the U.N. report stated, "despite the science and evidence that we are turning our only home into an uninhabitable hell for millions of people."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/14/planet-earth-says-noaa-just-had-its-hottest-september-record" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Trump Admin to Appoint Second Climate Skeptic to NOAA This Month ›
- Climate Denier Is Named to Leadership Role at NOAA - EcoWatch ›
- NOAA: 2020 Could Be Warmest Year on Record - EcoWatch ›
- September 2019 Was Earth's Hottest September on Record ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Heavy Smoke rises from the Cameron Peak fire as it continues to burn on Oct. 5, 2020 in Larimer County near Fort Collins, Colorado. Helen H. Richardson / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images
For the second time this year, Colorado is battling the largest wildfire in state history.
<p>Strong winds pushed the Cameron Peak fire 17 miles to the east Tuesday and Wednesday, <a href="https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/10/14/strong-winds-push-cameron-peak-fire-east-prompting-more-evacuations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wildfire Today reported</a>. It burned more than 20,000 acres in a single day, swelling to 158,300 acres by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and placing at least nine new areas under evacuation orders, the <a href="https://eu.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/10/14/largest-wildfire-colorado-history-cameron-peak-fire/3659545001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fort Collins Coloradoan reported</a>.</p>
<div id="76933" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d898cedb438dfd8534d4f496549ca2b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1316578050574897153" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here is the #CameronPeakFire map created with data from the multi mission aircraft (MMA) flight earlier today. Th… https://t.co/PQanYpzbyT</div> — Canyon Lakes Ranger RD (@Canyon Lakes Ranger RD)<a href="https://twitter.com/usfsclrd/statuses/1316578050574897153">1602731642.0</a></blockquote></div>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUyMDA2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDk2MjgxMX0.kIfbtaRMKrM71wvz48H6dVC8P4GP5U0buEVJr3V3Vbo/img.png?width=980" id="89059" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4833a1292ec73bbdc9abcc80faf7ed51" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>"This really was almost an epic day for doing evacuations and again, for everybody that's been moved, I know it's extremely difficult," officials said Wednesday night, as <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/10/14/cameron-peak-fire-largest-wildfire-colorado-history/" target="_blank">CBS4 Denver reported</a>. "We do know that we lost structures today and for anybody who is impacted, you know, our heart goes out to you."<br></p><p>One family lost two cabins they owned in the Buckhorn Canyon area.</p><p>"The materials is one thing," Parker Hutchinson told CBS4 Denver. "But the amount of family heirlooms and just the memories of that area, they've been burned."</p><p>Despite these individual tragedies, Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said the day could have been even worse.</p><p>"We have no reported injuries, no deaths, a lot fewer structures were impacted that we truly anticipated based on what we saw with that said, there's certainly a lot of folks that got hit," he said, as <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/10/14/cameron-peak-fire-spreads-quickly-into-more-populated-areas/" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio reported</a>.</p>
<div id="f67b3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab50c11f23a7fdd3176e6fc537d96ed2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1316443792988352522" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Time lapse sent by a colleague (with permission to share), taken near the mouth of the Big Thompson canyon… https://t.co/phRPfP4sAs</div> — Russ Schumacher (@Russ Schumacher)<a href="https://twitter.com/russ_schumacher/statuses/1316443792988352522">1602699633.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Cameron Peak fire has been burning since Aug. 13 in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest. It has persisted despite a snowstorm in early September and more snow on Sunday, fueled by high winds and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a>. It had already destroyed or damaged 99 structures before exploding Tuesday, and officials said conditions were still too dangerous to assess the total number of buildings impacted in the last 24 hours. It is now 56 percent contained and more than 1,000 people are fighting it.</p><p>The fire is burning to the west of Fort Collins, but Smith said he did not think the flames would reach that more populous area or the nearby city of Loveland because they are protected by bodies of water and a lack of the heavy timber that feeds the flames.</p><p>The two largest fires in Colorado history both ignited this year. The Cameron Peak fire unseated the Pine Gulch fire, which burned 139,007 acres over the summer and held the record for only 48 days.</p>
<p>The ten largest fires in Colorado history all took place in the last 20 years, and seven took place in the last 10, according to figures reported by the Fort Collins Coloradoan.</p><p>As of August, 2020 was Colorado's third driest year on record and twelfth warmest, according to <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/20/colorado-wildfires-climate-change-drought-snowpack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio</a>. Almost a fourth of the state is experiencing extreme drought. These fire-fueling conditions are in line with what scientists say the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> will do to the state.</p><p>"What we're seeing here is indicative of the fact that when the hot, dry years come around, they're hotter than most of the time when they've occurred in the past," state climatologist Russ Schumacher told Colorado Public Radio. "And that's pretty well in line with what climate projections have been saying for some time."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Colorado Wildfire Forces 1,000 to Evacuate - EcoWatch ›
- Colorado Wildfire Grows by 6,000 Acres an Hour - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
'Uninhabitable Hell:' UN Report Warns of Planet's Future for Millions Without Climate Action
13 October
Climate
A UN report, The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019, was released to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd / Stone / Getty Images
A new report from the United Nations found that political leaders and industry leaders are failing to do the necessary work to stop the world from becoming an "uninhabitable hell" for millions of people as the climate crisis continues and natural disasters become more frequent, as Al-Jazeera reported.
<p><a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019</a> was released Monday to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which falls on Oct. 13, according to a <a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank">statement</a> from the office behind the report.</p><p>The bulk of the disasters were climate-related, as there were sharp increases in the number of floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires in the last two decades, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/13/world/un-natural-disasters-climate-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The report found that the world is on a worrying trend line as natural disasters become more frequent and more expensive. In the last 20 years, there were more than 7,300 natural disasters worldwide, accounting for nearly $3 trillion in damages. That's almost double the prior two decades when there were just over 4,200 natural disasters that totaled $1.6 trillion in economic losses, according to the statement.</p>
<p>"It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our own destruction," said UNDRR chief Mami Mizutori and Debarati Guha-Sapir of Belgium's Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, in a joint foreword to the report, as CNN reported.</p><p>"It really is all about governance if we want to deliver this planet from the scourge of poverty, further loss of species and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, the explosion of urban risk and the worst consequences of global warming."</p>
<p>The report said that the future would be full of more climate-related disasters as the planet warms up and heat-trapping gases are continuously emitted into the atmosphere. The researchers said the greatest threats in the coming decades would come from heat waves and droughts, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-disasters-un/sharp-rise-in-natural-disasters-in-last-20-years-asia-hardest-hit-u-n-idUSKBN26X1HG" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>Asia saw the bulk of the natural disasters over the last 20 years. China had the largest number of disasters with 57, followed by India, the Philippines and Indonesia. The only country outside of Asia to crack the top 5 was the U.S, which ranked second with 467 natural disasters from 2000 to 2019, according to the paper, as Reuters reported.</p><p>"If this level of growth in extreme weather events continues over the next twenty years, the future of mankind looks very bleak indeed," said Guha-Sapir, according to Reuters. "Heatwaves are going to be our biggest challenge in the next 10 years, especially in the poor countries."</p>
<p>In a virtual briefing to announce the release of the report, Mizutori said the world must act swiftly and decisively to invest in disaster reduction, climate crisis adaptation, and prevention. She asked that political leaders around the world reaffirm their commitment to the 2015 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> and turn their attention to zero-emissions infrastructure, as Al-Jazeera reported.</p><p>The report said that the world's current trajectory that has us heading towards a 3.2-degree Celsius increase in temperature will trigger such extreme climate disasters that the improvements to disaster response will be rendered "obsolete in many countries," as CNN reported.</p><p>"We have seen little progress on reducing climate disruption and environmental degradation," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in an <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/disaster-reduction-day/messages" target="_blank">International Disaster Day message</a>, as CNN reported. "To eradicate poverty and reduce the impacts of climate change, we must place the public good above all other considerations."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- UN: Climate Crisis Has Doubled Natural Disasters in Last 20 Years ... ›
- 13 Must-Read Climate Change Reports for 2020 - EcoWatch ›
- The World Is 'Way off Track' in Dealing With Climate Crisis, Says UN ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Worsening floods and storms accounted for about four-fifths of the total from 2000-2019. Pxfuel
Climate change has spurred close to a doubling of natural disasters in the last 20 years, and world leaders are failing to prevent Earth from evolving into "an uninhabitable hell" for millions, the United Nations warned on Monday.
<p>At least 7,348 major disasters had occurred between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in a new report entitled: "The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019."</p><p>According to the Geneva-based agency, the last two decades saw the number of disasters caused by extreme weather nearly double to 6,681, up from 3,656 between 1980 and 1999.</p><p>"We are willfully destructive. That is the only conclusion one can come to, with action on climate change and other major threats waning," said Mami Mizutori, the UN secretary-general's special representative for disaster risk deduction.</p>
Climate Change Proves Deadly
<p>Worsening floods and storms accounted for about four-fifths of the total from 2000-2019, while major increases were also registered for droughts, wildfires and heat waves.The report noted that extreme heat is proving especially deadly. Other major recorded disasters included earthquakes and tsunamis.</p><p>The natural disasters also caused almost $3 trillion in global economic losses — almost twice the amount in the preceding two decades.</p><p>The UN body blamed leaders for not only <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-scientists-should-cut-back-on-air-travel/a-42862862" target="_blank">insufficient action</a> in slowing down climate change but also for failing to combat the global coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 1 million people and infected over 37 million in the past nine months.</p><p>"COVID-19 is but the latest proof that political and business leaders are yet to tune into the world around them," Mizutori said in a statement. Despite warnings from experts and UN agencies, "almost all nations" have not done enough to prevent death and illness caused by the pandemic.</p>Asia at Highest Risk
<p>Though the report commended countries including India and Bangladesh for stepping up efforts in evacuating millions of people to safety from life-threatening floods and cyclones, it said the odds "continue to be stacked against them, in particular by industrial nations that are failing miserably on reducing greenhouse gas emissions" in line with an agreed aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.</p><p>The report, released ahead of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on Tuesday, relied on statistics from the Emergency Events Database, which records all disasters that kill 10 or more people, affect 100 or more people or result in a state of emergency declaration.</p><p>According to the data, Asia has suffered the highest number of disasters in the past 20 years with 3,068 disasters, followed by the Americas with 1,756 and Africa with 1,192.</p><p>In terms of affected countries, China topped the list with 577 events followed by the US with 467.</p><p>"It really is all about governance if we want to deliver this planet from the scourge of poverty, further loss of species and biodiversity, the explosion of urban risk and the worst consequences of global warming," Mizutori said.<br></p>
Read More
Show Less
Trending
An aerial drone view shows a model home surrounded by flooding from Hurricane Delta in an area still recovering from Hurricane Laura on Oct. 10, 2020 in Iowa, Louisiana. Mario Tama / Getty Images
Record-breaking hurricane Delta made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near Creole, Louisiana Friday evening, striking another blow to a region still recovering from Hurricane Laura just six weeks earlier.
<p>Especially hard hit by the one-two punch of storms was the town of Lake Charles, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-tropical-storms-storms-hurricane-laura-hurricane-delta-b79a7554173b9e5730ae0f658be52868" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. While Delta was weaker than Category 4 Laura, which damaged almost every building in the town, the second storm brought more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, inundating hundreds of the same buildings.</p><p>"Add Laura and Delta together and it's just absolutely unprecedented and catastrophic," Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter told The Associated Press. "We are very concerned that with everything going in the country right now that this incident may not be on the radar nationally like it should be."</p>
<div id="b1ead" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c72bcdab8d9280617a4c52d2fbaf7df0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1314704983523115008" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Delta is the 2nd #hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana this season (Laura was the other). This is the first ye… https://t.co/dN78re5Pjz</div> — Philip Klotzbach (@Philip Klotzbach)<a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/statuses/1314704983523115008">1602285068.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In addition to walloping Lake Charles, Delta also knocked out power to more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas as of Sunday morning, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/11/weather/hurricane-delta-sunday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. The outages had deadly results. An 86-year-old man in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana died in a fire after trying to fuel a generator in his shed.</p><p>The storm weakened to a post-tropical cyclone and moved north out of Louisiana over the weekend but continued to cause damage. A train derailed in Lilburn, Georgia because of heavy rain, and two <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tornadoes" target="_self">tornadoes</a> also touched down in the state, injuring two.</p><p>By Sunday night, the post-tropical remnants of the storm were located about 60 miles north-northeast of Atlanta, Georgia and were expected to continue to weaken, the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIAWPCAT1+shtml/120245.shtml" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center said</a>.</p>
<p>The back-to-back impacts of Laura and Delta are a reminder of how catastrophes can compound because of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"We live today in the age of crisis conglomeration," climate justice writer Mary Annaïse Heglar wrote for <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/2020-crises-wildfires-pandemic-election-climate-crisis-1069907/" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> Oct. 4. "It is no longer useful or honest or even smart to look at any of them through a single lens."</p><p>The climate crisis is making hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">wetter</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-delta-2020-2648150767.html" target="_self">more likely to intensify rapidly</a>, as both Laura and Delta did. And the storms together have forced more than 9,000 people in Louisiana into shelters in the middle of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/11/louisiana-surveys-deltas-devastation-wonder-how-much-federal-aid-they-can-expect/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p>
<p>"We are responding to Hurricane Delta and continue to recover from Hurricane Laura in a covid environment," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday, urging people to continue social distancing and wearing masks as they respond to the storm.</p><p>On Sunday, he said 20 more people in the state had died of the disease.</p><p>Hurricane Delta is also the latest record-breaker in an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season. It was the earliest ever 25th named storm, and the 10th named storm to make landfall in the U.S., the most ever in a single season, meteorologist Steve Bowen pointed out on Twitter.</p>
<div id="e45b8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3de3462f0a6de38226d20e3d0ac27241"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1314706724687839232" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Delta has made landfall in Louisiana. This marks a record 10th named storm landfall on the U.S. mainland, and the… https://t.co/wmiNUDq7DL</div> — Steve Bowen (@Steve Bowen)<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveBowenWx/statuses/1314706724687839232">1602285483.0</a></blockquote></div>
From Your Site Articles
- Fossil Fuels and Climate Denial Still Reign in Louisiana Despite ... ›
- Hurricane Delta's Rapid Intensification Is Fueled by Climate Change ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Breaks Record for Earliest 25th Named Storm ... ›
- Zeta, Earliest 27th Named Storm on Record, Could Hit Gulf Coast as a Hurricane - EcoWatch ›
- Deadly Hurricane Zeta Breaks Records as Fifth Named Storm to Hit Louisiana - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The remains of a home near a beach destroyed by Hurricane Michael on May 9, 2019 in Mexico Beach, Florida. Scott Olson / Getty Images
As the Gulf states get pummeled by intense hurricanes and California burns in record-breaking wildfires, many in regions like these have contemplated moving to places projected to fare better in the face of the climate crisis. The ability to work from home, indefinitely for some, has also inspired interest in relocation away from expensive cities like San Francisco and New York that are vulnerable to climate disasters, reported SF Gate.
<p>"We lived in Oakland where we owned a home for over 20 years. The natural and man-made disasters got to be too much for us," Rita Liberati explained to SF Gate after her move to central New York. "My partner is retired, but my employer gave the OK for me to work remotely for which I'm grateful."</p><p>A closer look, though, reveals a disheartening answer to the question of where can you move to be safe from the effects of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Hint: it's basically nowhere.</p>
<p>In a "Dear Abby" style advice column tackling that exact question, <a href="https://grist.org/article/lets-say-i-wanted-to-escape-climate-change-where-should-i-go/" target="_blank">Grist</a> called the impulse to flee to avoid climate disruptions "reasonable" because "climate change rivals nuclear war for the greatest threat to human life in the history of our species' existence. Every survival instinct we've cultivated to date should, understandably, make us want to get away from it."</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90288934/how-soon-will-climate-change-force-you-to-move" target="_blank">Fast Company</a>, the risk is not the same everywhere, and some places will suffer more extreme impacts from the climate crisis. Miami, for example, already floods with high tides. By 2060, 60% of the city will suffer chronic flooding; by 2100, that number jumps to 90%, Fast Company reported. In Alaska, some residents have already been forced to relocate because melting permafrost and erosion have caused parts of their village to wash away into the sea, reported <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/12/where-should-i-move-to-be-safe-from-climate-change/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</p>
<p>Jesse Keenan, a Harvard climate adaptation specialist, suggested the Upper Midwest and parts of Minnesota as more comfortable locales in the face of the climate crisis because they are rural, wooded, Northern and stocked with fresh water, the Grist reported. Keenan quickly followed up saying that if everyone moved there, those "climate strongholds" would be quickly overrun and overtaxed. Another <a href="https://grist.org/article/we-broke-down-what-climate-change-will-do-region-by-region/" target="_blank">Grist</a> article also noted that those regions would suffer crop diseases, pests and algal blooms in the Great Lakes because of climate change.</p><p>Dave Anderson bought a 70-acre ranch in Oregon as a "Plan B" escape property for his family if their homes in Houston ever became uninhabitable, reported the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/realestate/climate-change-insurance-buy-land-somewhere-else.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>.</p><p>I'm no doomsday prepper," he told the Times. "That said, we intentionally purchased a relatively remote property well above sea level, with ample water and wildlife, with the expectation that the property would survive for generations of family use."</p><p>While his property sounds relatively safe, according to Grist, Oregon itself is under a consistent threat of wildfires, scarce fresh water sources, and big earthquakes.</p><p>"There's nowhere you can hide. I think you need to come to terms with what you think you're running from," Keenan told Grist.</p>
<p>Tellingly, the second Grist article broke down what climate change is predicted to change in the U.S. region by region and found no place was fully "safe." From more extremely hot nights and invasive lionfish in the Southeast, to worse storms and dwindling freshwater supplies in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, to more fires and droughts along the entire West Coast, the picture is bleak in different degrees and different ways anywhere you look, the report said.</p><p>Inequity also is a complicating concern, with many people "too poor to move," Keenan told Fast Company. "Climate change is going to make the problem much more profound. What I'm concerned with … is not necessarily where people are going to move, but who's going to be trapped."</p>
<p>Fast Company and Yale also noted the difficulties with relocating — finding a new sense of community, social circles and rootedness, all of which are "survival mechanisms" that help in the face of emergencies like climate disasters.</p><p>Instead of the somewhat futile effort to escape climate change by moving, some experts are advocating instead for increased investments in climate resilience where people already live, Yale reported. The news report also listed resources for U.S.-based readers to look up everything from how many increased hot days a region will experience to how climate change will affect air quality, and suggested getting involved with local resiliency planning.</p><p>"So before you pack your bags, first make sure you understand the expected consequences of climate change where you live now. Do those risks outweigh the cost of leaving behind friends, neighbors, family, and professional contacts?" the report queried.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- California Suffers Its First 'Gigafire' - EcoWatch ›
- 'Unsurvivable Storm Surge' Expected as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf ... ›
- Louisiana Faces Faster Levels of Sea-Level Rise Than Any Other ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
NHC Director Ken Graham provides an update on Hurricane Delta. NOAA
Hurricane Delta is set to batter southwest Louisiana later today, as residents there prepare to be hit once again by a storm that has rapidly intensified, experts say, largely because of global warming.
<p>Hurricane Delta, the sixth storm so far to meet scientists' threshold for <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVqc7S3kg3BlW4l2r149fYKkyW15bp5B4gZtmDN6TZ7st3p_97V1-WJV7CgH_wW7x651w8fYJ6WW3BmKKh5Y9TlZW6gk1MG8zwY45VB_Kqm4qF5cGV6HmBz8CnvZZW75DQSQ3bg5NbW17SFnZ2DDh1fW5dzkM37bKNZgW6swNLK7K9hb7VV_fcP5WCBwxW1vWh7m5VxbqVW824V6V1kSHtWW4l3Qcs5sXdJ1W6QY_z95fGp9cVpc04z263hv2W16HRh-54z8F2N5c0_KJlwG9vW14z4zn1BCYNhM152SpXQflwV4g3Wx134hZ_W655DbX4HG_3hW4byG5Q8yJ8hhW7sT63X7PC5-tW3B3_0V3vv-nL3k9K1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rapid intensification</a>, exploded from an unnamed storm into a 140 mph monster in just 36 hours. </p><p>"It's more likely that a storm will rapidly intensify now than it did in the 1980s," NOAA climate and hurricane scientist Jim Kossin told the AP. </p><p>The proportion of storms rapidly intensifying in the Atlantic has nearly doubled since 1982, according to a study published last year by Kossin and Princeton climate scientist Gabriel Vecchi, who both told the AP climate change, caused by burning gas, oil, and coal, is clearly playing a major role. </p><p>The increase in storms' rapid acceleration is fueled by oceans heated by climate change.</p>
<p>For Louisiana residents, the danger — and trauma — of repeated storms in such close succession is visceral. </p><p>Hurricane Laura slammed two trees through Janice Duren's Lake Charles home less than two months ago, "And we're fixing to get hit again. You might as well hang it up," Duren told the New York Times from the New Orleans hotel to which she evacuated. </p><p>"It looks like somebody put a bomb off down there [in Lake Charles]," she said. "And you turn around and put another hurricane on top of that? … It'll be double the trouble, but we don't have half the help we need." </p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-climate-change-oceans-storms-weather-108ee106d20ab2ab4880011b78e71981?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9rfPWaJ6Nsgh39ouOfPSVKLef_r_36cgDAWETlEjtp8tpqk44rnqrSGV2cUhMxE6r-Bx_aNmAc_sHwmpEd7T1u6OVYZAxEDfqVNZe5bQKwL7iONB0&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">AP,</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/hurricane-delta-gulf-coast.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9L8dBGijtdmosL7fZ-AhP8JzCMAsoEo3Hg5Cx2BT9hQIeEt-UeZ9n11ZEcI-A6jtpa7KshrW1hcQjCrTjgMqC6-u9r_Lf_kZ13472yV_R_acUPuWA&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-delta-gulf-coast-atlantic-hurricane-season/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--gu8ZAhbKFXA8RN9r7lvrxdNKwmCrKnZUBg-sMIhlFJvBBj_yuAb8vf_Ibcsf8VaBHNWUuV_Mv7LXMVE_2rxxjazB6d7QRikhy1BReEtFy5tuPIns&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CBS</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/09/weather/hurricane-delta-friday/index.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8AbL2KE9vKkKCAyqPtu1p0hQl44_aarTg85BTDEme8YR6ds5rqA-LIarZ7ePPoXpfvWt4_QD_ADpJH5rDtYwn76fvYyjgOXQhaJnwdc71esCA3us0&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/10/still-reeling-louisiana-braces-for-hurricane-delta/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8vR9mG-ez9w7Ze3HSVTmqUDczekLhL90YZLf4xc4MC6VKVAgOYIeBTUgu9gyYI8qh0z4w7wCFiHbgZMVcRf3-KSiTPOJQBYBlBUfZmK9hUS-syqWU&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/08/hurricane-delta-louisiana-winds-flooding?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DeglbJVv7uGemAVvk6k0hsPUK-Iioud-Jb_5Y6T98nSH3GzqZhz-AlhApt1zn4BqjCPUamv_6GkT7RMPiOtc9dpcmc8h0tIkiw0v40jxPgNDeIkI&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/10/09/stories/1063715877?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-93N8qM3j32oSXm8jaOZhFBgdHQOvSCLbcT7RX9kTCMTlCXtrwvIC1ZL-_CpqSvhLfRlFDMJHU7YDswb7OzBqkTP-HnyNHOy_ZuxoxP96dERjGHe70&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>; Climate Signals background: <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-change-hurricanes?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9flwzQxQkArxXK_2x651Pu8knSQrQ82oA9N7AFLNBNm9UdggkNJau51twuNiFMRw0DRomvxXLrEy30ePcbmSVCqALnrM_27o3Ywwjysx_wTKy1po0&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Hurricanes</a>; <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/events/atlantic-hurricane-season-2020?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97053490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8r-WjyhSE8jWLf0B3BsLjKv9L6sQyj6liBIqlu7WIVX7i58XG6-ik4pCXrvDbk4n7gkPPGpXhZOTgpSpuAHEZzLE2aJzd9zXSrOoHAjvP6bFtQBk0&utm_content=97053490&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Atlantic Faces Fifth 'Above-Normal' Hurricane Season in a Row ... ›
- 2020 Hurricane Season Expected to Be Second Most Active Since ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Breaks Record for Earliest 25th Named Storm ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Floods Parts of Louisiana Still Recovering From August’s Laura - EcoWatch ›
- Zeta, Earliest 27th Named Storm on Record, Could Hit Gulf Coast as a Hurricane - EcoWatch ›
- Deadly Hurricane Zeta Breaks Records as Fifth Named Storm to Hit Louisiana - EcoWatch ›
Read More
Show Less