A portion of roadway is flooded in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sept. 20, 2020 due to storm surge from Tropical Storm Beta in the Gulf of Mexico. Matt Pierce / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus
The National Hurricane Center has run out of names for tropical storms this year and has now moved on to the Greek alphabet during an extremely active hurricane season. Late Monday night, Tropical Storm Beta became the ninth named storm to make landfall. That's the first time so many named storms have made landfall since 1916, when Woodrow Wilson was president, according to NBC News.
<p>Beta is a small but slow-moving storm. Its tropical-storm winds extend 125 miles from the eye of the storm. However, the danger from Beta is not its winds, but the tremendous amount of rain it is expected to drop on towns and cities along the Interstate 10 corridor in Texas and Louisiana, according to the <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-hurricane-teddy-tropical-storm-beta-monday-update-20200921-ppok6b2fbvcf3mh4ykjv7k44ci-story.html." target="_blank">Orlando Sentinel</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT2+shtml/220401.shtml?" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center</a> issued an update late last night that the center of Beta made landfall in Texas near the Southern End of the Matagorda peninsula around 10 p.m. CDT.</p><p>The storm's slow movement will stall Beta over Texas and drench the region with five to 10 inches of rain, said Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, MD, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/us/tropical-storm-beta.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. The heavy rains and wind will also create dangerous storm surges.</p>
<p>"Twenty-four hours from now it will be in roughly the same location," Otto said Monday, according to The New York Times.</p><p>That stalled movement has put roughly 11 million people under flash flood warnings that span the Texas and Louisiana coast, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/weather/tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-monday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. The sustained rain is also expected to cause river flooding and urban <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>.</p><p>Early Tuesday morning, Beta was moving no faster than people typically walk, at just 3 miles per hour. It is predicted to stall over inland Texas Tuesday and then move toward the east and northeast later in the day when it will begin to weaken, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/f19bbc72c7ec3d2040c0b942666eee90" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>. It is expected to stay in southeastern Texas through Wednesday and then move over Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday.</p>
<p>Dangerous flash floods may continue through Wednesday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Amaryllis Cotto in Galveston, Texas, who spoke to the AP. Cotto added that 6-12 inches of rain has already fallen in the area and some areas have seen 18 inches of rain.</p><p>On Monday night, Beta's storm surge washed away a pier in Galveston, Texas. The incident was captured on video and posted to <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSHouston/status/1307883681717972992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1307883681717972992%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fweather.com%2Fnews%2Fnews%2F2020-09-21-tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-flooding-damage-galveston" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p><p>The governors of Texas and Louisiana both urged residents to be vigilant during the storm. Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued a disaster declaration for 29 counties Monday, while Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and begged residents still recovering from Hurricane Laura to be especially careful, according to <a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2020-09-21-tropical-storm-beta-texas-louisiana-flooding-damage-galveston" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>.</p>
<p>Nic Hunter, the mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana, worried that Beta's intense rains may be "an emotional and mental toll for a lot of our citizens," as the city tries to recover after Hurricane Laura damaged 95 percent of the city's nearly 30,000 buildings, according to the AP.</p><p>While Beta slowly drenches Texas, Hurricane Teddy has strengthened in the Atlantic and is churning towards Nova Scotia in Canada. It is expected to make landfall Wednesday.</p><p>"Teddy should turn to the north-northeast and move over eastern Nova Scotia on Wednesday then over the Gulf of St. Lawrence late Wednesday into Thursday," National Hurricane Center forecasters said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.</p>
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Colette Pichon Battle, attorney, founder, and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy. Colette Pichon Battle
By Karen L. Smith-Janssen
Colette Pichon Battle gave a December 2019 TEDWomen Talk on the stark realities of climate change displacement, and people took notice. The video racked up a million views in about two weeks. The attorney, founder, and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP) advocates for climate justice in communities of color. Confronted with evidence showing how her own South Louisiana coastal home of Bayou Liberty will be lost to flooding in coming years, the 2019 Obama Fellow dedicates herself to helping others still reeling from the impacts of Katrina face the heavy toll that climate change has taken—and will take—on their lives and homelands. Her work focuses on strengthening multiracial coalitions, advocating for federal, state, and local disaster mitigation measures, and redirecting resources toward Black communities across the Gulf South.
<h4>How did Hurricane Katrina—which <a href="https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/150082.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">displaced more than 1 million people</a> in the Gulf region—propel your work, and how does it shape your mission today?</h4><p>I got into this work in the aftermath of the hurricane in 2005, and it's been 15 years as of August 29. Katrina was a massive disaster that I felt compelled to respond to. It was my hometown. I stayed because I began to understand how that disaster was a manifestation of a global climate reality.</p><p>We are anchoring the <a href="https://m4bl.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Movement for Black Lives</a> work that's centered around a national black climate agenda, and part of that will include in-depth communications to bring climate into the realm of Black lives—into communities that have been marginalized and targeted by our colonizing system. Part of our work is to begin a process of acknowledging the trauma that comes with being a person of color in this country, being in an environmental justice community and being poisoned every day, and going through a climate disaster. <em>We</em> are on the frontlines.</p>
<h4>How do you help communities heal from this trauma when the underlying problems have not been solved? </h4><p>The most difficult and time-consuming layer is building, healing, and strengthening relationships between different communities and acknowledging that many of us, especially people of color, have been systematically pitted against each other as part of a broader social infrastructure. What does it mean to reconcile these communities with each other? For example, we're making a <a href="https://www.gcclp.org/heal-and-reconcile" target="_blank">Sacred Waters Pilgrimage</a> down the Mississippi River for Black and Indigenous women to address the tensions between those two communities in the U.S. and begin to heal those relationships. In the climate movement, these are the people who are tokenized; it's just assumed they can stand on the frontlines together with no acknowledgment that there's a deep history of mistrust and tension between these groups—not of their own creation, and rooted in colonization. You've got to take some time to understand how the cultures are different and how people are perceived. You've got to reconcile and heal before you can work, and only then can the work that you do together stand. Otherwise, the work that you do together will fall.</p>
<h4>In addition to building coalitions, what kinds of services does the GCCLP provide to help residents cope with the impacts of extreme storms?</h4><p>We started out providing free legal services to folks recovering after a disaster. We are there as service providers but we also offer a political education about what is happening to you and why. We don't just get your <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/going-under-long-wait-times-post-flood-buyouts-leave-homeowners-underwater" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FEMA paperwork completed for flood remittance</a>, although that's part of what we'll do. You're also going to leave with an understanding of the frequency of flooding, the climate impacts, and how your area in particular has just been affected and is going to be affected in the future.</p><p>Today, we have four main programs, and in each, we have a level of advocacy within them: We do Equitable Disaster Recovery; Water Equity/Water Economy; <a href="https://www.gcclp.org/copy-of-equitable-disaster-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sustainable Economy/Energy Democracy</a>; and Land, Labor and Just Transition. Our federal disaster advocacy work centers around the modification and re-envisioning of the Stafford Act, which controls and activates FEMA. We also do some state-level advocacy around mitigation planning here in the five Gulf South states. That involves educating decision makers not just on what the community needs but pointing out what's out there and within our budgetary reach or legislative duty. </p>
<h4>A lot of the initial recovery work following Katrina centered around <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-best-rebuild-hurricane-ravaged-city-listen-residents-says-new-orleans-native" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">building climate-resilient communities</a> that could withstand future storms. Has that work been successful?</h4><p>Over the years, as we've watched people trying to create resilient communities that are more physically ready for the storms that are coming, we've seen it either lead to gentrification or segregation or investment in non-Black, non-Native places. Money never makes it to the frontline. So we've got to put in our own infrastructure systems at the community level, rooted in political education around economy, racialized capitalism, and wealth-building.</p><p>In our understanding of climate change, the economy plays a major (if not <em>the</em> major) role in how we got to this place. The economic philosophy of this country is one of extraction; it's an extractive economy that started with the attempted genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans, all for profit, power, land, and control. So, we help communities to practice receiving, making decisions about, and distributing money to places where they want to see their dollars go—which is basically holding Black wealth. We help local organizations set up community-controlled funds all across the Gulf South region after every disaster. Yes, the community receives dollars, but they also go through a 12-month process to collectively develop a system of shared governance so that, should this happen again, we have systems of our own around our own money and its destination.</p>
<h4>The practice of "<a href="https://qz.com/1876202/new-flood-risk-maps-could-undermine-marginalized-neighborhoods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blue-lining</a>" is a new climate-driven threat that withdraws support for vulnerable communities living in high-risk flood areas. How did that manifest in New Orleans after Katrina, and how might it impact other areas?</h4><p>It's happening already in places south of New Orleans where decision makers have understood we will not make it. We're going to lose those areas. My community is one. You watch as <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/our-national-flood-insurance-program-going-underwater" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal flood insurance becomes impossible</a> because of the designations of flood risk by the Army Corps of Engineers. A point comes when you can't even get flood insurance to protect your home. After Katrina, officials said, "Everything below Interstate 10 is pretty much written off so if you live below I-10, you should begin to plan to move."</p><p>I think we're going to see false information about flood lines. On flood maps of south Louisiana, the city of New Orleans is not shown in the flood zone because of the levee system, which was only rebuilt to the standards that failed the first time. As a result, people in New Orleans can get insurance but people south of New Orleans can't.</p>
<h4>How do you reach community members who are not already part of the climate conversation but face climate change impacts in their immediate futures?</h4><p>Outreach is mainly folks just talking to the people they know. And we're part of larger coalitions that help us build new relationships. The problem is that the climate conversation has not yet made it into the daily rhetoric of Black, Indigenous, and brown communities, so giving generic information is not good enough. We're going to do more virtual education because video and social media are just how people get their information now in this COVID reality.</p><p>But the majority of folks we're trying to reach do not sit on a computer all day so there's still the problem of how to make it real. You have to understand that communication is not just words, especially down here in the South. You can sit under a tree next to somebody for a long time without words, yet a lot is actually being communicated, and they can feel that your energy is serious and authentic. I never had a problem communicating urgency to people of the Gulf South. They know I'm from here, that I love this place, and that I wouldn't be taking their time talking like this if it weren't serious.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/connector-gulf-south-15-years-and-counting" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a>.</em></p>
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Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall Slowly With 'Life-Threatening' Flooding Expected
16 September
Climate
A road floods as the outer bands of Hurricane Sally come ashore on Sept. 15, 2020 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
The Florida panhandle, the Alabama coast and Mississippi are seeing Hurricane Sally batter its shores Wednesday morning as the slow-moving hurricane starts to make landfall. The storm intensified overnight as it churned slowly over the Gulf of Mexico. It's expected to be a Category 2 storm when it fully makes landfall Wednesday during the mid-morning hours from 8 a.m. to noon, according to AccuWeather.
<p>Even though the center of the storm stayed offshore over night, the effects of Hurricane Sally were being felt. Some locations along the Gulf Coast have already received 20 inches of rain and the National Weather Service (NWS) in Mobile, Alabama warned that amount could double, considering how quickly the rain has already come down, as <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-sally-updates-flash-flood-emergency-issued-parts/story?id=73038603" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported.</p><p>"These warnings are issued for exceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening," the NWS said in a statement Wednesday morning. "This is a life-threatening situation. Seek higher ground now."</p>
<p>Early Wednesday morning, flash <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a> inundated roads in the southeast corner of Alabama and the western part of Alabama. According to poweroutage.us, nearly 300,000 homes have already lost power, as <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-09-16-hurricane-sally-forecast-landfall-alabama-florida-coast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a> reported.</p><p>On Tuesday night, the slow moving hurricane was chugging toward land at just 2 mph. The slow pace meant areas of the Gulf Coast were feeling 70 mph winds and receiving rain from the outer portion of the hurricane, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/weather/hurricane-sally-wednesday/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>. As Sally approached landfall early Wednesday morning, some areas registered winds peaking at 105 mph, according to AccuWeather.</p><p>To prepare for the storm and the possibility of water main breaks that would exacerbate the flooding or release sewage, the Escambia County Utilities Authority in Pensacola, Florida shut off the water system around 11:00 pm Tuesday night since the storm surge and the rising tides overwhelmed the sewer system, according to CNN.</p>
<p>Due to the storm's slow movement, the National Weather Service predicts that the relentless wind and rains will last for most of the day on Wednesday, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/15/hurricane-sally-live-updates/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. That slow pace means the area could see 30 inches or more of rain on Wednesday alone.</p><p>The stalling of storms has been notably costly recently. Last year, Hurricane Dorian stalled over Bermuda and caused widespread destruction from its relentless rains and wind. And, in 2017, Hurricane Harvey was no longer a hurricane when it stalled over Houston and dropped more than 4 feet of rain, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/climate/hurricane-sally-climate-change.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>"Our work indicates that climate change is favoring this phenomenon," said Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State, in an email message to The New York Times. "It likely plays a role in the decreased translation speed of landfalling hurricanes."</p><p>Mann and his colleagues have found that Arctic warming is affecting the jet stream and not only causing hurricanes to stall, but also locking air in place to cause heat waves and other <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a>, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>While Hurricane Sally has stalled near the Gulf Coast, it is not predicted to affect the areas that were hardest hit by Hurricane Laura several weeks ago. On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center dropped its hurricane and tropical storm warning for New Orleans and the Lake Pontchartrain as Sally is too far east to hit those parts of Louisiana, according to AccuWeather.</p>
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As a hurricane reaches the coast, it pushes a huge volume of ocean water ashore, known as a storm surge. Jerry Coli / Pixabay
By Anthony C. Didlake Jr.
Of all the hazards that hurricanes bring, storm surge is the greatest threat to life and property along the coast. It can sweep homes off their foundations, flood riverside communities miles inland, and break up dunes and levees that normally protect coastal areas against storms.
But what exactly is storm surge?
<p>
<br/>
</p>
What Storm Surge Looks Like From Shore
<p>As a hurricane reaches the coast, it pushes a huge volume of ocean water ashore. This is what we call storm surge.</p><p>This surge appears as a gradual rise in the water level as the storm approaches. Depending on the size and track of the hurricane, storm surge flooding can last for several hours. It then recedes after the storm passes.</p><p>Water level heights during a hurricane can reach 20 feet or more above normal sea level. With powerful waves on top of it, a hurricane's storm surge can cause catastrophic damage.</p>What Determines How High a Storm Surge Gets?
<p>Storm surge begins over the open ocean. The strong winds of a hurricane push the ocean waters around and cause water to pile up under the storm. The low air pressure of the storm also plays a small role in lifting the water level. The height and extent of this pile of water depend on the strength and size of the hurricane.</p><p>As this pile of water moves toward the coast, other factors can change its height and extent.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4aad41892c2bbd9d82864f56b59611cd"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TbHO1mWHKq4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p> The <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/" target="_blank">depth of the sea floor</a> is one factor.</p><p>If a coastal area has a sea floor that gently slopes away from the coastline, it's more likely to see a higher storm surge than an area with a steeper drop-off. Gentle slopes along the Louisiana and Texas coasts have contributed to some devastating storm surges. Hurricane Katrina's surge in 2005 broke levees and flooded New Orleans. Hurricane Ike's <a href="https://www.hcfcd.org/Additional-Resources/Flooding-and-Floodplains/Storm-Center/Hurricane-Ike-2008" target="_blank">15- to 17-foot storm surge</a> and waves swept hundreds of homes off Texas' Bolivar Peninsula in 2008. Both were large, powerful storms that hit in vulnerable locations.</p><p>The shape of the coastline can also shape the surge. When a storm surge enters a bay or river, the geography of the land can act as a funnel, sending the water even higher.</p>
Other Factors That Shape Storm Surge
<p>Ocean tides – caused by the gravity of the moon and sun – can also strengthen or weaken the impact of a storm surge. So, it's important to know the timing of the local tides compared to the hurricane landfall.</p><p>At high tide, the water is already at an elevated height. If landfall happens at high tide, the storm surge will cause even higher water levels and bring more water further inland. The Carolinas saw those effects when Hurricane Isaias hit at close to high tide on Aug. 3. Isaias brought a storm surge of about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/03/isaias-path-carolinas-northeast/" target="_blank">4 feet at Myrtle Beach</a>, South Carolina, but the water level was <a href="https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/waterlevels.html?id=8661070&units=standard&bdate=20200802&edate=20200804&timezone=GMT&datum=MLLW&interval=6&action=" target="_blank">more than 10 feet</a> above normal.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI5NDU5MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTMxMTAyNX0.136LZQwJEu9IF4eS8iWWFSe99sxiLBpFMxeIvrSr3To/img.jpg?width=980" id="63d28" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9dc9135513bb5741147c57d580dfdc32" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-c-didlake-jr-1151458" target="_blank">Anthony C. Didlake Jr.</a> is an </em><em>Assistant Professor of Meteorology, Pennsylvania State University.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Anthony C. Didlake Jr. receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-hurricane-storm-surge-and-why-is-it-so-dangerous-145369" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><iframe height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145369/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1"></iframe>How a storm surge and high tide add up to coastal flooding. The COMET Program/UCAR and National Weather Service
<p><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2680/new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-accelerating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sea level rise</a> is another growing concern that influences storm surge.</p><p>As water warms, <a href="https://sealevel.nasa.gov/understanding-sea-level/global-sea-level/thermal-expansion" target="_blank">it expands</a>, and that has slowly raised sea level over the past century as <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/global-temperatures" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global temperatures have risen</a>. Freshwater from melting of ice sheets and glaciers also adds to sea level rise. Together, they <a href="https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elevate the background ocean height</a>. When a hurricane arrives, the higher ocean means storm surge can bring water further inland, to a more dangerous and widespread effect.</p>From Your Site Articles
- Rising Seas May Bring More Superstorms - EcoWatch ›
- How Climate Change is Influencing Storm Surge - EcoWatch ›
- 'Unsurvivable Storm Surge' Expected as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf ... ›
- Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall Slowly With 'Life-Threatening' Flooding Expected - EcoWatch ›
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Charleston, SC Becomes First City in U.S. South to Sue Big Oil for Climate Costs
11 September
Climate
The number of flood days in Charleston, South Carolina has risen from around four to around 89 in the last 50 years. Diane Cook and Len Jenshel / The Image Bank / Getty Images Plus
The city of Charleston, South Carolina made history Wednesday when it became the first in the U.S. South to sue the fossil fuel industry for damages caused by the climate crisis.
<p>The city sued 24 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a> companies, including major players like <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/exxonmobil" target="_self">ExxonMobil</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chevron" target="_self">Chevron</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bp" target="_self">BP</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/royal-dutch-shell" target="_self">Royal Dutch Shell</a>, <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-sues-big-oil-for-flooding-in-sc-lowcountry-caused-by-global-warming/article_a97f761c-f297-11ea-b9b6-07c93643bc83.html#:~:text=The%20city%20of%20Charleston%20filed,disastrous%20flooding%20in%20the%20city" target="_blank">The Post and Courier reported</a>. The lawsuit contends that the companies knew that their products were heating the global climate but denied the fact in public. It further seeks to charge them for the costs of protecting Charleston from increased <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events.</p><p>"As this lawsuit shows, these companies have known for more than 50 years that their products were going to cause the worst flooding the world has seen since Noah built the Ark," Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said during a press conference announcing the suit, as <a href="https://www.live5news.com/2020/09/09/charleston-mayor-holding-news-conference-wednesday-afternoon/" target="_blank">Live 5 News reported</a>. "And instead of warning us, they covered up the truth and turned our flooding problems into their profits. That was wrong, and this lawsuit is all about holding them accountable for that multi-decade campaign of deception."</p>
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<p>Charleston, a low-lying city built on a peninsula between three rivers, is especially vulnerable to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/fdd1235388b266ded96e4547524a3510" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>. In the last 50 years, the city has gone from seeing around four flood days a year to almost 89, the suit contends. In addition, the city will feel the impacts of extreme weather events like <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/heat-waves" target="_self">heat waves</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a>. The suit was filed days before the third anniversary of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-irma-flooding-records-2484349881.html" target="_self">Hurricane Irma</a>, which inundated Charleston with a nearly 10-foot storm surge, the third highest in the city's history.</p><p>Tecklenburg made his announcement in front of The Battery, where construction crews were working to lengthen an existing sea wall, The Post and Courier reported. The sea wall extension is the city's first project to adapt to rising sea levels. Others include building more than 8,000 feet of new flood drainage tunnels and installing check valves to prevent tidal water from entering the city's storm drain system, according to Live 5 News.</p>
<p>The city expects sea levels to rise two to three feet in the next 50 years and it predicts that adapting to these changes will cost $2 billion, according to The Post and Courier. However, the lawsuit is not asking for a particular amount from the companies, instead hoping a jury will decide what is fair.</p><p>Many of the companies named in the suit did not reply to requests for comments. Those that did said that lawsuits were not the right way to address the climate crisis.</p><p>"Legal proceedings like this waste millions of dollars of taxpayer money and do nothing to advance meaningful actions that reduce the risks of climate change," ExxonMobil spokesperson Casey Norton told The Associated Press.</p><p>Charleston is now the 21st U.S. community to disagree and file a lawsuit against big oil.</p><p>"With today's filing, Big Oil is facing climate lawsuits on both coasts, in the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, the Rocky Mountains, and even Hawaii," Center for Climate Integrity Executive Director Richard Wiles told The Post and Courier by email. "The public is ready to hold this corrupt industry accountable for causing and lying about climate change, and officials across the country are stepping up to take action."</p><p>Charleston's suit comes about a week after a similar lawsuit was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/big-oil-hoboken-lawsuit-2647462366.html" target="_self">filed by the city of Hoboken, New Jersey</a>.</p><p>It was also followed one day later by another climate liability lawsuit from the state of Delaware Thursday.</p>
<div id="00ba7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3f5e3d8ac183e5a9a93d3b8aa254e743"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304084807564111872" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨BREAKING: It's gonna be one of those weeks. Delaware is the latest state to announce another climate lawsuit again… https://t.co/0ljwUNZLqS</div> — Jennifer Hijazi (@Jennifer Hijazi)<a href="https://twitter.com/JenHijaz/statuses/1304084807564111872">1599753021.0</a></blockquote></div>
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The corner of Jefferson and 7th in Hoboken, N.J., is flooded on Oct. 30, 2012 following Superstorm Sandy. Alec Perkins / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Kenny Stancil
The city of Hoboken on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against multiple Big Oil players—including ExxonMobil, incorporated in New Jersey—joining an increasing number of state and local governments using litigation in efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for defrauding the public about foreseen climate crisis damages and to make companies "pay their fair share" of the costs of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a warming planet.
<p>The <a href="https://payupclimatepolluters.org/uploads/media/Hoboken-v-Exxon-et-al_Complaint_9-2-20.pdf" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> argues that the defendants—ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, and the American Petroleum Institute—knew that "their production, marketing, and sale of fossil fuels would cause global climate change," but they engaged in a massive "disinformation campaign" to protect their profits, which would diminish in conjunction with decreased fossil fuel use.</p><p>Big Oil began redesigning its own assets to adapt to rising sea levels at the same time it was "telling the world that climate change was a hoax," the lawsuit states. </p><p>According to the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), Hoboken is the 20th community to take fossil fuel giants to <a href="https://payupclimatepolluters.org/cases/" target="_blank">court</a> to "recover billions of dollars in damages caused by the oil and gas industry's deception about climate change."</p><p>Richard Wiles, executive director of CCI, said in a statement that "with climate costs surging everywhere and local budgets depleted, more and more communities are turning to the courts as their only recourse to make polluters pay for their fair share of the wreckage they knew their products would cause."</p>
<p>Wiles continued:</p><blockquote>Exxon and their co-conspirators can't run from this growing wave of climate lawsuits. Thanks to Hoboken, for the first time, Exxon will have to defend its shameful record of climate damages, disinformation, and denial on its home turf. It takes guts to sue the most ruthless, deceitful, and unapologetic climate polluters on the planet. Hoboken's elected leaders should be applauded. <br></blockquote><p><a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/hoboken/hoboken-files-lawsuit-against-oil-companies-over-climate-change" target="_blank">According to</a> local reporters, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla's announcement of the legal action came one month after "the low-lying city suffered two flooding events that theoretically should have occurred once in 50 years." </p><p>In addition, residents remember the devastating <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2020/09/nj-city-makes-history-is-1st-to-sue-oil-giants-for-climate-change-damages.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impact</a> that Superstorm Sandy had in 2012, when a 14-foot storm surge overwhelmed outdated sewer systems to cause over $100 million in damage in the city. </p><p>At Wednesday morning's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Hoboken" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press conference</a>, Bhalla described his intentions to get Hoboken off the list of coastal communities at risk of becoming inundated within the next five decades. </p>
<p>The mayor <a href="https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-sues-exxon-mobil-american-petroleum-institute-big-oil-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>:</p><blockquote>At the same time we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars adapting to the realities of climate change, Big Oil companies have engaged in a decades long campaign of misinformation that has contributed to global warming which has disproportionately impacted our residents. We cannot stand idly by and allow Big Oil to continue profiting at the expense of Hoboken residents. It's time these companies pay their fair share and be held accountable for their actions.<br></blockquote><p>Over the past decade and in response to rising sea levels, Hoboken has invested $140 million in climate change adaptation, including several projects that are part of its Rebuild by Design comprehensive water management strategy, according to a <a href="https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-sues-exxon-mobil-american-petroleum-institute-big-oil-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> from the city.</p><p>Hoboken's lawsuit aims to "recover funds to pay for the costs that the city is undertaking, and will undertake as a result of the substantial impacts of climate change, which has been exacerbated by Big Oil."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/02/city-hoboken-files-climate-suit-against-exxon-most-ruthless-deceitful-and" target="_blank">Common Dreams.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Family members embrace at the burned remains of their home after the LNU Lightning Complex fire in Vacaville, California on August 23, 2020. Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
Disasters are stressful. Our warming world keeps adding fuel to the fires — and floods and hurricanes, among other calamities. What can be done about the trauma that follows?
<p>The Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Investigations and our partners in newsrooms around the country have been reporting on this for months. We've learned a lot by asking experts: people who've lived through disasters and the professionals who study this or provide hands-on help. More than 230 shared their experiences in our <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/environment/hidden-epidemics/natural-disasters-challenge-mental-health-tell-us-your-story/" target="_blank">detailed survey</a>, and we interviewed dozens of additional people.</p><p>Some takeaways:</p><p><strong>Be aware. </strong>It might seem simplistic, but you're one step ahead if you know that surviving a disaster and dealing with the long aftermath can be hard on mental health. Keep an eye out for symptoms, not just obvious ones like constant worrying or <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/php/223/223_guide.pdf" target="_blank">feeling short-tempered</a>, but also <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190607140446.htm" target="_blank">trouble sleeping</a> (or oversleeping), overeating (or lack of appetite) and <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/dbhis-collections/substance-use" target="_blank">heavy drinking</a>. Remember that <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/srb-childrenyouth-8-22-18.pdf" target="_blank">kids can feel the impact</a>, too, and that might show up as acting out or trouble in school.</p><p>You might notice effects right away. Or they might take a while to surface. Either way, it's normal — and it can linger. Hilton Kelley, whose community of Port Arthur, Texas, was heavily affected by 2017's Hurricane Harvey, sums it up: "It will be years before we get out of this."</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Seek support. </strong>Most people who took our survey didn't get mental-health services after their disaster experience. Some couldn't afford therapy or other assistance. Some thought they didn't need it, though the emotional challenges a portion of them reported made us wonder if support could have made the hard times more bearable. Some free avenues to try:</p><ul><li>The <a href="https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/428" target="_blank">Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program</a>. States with a qualifying major disaster can tap a federal grant to offer emotional support to residents, usually available for up to a year. You can talk to a counselor by phone or potentially a video-conferencing platform (and pre-COVID, you could meet in person). Counselors <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac/ccp" target="_blank">won't keep case files on you</a>, and you can access the help multiple times while the program is running. Counselors <a href="http://dhhr.wv.gov/healthprep/programs/behavioralhealth/documents/fema%20ccp%20toolkit.pdf" target="_blank">will try to connect you</a> with local mental-health services if you want more assistance and might also refer you to other sorts of help, such as disaster aid. Most states are running this program amid the pandemic, but you can call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (800-621-FEMA) to find out how to access it.</li><li>The federal <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline" target="_blank">Disaster Distress Helpline</a>. It's available round the clock for calls (800-985-5990) and texts (<a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline" target="_blank">instructions here</a>) in English and Spanish. Counselors offer coping advice and can make referrals to other services.</li><li>General mental-health helplines. Those include ones run by the <a href="https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/NAMI-HelpLine/NAMI-HelpLine-FAQs" target="_blank">National Alliance on Mental Illness</a> and local affiliates, the <a href="https://www.crisistextline.org/text-us/" target="_blank">Crisis Text Line</a> and the <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline" target="_blank">Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration</a>. </li><li>Your community. Family, friends, your pastor or other religious leaders, your child's school counselor, neighbors, co-workers — support can come from a variety of places. Other disaster survivors, for instance: They know what you're going through in a way that no one else can. </li></ul>
<p><a href="https://publicintegrity.org/environment/disasters-mental-health-crisis-wildfire-hurricane-flood-climate-covid/" target="_blank">Our investigation</a> found that many survivors never hear about or receive help from the federal crisis counseling program, the country's main response to the mental-health consequences of disasters. As extreme weather worsens, that puts more pressure on other forms of assistance.</p><p>"We don't have enough mental-health providers in all of the country to manage huge, large-scale disasters — nor will people use them," said Dr. Joshua C. Morganstein, assistant director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "That is why communities and organizations become so important." </p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Offer help. </strong>Some disaster survivors found solace as they assisted others, one way to get some control back in a situation primed to make people feel powerless.</p><p>"It helped me to keep my sanity," said Kelley, a restauranteur whose family's post-disaster efforts included cooking gumbo for people in the community. </p><p>Solemi Hernandez, a Florida resident whose employer shuttered after Hurricane Irma in 2017 and who searched for weeks for a new job, saw personal benefits from volunteer work. "Losing myself in service to others … is a way I became stable and not as depressed," she said.</p>
<p><strong>Take action.</strong> Identifying a problem that caused or worsened the disaster's impacts — and then pressing for fixes — is a key way some survivors bolstered their wellbeing.</p><p>Hernandez, a regional coordinator for the <a href="https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/" target="_blank">Citizens' Climate Lobby</a>, presses for action on global warming, a force multiplier for disasters. Her advice to survivors: "Use that trauma. Turn that trauma and that suffering into being politically active."</p><p>Kathleen Sullivan, who lives west of Chicago, doggedly advocated for stormwater-control measures in her city's flood-prone neighborhoods, including hers. Twice her house flooded; two more times she had close calls. It took years, but showing up at city council meetings, organizing with other residents and not letting elected officials ignore the problem got results. It was also a powerful coping mechanism.</p><p>"We met all these awesome people we wouldn't have met," said Sullivan, who linked up with <a href="https://anthropocenealliance.org/higherground" target="_blank">Higher Ground</a>, a national flood-survivor group. "And we can sleep now — mostly — when it rains."</p><p>Kevin McKinney's neighborhood in Richwood, Texas, south of Houston, weathered Hurricane Harvey. The devastating flood, he said, came four days later. He and hundreds of other neighbors organized, then sued a nearby city whose floodwater diversion efforts, they allege, damaged their homes. That complaint is pending.</p><p>"I didn't know which way to turn, I didn't know which way to go. Then you know what? I got it together, and then I got mad," he said. "Not only did I get mad, but 500 other people around here got mad."</p><p>As disasters hit with more frequency, communities also face questions about how to organize help in the aftermath. Areas with fewer resources need more support to recover. But too often, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3396611" target="_blank">studies</a> <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/environment/climate-change-natural-disasters/" target="_blank">show</a>, they get less of it instead. Dr. Octavio N. Martinez Jr., executive director of the <a href="https://hogg.utexas.edu/" target="_blank">Hogg Foundation for Mental Health</a> in Texas, wants to see that change.</p><p>"We ought to have a disaster response strategic plan designed to prioritize the ZIP codes that we know are going to end up suffering the most and are going to have the most difficulty in recuperating," he said.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Prepare for next time.</strong> Almost all the survivors we surveyed were concerned more disasters will hit their community. We heard from a lot of people in regions struck by multiple wildfires, floods or hurricanes in the last decade, and some cope with that anxiety by getting prepared.</p><p>Kelley built a berm around his house to reduce flood risks. R.L. Miller, whose California community in Ventura County was burned by the Woolsey Fire in 2018, is diligent about clearing brush on her property.</p><p>Others are thinking of leaving — or they've already left. A handful of survey respondents said they moved out of their community at least in part to try to avoid another big hurricane, flood or fire.</p><p>Whether to stay or go is a fraught decision. It's one that more and more Americans will be forced to confront as climate change worsens — further <a href="https://www.cornellrooseveltinstitute.org/env/climate-gentrification-inequality-in-the-shifting-miami-housing-market" target="_blank">increasing</a> <a href="https://grist.org/living/climate-change-is-the-ultimate-gentrifier/" target="_blank">inequality</a>. Dr. Irwin Redlener with Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness urges communities to get ahead of this. </p><p>"We have to prepare for more dramatic changes," he said. "Many places that may be habitable right now may become uninhabitable. … We're just at the beginning of the most serious consequences of unabated climate change."</p><p>Hernandez, who lives in Naples, on Florida's Gulf Coast, sees her climate action as one form of long-term prep work. Hurricane Irma, a <a href="https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/05/18/wildfire-scorches-nearly-8700-acres-in-collier-drought-continues-fueling-risk-of-more-fires/" target="_blank">wildfire in her county in May</a>, local flooding from heavy rain, the increasingly unbearable temperatures in the summer: These are warnings of a future she wants to avert.</p><p>"I never thought about moving. I love this place," Hernandez said. "We can do something to save it."</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/" target="_blank">The Center for Public Integrity </a></em><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em><span></span><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647096951#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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Pollution From Oil Wells and Industrial Sites Hit by Hurricane Laura Remains Unknown
28 August
Climate
An LNG processing plant is seen in Cameron, Louisiana on August 26, 2020. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images
The full extent of the damage wrought by the storm formerly known as Hurricane Laura will only continue to grow as the weakened storm continues inland and pollution from petrochemical plants and other industrial sites is discovered.
<p>More than 1,400 active oil wells sit in the path Hurricane Laura carved through Louisiana's coastline, some of which are decades old and especially vulnerable due to the state's receding coastline. </p><p>"I have a lump in my throat thinking about them," Bob Bea, a specialist in catastrophic risk management and former well manager for Shell, told the New Orleans Advocate. </p><p>The environmental damage caused by leaking wells, as well as from pollution spread from other damaged industrial sites, may not be discovered for days as officials focus on search and rescue tasks in the wake of the storm.</p>
<p>The storm's rapid intensification, fueled by exceptionally warm sea-surface temperatures, likely made matters worse but overconfidence from regulators and oil companies is also to blame, according to Bea. </p><p>"When it comes to how we manage our platforms, pipelines, and wells, we here in the U.S. are not world leaders in risk management," he said. </p><p>"We're not Canada or Norway. We're not even a Third World country." </p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_8106c25c-e86b-11ea-a890-fb56159b024e.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94133008&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_VLOWHPFC592Gm_5D57qGB9LRL98MiRz3oGxdSpC7qsuf2cd_S4qAmA5Ps3kfhIcCRgU5Ia0C1DuRpa5L2RCX2SZb4dxbFgw9OUG6YFovxlBT8l3E&utm_content=94133008&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New Orleans Advocate</a>; Potential industrial pollution: <a href="https://apnews.com/1887dbe11dec8c0db2f41988599382fc?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94133008&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9dhp6AZcLb4AA5AUQRI20P8OFVHGu_7tB-IXKvNWtCzHjNPK8eOi1FpDpKWgIC_sH8pDi3bD6OqZciElqQ4Se8wxi0v6_cgxaeYTeHPGbCLsFHgLA&utm_content=94133008&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">AP</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/climate/hurricane-laura-fire-pollution.html?searchResultPosition=3&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94133008&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8esde0511EKliwyNlN6Ts0ewK1sJvLLsOr8ximeb95eof33jzMzW6aI3DpdD7vZjU4-D0X4w-O1IrmO0_okgfQ5axh0I7uZw-BYBnRs122VkMadJI&utm_content=94133008&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-energy-corridor-narrowly-averts-direct-hit-from-hurricane-laura-11598539350?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94133008&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--wHrEUgGUYgpBwo_asKLbIC1xgahQH9DJyFcU4-r-Ubq-FZFycnVnewxrJRTFguz6q9t7y7NDVUxyfDPXQdF95XWB4Wd0dfwIrhOFMpkU6vWhRo1c&utm_content=94133008&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a>, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emmanuelfelton/hurricane-laura-could-lead-to-an-environmental-disaster-on?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=94133008&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--v564n6L9bIwptZCCIdB--FxYL_N3AV4pZ2JheOXD4p8NYUEFAvhIHBG2rldHsPGQ82vP9y-RCUwsFDd9isz3-L6coCQiq4fe2XFhHhK0N0pqwCto&utm_content=94133008&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Buzzfeed</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/" 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/" 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
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Trending
Smoke rises from a burning chemical plant after the passing of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Aug. 27, 2020. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
When Hurricane Laura struck the Gulf Coast early on Thursday with record-setting winds and storm surges that caused flooding, it was bearing down on an area full of chemical plants. The fears about having toxic chemicals in an area increasingly vulnerable to tropical storms are playing out as a chemical plant caught fire and sent toxic plumes into the air throughout the day, as The New York Times reported.
<p>A fire ripped through a chlorine factory, burning throughout the day and into the night Thursday. It released a toxic smoke into the air that forced Louisiana's Governor Jon Bel Edwards to warn residents to turn off their air conditioners, seal off their windows and doors, and stay inside, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/27/hurricane-laura-fire-biolab/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>The fire took place at a BioLab facility that manufacturers chlorine for swimming pools and disinfectants. According to Louisiana State Police Superintendent Kevin W. Reeves, the chlorine in the factory started to decompose, which generated enough heat to start the blaze. From there, a small crew of employees tried, in vain, to extinguish the blaze before calling fire officials, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>Chlorine can be dangerous to the lungs and respiratory passages if inhaled. It also causes blisters and rashes on the skin. State officials quickly installed air quality monitors. During an afternoon press conference, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning said no airborne chlorine was detected, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/hurricane-laura-live-updates/2020/08/27/906704215/chemical-fire-burns-near-lake-charles-in-aftermath-of-hurricane-laura" target="_blank">NPR</a>.</p><p>"What they have found is no low-level detection of chlorine offsite, where people walk and where people gather — which is a good thing," Browning said. "The cloud, the plume, as it goes in the air and moves out there is chlorine. Those chemicals are falling in the lake, which is the right place for it because it dilutes the chlorine. So that, we don't believe, is endangering anyone."</p>
<p>The burning chemical factory illuminates the danger the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> poses to the Gulf Coast, which is dotted with chemical factories and oil refineries, many of which are adjacent to poor and racial minority communities. BioLab, near the community of Mossville, is one of more than a dozen industrial facilities in the area. In Mossville, residents have long breathed air pollutants from the nearby industrial facilities, according to The New York Times.</p><p>"The Biolab facility that's burning out of control right now is part of the toxic soup that Mossville residents have been exposed to for decades," said Monique Harden, assistant director of law and policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in New Orleans.</p>
<p>The exposure to toxic air is reminiscent of the plight of Reserve, Louisiana, a few miles up the Mississippi River, which is home to a chemical plant and was the focus of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report" target="_blank">The Guardian's Cancer Alley</a> series. Residents there are 50 times more likely than the general population to develop cancer.</p><p>While residents of Mossville have to deal with the air pollution from industry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also warning people about creating their own air pollution. Now that power is knocked to out to hundreds of thousands of homes, the CDC issued a <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2020/han00435.asp" target="_blank">health advisory</a> warning about the dangers of carbon monoxide, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/health/cdc-hurricane-co-poisoning/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The CDC is worried that people will use gasoline-powered generators or gas and charcoal grill in the wrong setting. "If used or placed improperly, these sources can lead to CO build up inside buildings, garages, or campers and poison the people and animals inside," the CDC said, as CNN reported.</p><p>The CDC is advising people in the area to look out for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/copoisoning/index.html#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20symptoms%20of,CO%20poisoning%20is%20entirely%20preventable." target="_blank">symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning</a>, which are fairly non-descript, but may include nausea, vomiting and dizziness, especially if several people have the same complaint and do not have fever, according to CNN.</p><p>"Appropriate and prompt diagnostic testing and treatment are crucial to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality from CO poisoning," the CDC said. "Identifying and mitigating the CO source is critical in preventing other poisoning cases."</p>
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Steve Culver cries with his dog Otis as he talks about what he said was the, "most terrifying event in his life," when Hurricane Harvey destroyed most of his home on August 26, 2017 in Rockport, Texas. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
The psychological toll of climate change-fueled disasters, now compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, is mounting and the U.S. is unprepared. These are the findings of a project by the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations, in collaboration with 10 local and regional outlets.
<p>The U.S. has faced nearly 40 <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVwCdY9fvdJJW83rnwh117254W15bp5B4fc8ywN4CDgd_3p_97V1-WJV7CgP_1W81C3NF6bjdbjW4L74GN4t2z3hW4vZ5rs46MSnsW2lYGv_1-BvLRW1GYqz79k0KR_W7sxm1f9jR2GVW5GQCty3FTXTqW8F9xvf64zjrwW45PFR32661hCW2yP80r1Rgt6bVmhd-z5ycL8SN9d1wzHSbtC-W5dxz457-Hb6KW2V5yzT2tJfFVW36xVxl7sgqpHW6ypwgw14ShndW49lj6W7cLmtHW83mTX31tgSVWN38svz6HQd40MDLCZ1MPgxJW6nbgwn3N1HCFW2BfQkp8z2GQPW7KBY946hPTddW2QbTMT7LmxXB36c71" target="_blank">billion-dollar disasters</a> in the past decade, more than ever before. </p><p>One such event, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, caused half of Houston-area residents to struggle with powerful or severe emotional distress in its aftermath, according to a Rice University <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVwCdY9fvdJJW83rnwh117254W15bp5B4fc8ywN4CDgd_3p_97V1-WJV7Cg-glN5B-DXP3NjX8W20xx8C7PHNw4N7YDTR5_BtbbW3-FD_42BFWkQW7R0yZy6NXQ7VN7Cc9wrWXTlzW8vmdH53xYkLDW2l25DH6dsgzvW16dTQx7K278KMRjw1Lsqs7PW6Fpqmh4xYxhVW8yQZHd4b6ymvW11M2823SxV02W2z2DM-3M2WwrV64wwZ5ct_vBW1mG0jt3bzh3lW61b3vN5Tv5t8W1zsYwc4kNd8bW5xhw5m7D2ww-W8L1f4T6NDsM1MWQq4wndbNPW8mWklj5Zf95JW27yx7C7jHxmyVV-TnB66Zv8V3lvk1" target="_blank">survey</a> to be published Wednesday. </p><p>Meanwhile, the main federal vehicle for addressing the psychological trauma of weather and climate disasters, the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has distributed about as much in post-disaster assistance over its three decades of existence ($867 million) as one agency within the Department of Defense <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVwCdY9fvdJJW83rnwh117254W15bp5B4fc8ywN4CDgfV3p_b1V1-WJV7CgPpRW23np3-1-VhCSW32jnJp2XqbH7W3S-Ytq5ff3qQW2FRHZC3CP3f1Vdp44c1Tsg0GVrfCCm9cTVXbW58mLgQ1NG0LBW3-8Qc55jRc64W2jFSB94mFsNLW10nYbB8jPxQRN50DR4zsYZlVW4Yhg2r1Lgfx8W8Rj-fx5CpkSbW5hqLcB9hDmfNV9MqbJ5SpVXrW4ZL95L42tGCBW6pWjGr2RvvbtW43y0Y_61hkG-N8_WtjTcXt4wW27-YDT5JS9PJW9lH7cw27VFYVW3NQ51N2DrLDlW8dCKlC5McKs0W7VL3Ww6lslcmW74pXDW54yxf9W3NdR968xzbm8N8pp78dpg_wmW1w__w53Bgl80VQgSy18LYDNpW7kN2p97bq7VR3hmt1" target="_blank">lost track of</a> in a single year.</p>
<p>Even if the government were to fully fund and support comprehensive mental health care for disaster survivors, it would be insufficient without action to mitigate the underlying reality of climate change, advocates argue. </p><p>"After a disaster, if the government does not declare a climate emergency and start acting like it, it's just such a betrayal," said Margaret Klein Salamon, a psychologist who started the advocacy group The Climate Mobilization after living through Superstorm Sandy. </p><p>Providing mental-health support while failing to fight climate change, "is like a Band-Aid. How can we trust a government that does so little to protect us?"</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://thelensnola.org/2020/08/25/disasters-are-driving-a-mental-health-crisis/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_IYMaLPEzuxx3m5lRW1kpZ3zuggy4rNynJgDAn-LyPI8qs-Nfeow8gDZmaDzIEJoVeqgOodYxiSecyOyAwk6rrQEjXp28w35U6gg4evV8nCv447Hw&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Lens</a>, <a href="https://www.calhealthreport.org/2020/08/25/disasters-are-driving-a-mental-health-crisis/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8O2txDji7oE7ZNnEk93fIEaGiM8-mpoTI-d1Cy6MibxAxqgN5T3zdyEeFn0zYURJ-2VHdMIFLUljXuttQ805nEyjwYfvxF38aksTU3D2Fux5Xfcfw&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">California Health Report</a>, <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article245105365.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9nj3S4ydlBCfo9HRx9AcjJXy2mb7b5PQgEKQs3wSXxt1JJNctDkTNBoccH9nMpuTAG2KaZYQMz_dUvHoDgkTIjKGVRRUWZcJVXUBO2aYtzCMTdNvY&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The State</a>, <a href="https://www.sideeffectspaublicmedia.org/post/flood-devastated-town-2019-and-residents-are-still-struggling?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--tF4OEOjQd7QwIYWNHPJMDrp6VuExDz3GuLopN4W7q4WSD55ryYkcPvh_egxcapZLCybTwjLNpheJow9RCWmsQYZdfdvROdygmf8mDu5i9nz_uVmE&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Side Effects Public Media</a>, <a href="https://mendovoice.com/2020/08/disasters-are-driving-a-mental-health-crisis/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_egHOfDmvv0UVXNuLuCFyZxEOTHfsl4Thlpu-i7ufhW3xb5mENi1GfUZRyRiFgsLGj_7PDjSExcnLbkWbzXvhwU7odDwJ13jWbjt-YindYa2o31uo&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Mendocino Voice</a>, <a href="https://www.iowawatch.org/2020/08/25/iowas-parkersburg-tornado-survivors-offer-support-hope-after-derecho-turmoil/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8nXffbOu60PrL7t9yhO-r2njCeypZnjoR3EkdT0uZBw_RI25Dj6TGPhdPwOzy09O5DTJlxaVfYaUtuumf-7T6YvR9aY4E4h2ytJl_bYRWNvucVy4c&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">IowaWatch</a>, <a href="https://www.islandpacket.com/news/state/south-carolina/article245105365.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--l_UVm2BIOxx0WB-ydzSES88Md-qAbAo6cEEzBokxWpPkCe8lK_gTNBXmO-1RJCFHQ7ire2Nn2j66WrKDqUvnVmCwKRsRlHnb0Nvx7k_QG_q8YUEM&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Hilton Head Island Packet</a>, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/25/texas-natural-disasters--mental-health/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8s-Rbrv62GfG-dDJhjMplNrI9AtFD6Ao-N3JjE7ckblqW-F36aBm42Q_ISwTiYBNaM1BN2XX7R7TS8e22NU1cScaIVVcpyj7n1nCUQTrc1TS1TIX4&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Texas Tribune</a>, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/08/disasters-are-driving-a-mental-health-crisis-the-only-federal-program-to-address-it-is-underfunded/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=93959797&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--GuoNr5p1I8z_dvOBbUxJEH2Cd_sxwitDSRrA9LjhsDvPyyNpucO82ES5Ba_tgwyJg3hN3kBNuEqCYrwm86kU46TTDvMUg3a7J6F1rueXeh4ObPDY&utm_content=93959797&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Mother Jones</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/" 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/" 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>
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Pence Offers 'Prayers' as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf Coast While Dismissing Climate Action at RNC
27 August
Politics
People prepare to board a bus for evacuation before the arrival of hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana on August 25, 2020. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
Just hours before Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with wind speed surpassing that of Katrina, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a Republican National Convention speech Wednesday night in which he mentioned climate action once only to reject it, continuing the GOP event's ignoring or downplaying of an emergency wreaking havoc and devastation in real time.
<p>"Wildfires are ravaging the West and a historic storm is barreling toward Texas and Louisiana, and yet not a single speaker had anything real to say about the climate crisis that is happening right before our eyes," Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power 2020, said in a statement. "Denial is not a plan. Thoughts and prayers are not a solution. We must take action now to stave off even more devastation."</p><p>Judging only by the attention Republican speakers gave the hurricane on the third night of their party's convention, one may not have grasped the severity of the storm that was barreling toward Louisiana and Texas as the evening progressed, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate as experts warned of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/26/warning-unsurvivable-storm-surge-category-4-hurricane-laura-barrels-toward-us" target="_blank">catastrophic damage</a>.</p><p>The night opened with a prayer for those in the path of Hurricane Laura but, as <em>Politico</em> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/27/hurricane-laura-rnc-trump-speech-402993" target="_blank">reported</a>, "it was nearly two hours before the hurricane was mentioned again" by President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who said "may God bless and protect the Gulf states in the path of the hurricane." Lara Trump's address came shortly after Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) spent a portion of her <a href="https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/local-politics/iowa-senator-joni-ernst-2020-rnc-speech/524-261ff071-9d2e-43c8-b680-2663d5944c6b" target="_blank">speech</a> smearing the Green New Deal.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/joniernst?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@joniernst</a> joined <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RNC2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RNC2020</a> & spent 1/2 her speech on floods devastating IA, then closed spreading lies about the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenNewDeal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GreenNewDeal</a>.<br><br>She never, however, mentioned the climate crisis, the $355k she’s taken from Big Oil, or GOP abandonment of family farmers.<br><br>Iowans will vote her out. <a href="https://t.co/VI37oC00ll">https://t.co/VI37oC00ll</a></p>— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1298808462160338944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Speaking live from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Pence said at the beginning of his remarks that his "prayers are with" those affected by the hurricane <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-laura-energy/stronger-hurricane-laura-aims-at-heart-of-u-s-oil-refining-industry-idUSKBN25M23P" target="_blank">set to strike at the heart</a> of the U.S. oil and gas industry, sparking <a href="https://twitter.com/BiologistDan/status/1298778265147105280" target="_blank">warnings</a> of a looming "environmental nightmare."</p><p>"This is a serious storm," added the vice president, who said the White House is "working closely with authorities in the states that will be impacted."</p><p>The one time Pence mentioned climate in his remarks was during an attack on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who the vice president said wants to "abolish fossil fuels, end fracking, and impose a regime of climate change regulations." Biden's climate plan, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/14/more-work-do-major-step-forward-progressives-welcome-bidens-2-trillion-green-energy" target="_blank">viewed</a> by green groups as insufficient but as a step in the right direction, calls for new regulations on the polluting oil and gas industry but would not end fracking or abolish fossil fuels.</p><p>Pence also touted Trump's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/26/incredibly-reckless-trump-moves-expand-fossil-fuel-drilling-alaskas-western-arctic" target="_blank">destructive efforts</a> to ramp up domestic fossil fuel production and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/09/18/the-myth-of-u-s-energy-independence-has-gone-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank">falsely</a> claimed the U.S. has achieved "energy independence" under the current administration.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">3 nights. 69 speakers. <br><br>Now just one mention of climate change: Mike Pence saying they won’t pass a “regime of climate change regulations.” <br><br>Meanwhile...well, just watch the weather channel. <a href="https://t.co/xAoHaqqQ31">https://t.co/xAoHaqqQ31</a></p>— Jamie Henn (@jamieclimate) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamieclimate/status/1298836189277872128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Pence's remarks came just before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm near Cameron, Louisiana early Thursday morning, bringing maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and causing <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1298892276517744641" target="_blank">widespread power outages</a> across Louisiana and Texas.</p><p>"Laura is a storm of historic proportions," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/hurricane-laura-08-27-2020-11598502621" target="_blank">reported</a>. "The fast-moving hurricane exploded in intensity Wednesday and had continued to gain strength into the night, with sustained winds of 150 miles an hour, according to the National Hurricane Center, close to the 157 mile-an-hour threshold of a Category 5 storm."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAkING! Buildings gutted in Lake Charles LA in powerful eye wall of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneLaura?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HurricaneLaura</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RadarOmega_WX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RadarOmega_WX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChasinSpin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChasinSpin</a> <a href="https://t.co/wP3fPyREIZ">pic.twitter.com/wP3fPyREIZ</a></p>— Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReedTimmerAccu/status/1298877061252222977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">10:30pm UPDATE from the 4th floor of our hotel in Lake Charles! Really now seeing a ramp up in the winds. <a href="https://twitter.com/StephanieAbrams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephanieAbrams</a> is LIVE on <a href="https://twitter.com/weatherchannel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@weatherchannel</a> down on ground level! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneLaura?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HurricaneLaura</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LakeCharles?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LakeCharles</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Louisiana?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Louisiana</a> <a href="https://t.co/cUc9NhX1lO">pic.twitter.com/cUc9NhX1lO</a></p>— Chris Bruin (@TWCChrisBruin) <a href="https://twitter.com/TWCChrisBruin/status/1298828419615072256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>In a statement late Wednesday, Climate Power 2020 warned that flooding from the massive storm "could cause some of the 109 Superfund sites in Laura's path to leak toxic chemicals into neighborhoods and drinking water storage."</p><p>"In 2017," the group noted, "hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated industrial products and hundreds of tons of air toxins were released into communities because of flooding and damage during Hurricane Harvey."</p><p>Echoing the grave warnings of other experts, meteorologist Eric Holthaus <a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/1298848201651486721" target="_blank">tweeted</a> early Thursday that "Southwest Louisiana will never be the same after this."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/27/pence-slammed-offering-prayers-while-dismissing-climate-action-rnc-hurricane-laura?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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'Unsurvivable Storm Surge' Expected as Hurricane Laura Hits Gulf Coast With 150 mph Winds
27 August
Climate
A NOAA satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 27, 2020 at 7:36 a.m. EST. NOAA
In the middle of the night, Hurricane Laura made landfall, hitting the Gulf Coast in Louisiana with record-setting 150 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned of an "unsurvivable" storm surge.
<blockquote>"Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 40 miles inland from the immediate coastline, and flood waters will not fully recede for several days after the storm."</blockquote>
<p>The storm weakened rapidly as it moved inland, losing strength as it was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane. Early Thursday morning, it was down to a category 2 and the National Hurricane Center expects it will weaken to a tropical storm as it turns northeast and moves over Arkansas Thursday.</p><p>"At the time of landfall, Laura was a ferocious looking hurricane with a clear circular eye, an intense eyewall, and tightly-coiled surrounding spiral bands," the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT3+shtml/DDHHMM.shtml" target="_blank">National Weather Service said</a> in an update on the storm early Thursday, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>Cameron, Louisiana on the Gulf Coast, about 35 miles east of the Texas border, bore the brunt of Laura as it moved on shore with near record winds. In Lake Charles, a city of 78,000 people, buildings shook as the storm's winds ripped through the city's streets.</p><p>"There will be parts of Lake Charles underwater that no living human being has ever seen before," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told WWL Radio, as CNN reported. "We are marshaling all of our people and assets to go in ... and start a very robust search and rescue effort."</p>
<p>The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm surges would make a low-lying area, like Cameron, part of the Gulf of Mexico until the storm had passed and the floodwaters receded, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/hurricane-laura-update.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>In the run up to the storm, governors from both Louisiana and Texas urged people to evacuate. "I'm asking people right now to pay attention to this storm, to get out of harm's way," said Edwards during a briefing before the storm's arrival, as The New York Times reported. "Understand, our state has not seen a storm surge like this in many, many decades. We haven't seen wind speeds like we're going to experience in a very, very long time."</p>
<p>While the storm is weakening, its heavy winds are still ripping through Western Louisiana and grazing East Texas, causing widespread power outages. Furthermore, the hurricane is dropping five to 10 inches of rain over a wide swath of the Gulf Coast, and up to 18 inches in some areas, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/26/hurricane-laura-updates-texas-louisiana/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_lufbanner-6a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. That intense rain is leading to flash flooding in some areas.</p><p>The National Hurricane Center warned that just because the storm is weakening does not mean it is safe. The effects will continue to be felt through the weekend for areas east of the Mississippi River.</p>
<p>In a statement Thursday morning, it said:</p><blockquote>"It should be noted that strong hurricanes like Laura are not just coastal events. Even though Laura's highest winds will decrease quickly as it treks inland, significant impacts from heavy rains and strong wind gusts are likely through at least tonight across portions of Louisiana and Arkansas. Some strengthening as an extratropical cyclone is expected when the storm moves over the Atlantic waters late this weekend and early next week."</blockquote>
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Extreme Heat, Wildfires and Record-Setting Storms Suggest the Future Climate Crisis Is Already Here
26 August
Climate
The unprecedented and concurrent extreme conditions resemble the chaotic climate future scientists have been warning us about for decades. Master Sgt. Christopher DeWitt / U.S. Air Force / DoD / NASA
By Jeff Berardelli
From the historic heat wave and wildfires in the West, to the massive derecho that tore through the middle of the nation, to the record-breaking pace of this year's hurricane season, the unprecedented and concurrent extreme conditions resemble the chaotic climate future scientists have been warning us about for decades — only it's happening right now.
<p>While climate catastrophes are typically spaced out in time and geographic location, right now the U.S. is dealing with multiple disasters. The Midwest is cleaning up from a devastating <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/derecho-storm-100-mph-winds-hits-midwest/" target="_blank">derecho</a> that caused nearly $4 billion in damage to homes and crops, as nearly a quarter-million people in the West are under <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-fires-looting-wildfires-concern/" target="_blank">evacuation orders or warnings</a> from fires that have burned <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/northern-california-fire-1million-acres-burned-wildfire/" target="_blank">over 1 million acres</a>, and at the same time residents along the Gulf Coast are bracing for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tropical-storm-laura-marco-texas-louisiana-today-2020-08-24/" target="_blank">back-to-back landfalls</a> of a tropical storm and hurricane. </p><p>"This current stretch of natural catastrophe events in the United States are essentially a snapshot of what scientists and emergency managers have long feared," says meteorologist Steven Bowen, the head of Catastrophe Insight at AON, an international risk mitigation firm.</p><p>Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University, happened to be in Australia on sabbatical last year and witnessed the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/feature/australia-wildfires/" target="_blank">devastating wildfires</a> there — a similar scene to what is playing out in California right now. For years Mann has sounded the alarms about the acceleration of human-caused <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a>, but even he is somewhat surprised at the pace.</p><p><span></span>"In many respects, the impacts are playing out faster and with greater severity than we predicted," he said.</p>
<div id="004a5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="809799a50bac6ced919c6da89ce0efec"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1297987100491554816" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Multiple extremes resemble the chaotic climate future scientists have been warning us about for decades — only it's… https://t.co/CjhLfao5rc</div> — CBS News (@CBS News)<a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/statuses/1297987100491554816">1598299214.0</a></blockquote></div><p>To be sure, these events are not all related to each other, but the one thing they do have in common is that climate change makes each one more likely. The simple explanation is that there's more energy in the system and that energy is expended in the form of more extreme heat, fire, wind and rain.</p><p>It may be tempting to look at these extremes as a "new normal," but Dr. Kevin Trenberth, a distinguished senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, says while it may be new, it won't be normal.</p><p>"For some time we have talked about a 'new normal' but the issue is that it keeps changing. It does not stop at a new state. That change is what is so disruptive," he said.</p>
California Wildfires
<p>The fires unfolding in California right now have no parallel in modern times. With more than 1 million acres burned in just one week, the season is already historic with more acres burned in this past week than is typical of an entire year. Two of the state's top three largest fires on record are burning at the same time — the LNU and SCU complex fires — with the likelihood that one of these will take over the top spot soon.</p><p>As of Monday morning, CalFire <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/" target="_blank">reports</a> over 7,000 fires have burned more than 1.4 million acres this season, overwhelming resources to the point where many of the smaller fires are being allowed to burn. CalFire stated that to fight these fires to the maximum of their ability, the agency would need nearly <a href="https://weatherwest.com/archives/7459" target="_blank">10 times</a> more firefighting resources than are available.</p><p>As is the case in any natural disaster, the cause can be traced to multiple coinciding events. In this case, the spark for most of these fires was a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lightning-siege-hits-california-with-nearly-12000-strikes-in-a-week-2020-08-22/" target="_blank">siege of lightning strikes</a> as a result of moisture drawn into California from two decaying tropical systems in the eastern Pacific, which ignited dry brush.</p><p>Daniel Swain is a well-known climate scientist who specializes in studying the link between climate change and weather in the West at the University of California, Los Angeles. In a <a href="https://weatherwest.com/archives/7459" target="_blank">blog post</a> he described how even someone like him, well-versed in climate disaster, is shocked by the current situation: "I'm essentially at a loss for words to describe the scope of the lightning-sparked fire outbreak that has rapidly evolved in northern California – even in the context of the extraordinary fires of recent years. It's truly astonishing."</p><p>While it's not rare for tropical moisture to invade California, it is infrequent, and extremely unfortunate that it happened during one of the worst western U.S. heat waves in recent history, not to mention an ongoing short- and long-term drought. Researchers believe that in the year 2000 the western U.S. entered a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-drought-california-western-united-states-study/" target="_blank">megadrought</a>, one of the worst in the past 1,200 years.</p><p>This is why climate scientists often say that climate change "loads the dice" for extreme weather. The cause of the fires is not climate change, but many of the factors which set the stage and made conditions ripe for fire ignition and spread are a direct result of a warming climate.</p><p>On August 16, Death Valley <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/death-valley-records-highest-temperature-107-years-heat-wave/" target="_blank">reached 130 degrees</a></span> Fahrenheit, the highest temperature ever reliably measured on Earth. It was just a small part of a monster heat wave which broke hundreds of heat records over a two-week span. The link between heat waves and climate change is straightforward, and <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/06/heat-waves-and-climate-change-is-there-a-connection/" target="_blank">multiple studies</a> have shown that a warmer climate is making heat waves more likely and more intense.</p><p><span></span>"Basically there is more heat available: Earth's energy balance is out of whack," says Trenberth. That extra heat energy, trapped in the atmosphere by excess greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels, must be used up in some way. </p><p>Trenberth explains, if the land was wet the heat would be used first to evaporate water, keeping air temperatures moderate. But when the air and ground are bone dry, as is typical of the dry season in California — especially in summers like this — the excess heat energy is expended by drying out the brush and warming and drying the air.</p><p>This long-term drying out of the air has created a "vapor pressure deficit" — or in simpler terms, a moisture deficit. According to a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-wildfires-grow-exponentially-climate-change-study/" target="_blank">2019 study</a>, this is a leading reason for the intensified summer fire seasons in California, presently at record levels.</p>
<div id="9db58" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab45cd0dbe96672e8d896463f1d8fcca"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1296620330861989889" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"Vapor pressure deficit" (gap between how much moisture *could* be in the air vs. how much is *actually* there) is… https://t.co/LXKN0hUQLi</div> — Daniel Swain (@Daniel Swain)<a href="https://twitter.com/Weather_West/statuses/1296620330861989889">1597973351.0</a></blockquote></div><p>According to the paper, "Nearly all of the increase in summer forest-fire area during 1972–2018 was driven by increased vapor pressure deficit."</p>
Midwest Derecho
<p>A derecho is a particularly fierce and long-lasting line of thunderstorms, often causing winds over 75 mph. While these weather events are common during summer, the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/dmx/2020derecho" target="_blank">event</a> that took place August 10 in Iowa and Illinois seemed otherworldly.</p><p>The squall line <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147154/derecho-flattens-iowa-corn" target="_blank">plowed a path</a> 800 miles long and 40 miles wide through communities and corn fields, damaging <a href="https://www.radioiowa.com/2020/08/11/43-of-iowa-corn-soybean-crop-hit-by-mondays-storm/" target="_blank">43%</a> of Iowa's corn and soybean crop and causing nearly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-storm-derecho-seeking-4-billion-dollars-disater-aid/" target="_blank">$4 billion in damage</a>. Winds are estimated to have reached up to 140 mph, with hurricane-force winds <a href="https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/how-does-the-2020-iowa-derecho-compare-to-others" target="_blank">lasting</a> 40 to 50 minutes.</p><p>At first glance it would seem that this is just a freak natural event, with no real connection to climate change, but that may not be the case. While there is not much research on the connection between climate change and derechos, one <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017AGUFM.A12C..01P/abstract" target="_blank">recent paper</a> found some alarming results.</p><p>The research team used a climate model to simulate mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), a technical term for masses of thunderstorms, in a warming world. These MCSs are the parent structures which sometimes spawn derechos. Using a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, the paper concluded: "At the end of the century, the number of intense MCSs are projected to more than triple in North America during summer due to more favorable environmental conditions." </p><p>The research also found that MCSs' maximum hourly precipitation rates will increase by 15% to 40% in the future, due to a warmer atmosphere loaded with more moisture. "The moisture source for MCSs in the central U.S. is predominantly the Gulf of Mexico and climate change will increase the low-level jet stream moisture transport from the Gulf northward," explains lead author Dr. Andreas Prein, from the National Center For Atmospheric Research.</p><p>"How this all relates to changes in derecho frequency and intensity is poorly understood," Prein admits, but now that climate models are capable of modeling this, he plans to make it a priority in future studies.</p><p>While Mann did not comment specifically on derechos, he does feel extreme events are not properly captured in current climate models. "I have argued that the climate models are likely underpredicting the impact on the frequency and severity of various types of extreme summer weather events due to deficiencies in their ability to capture some of the relevant jet stream dynamics."</p>Hurricane Season
<p>Having two tropical systems like Marco and Laura in late August, the beginning of the peak of hurricane season, is not abnormal, even if the storms are very close to one another. But what is abnormal is the record-setting pace of the current hurricane season. So far the Atlantic season has tallied 14 named storms, 10 days ahead of record pace. That's two more than the average number for an entire season, which runs through the end of November. Seasonal forecasters are <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-season-2020-forecast-extremely-active-24-named-storms/" target="_blank">predicting up to 25 named systems</a> this year, which would place second behind 2005.</p><p>While there are many factors that contribute to how active a hurricane season will be, the most obvious is the warm water which fuels storm development. This year, nearly the entire tropical Atlantic Basin is above normal. This is part of a long-term trend of warming in which Atlantic sea surface temperatures have<a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateCentral/status/1005109784750776320/photo/1" target="_blank"> increased</a> by around 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, and the measure of <a href="https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/3M_HEAT_CONTENT/" target="_blank">Ocean Heat Content</a> hits record highs each and every year.</p><p>Warmer ocean temperatures do not guarantee more storms, but they do tip the balance, giving storms that extra boost to develop. After years of <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/how-climate-change-is-making-hurricanes-more-dangerous/" target="_blank">research</a>, climate science is still not sure how a warming climate will impact the number of systems in the future, but there is consensus that, in general, hurricanes will get stronger and the strongest, most destructive hurricanes will get more frequent. Since major hurricanes — <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-categories-what-the-ratings-scale-means/" target="_blank">Category 3 and greater</a> — are responsible for 85% of the damage, a warmer climate is likely to have devastating economic and human consequences.</p>Compound Events
<p>Within research circles and among emergency planners, the concept of <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-multiple-disasters-at-once-study-warns/" target="_blank">compound threats</a></span> has become a very popular subject. For years now scientists have warned that increasing population, exposure and vulnerability combined with extreme events spiked by climate change, would overwhelm resources and compromise emergency response. Experts argue we are now seeing that unfold in real time.</p><p>"These equally profound events occurring in different parts of the country at the same time — what we call compounded or connected extremes — run the risk of putting significant strain on resources, budgets, and the supply chain," said Bowen. </p><p>This is a topic often missed in general discussions of climate change. It may seem easy to dismiss a few degree rise in global temperatures as inconsequential. However, when a cascade of extreme events, each made worse by human-caused climate change, pile on top of one another, it exposes the fragility of interconnected human systems. </p><p>"Add in the continued complications posed by COVID-19, and you're faced with even greater challenges in trying to get communities back on their feet," Bowen said.</p><p>Bowen recently authored a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0790-4" target="_blank">paper</a> with other prominent scientists attempting to tackle this complicated issue. He says because of socioeconomic factors, population spreading into more high-risk regions, and an acceleration of climate change, more intense events "will only exacerbate the impacts of these compound scenarios in the future." </p><p>Experts warn that what we are witnessing in the present moment is a window into everyday life in the not-too-distant future if humans do not reverse course and curb emissions. This is how climate change becomes a truly destabilizing force. That's why Bowen and colleagues argue that much more urgency is needed to identify these unexpected combinations and the risks they pose to society.</p>From Your Site Articles
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