"Environmental Hazards Newsletter - Jan - March 2019" 12th Mar 2019
Hello and welcome to our news-digest with the most prominent stories from the first three months of 2019. As usual, we highlighted several reports linked with increased evidence on the impacts of climate change alongside the most relevant stories associated with environmental hazards from around the world. You can access and share all the coverage highlighted in the news-digest in our news portal at https://www.news-finder.net/beta.
Hurricanes and Cyclones
New Zealand could be hit by tropical cyclones over the next week
Tropical cyclones are likely to form north of New Zealand over the next ten days, bringing the potential for severe weather closer to the country, a forecaster says.
Expect more extreme hurricanes on the East Coast due to faster ice melts in Greenland, study says
A lot of 'unusual melting’ going on in Greenland’s southwest region, says geophysics
Is Climate Change Making Hurricanes More Destructive?
"This year has shown us that climate change is a present-day threat to the safety and livelihoods of communities across America," Georgia Institute of Technology climate scientist Kim Cobb told The New York Times last September, shortly after Hurricane Florence struck North Carolina.
In Alabama’s tornado outbreak, two tornadoes hit just a mile apart in the same hour
It’s been eight days since a swarm of more than three dozen tornadoes wrought havoc in the Deep South, killing 23 and razing the ground bare in many areas. Among them were twin funnels, roaring through Lee County, Ala., barely an hour apart.
Clean-up efforts begin after tornado touches down in Mississippi town
The U.S. National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down in Walnut, Mississippi over the weekend. Preliminary results show it was an EF-0 tornado with peak winds between 65 and 70 miles per hour.
Wildfires, hurricanes and other extreme weather cost the nation 247 lives, nearly $100 billion in damage during 2018
The number of billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States has more than doubled in recent years, as devastating hurricanes and ferocious wildfires that experts suspect are fueled in part by climate change have ravaged swaths of the country, according to data released by the federal government.
More U.S. companies discussing climate change in wake of hurricanes, wildfires
The bankruptcy of major California utility PG&E Corp as a result of over $30 billion in costs from California wildfires sparked by the state’s prolonged drought will likely prompt more companies to discuss how they will respond to the effects of climate change on their businesses.
2019 Hurricane Predictions – 2 Major Impact Hurricanes - Press Release
For the last 10 years former NOAA Meteorologist Professor David Dilley has issued the most accurate preseason and in-season hurricane predictions, averaging a stunning 87%+ accuracy rate.
‘It’s Making Us Less Prepared’: Shutdown Slows Planning for Hurricanes and Other Disasters
The partial government shutdown — the longest in United States history — has brought much of that fieldwork and instruction to a halt. Most researchers have been furloughed, and training academies and courses have been canceled, with no makeup dates in sight.
Early cyclones bring relief, and even a near-record soaking, to dry far north Queensland farmers
Two early cyclones in far north Queensland this summer have changed the fortunes of one of the country's most intensive farming areas.
Earthquakes
New gravity earthquake detection method might buy more time for early warnings
Scientists from Japan, one of the most seismically active regions of the globe, claim that a new earthquake detection method based on gravity could provide an earlier warning than traditional methods.
Scientists Uncover What Caused The Devastating Indonesian Earthquake – And Predict What It Means For The Future
When a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Palu, Indonesia last September, scientists were left stumped and the city of 300,000 people devasted. More than 2,000 people were killed as a result of the earthquake and the soil liquefaction, tsunami, and landslides that followed, but such calamity shouldn’t have resulted from a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, and certainly not in this area. Now, a set of studies published in Nature Geosciences helps to explain why – and what it means for future projections.
Indonesian earthquake broke a geologic speed limit
The magnitude-7.5 earthquake that devastated Palu, Indonesia, in September 2018, razing buildings in the nearby village of Perumnas Balaroa, traveled at rare “supershear” speed, potentially heightening its damage.
Fracking company requests permission to cause larger earthquakes in UK
Fracking company Cuadrilla has requested an urgent review of existing earthquake safety levels, in the hope permission to generate larger tremors will allow it to extract greater quantities of shale gas from Lancashire.
BBC World Service - The Science Hour, Detecting Earthquakes with Fibre Optics
Podcast: How a system designed to carry TV and internet traffic can help detect earthquakes.
Earthquake in super slo-mo: Ultra-slow earthquake indicates deep crustal movement near Istanbul
A big earthquake occurred south of Istanbul in the summer of 2016, but it was so slow that nobody noticed. The earthquake, which took place at mid-crustal depth, lasted more than fifty days.
Deadly earthquake traveled at 'supersonic' speeds, why that matters
A powerful temblor in Indonesia offered a detailed look at supershear, a phenomenon that can create the geologic version of a sonic boom.
'Earthquake swarm' in Palghar: Why Maharashtra district is being hit since November
Experts say the situation cannot be taken lightly as many major earthquakes in the region have been preceded by earthquake swarm activity
Mexico earthquake: 6.6 magnitude at southern border
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The epicenter of the quake hit at a depth of 42 miles near the Pacific coast and Mexico’s border with Guatemala, according to the USGS.
Extreme Temperatures
Time to Panic
The planet is getting warmer in catastrophic ways. And fear may be the only thing that saves us.
World Government Summit: Leaders prioritize climate change solutions
The 7th edition of the World Government Summit was held in Dubai, gathering world leaders alongside experts in the sectors of technology, economy, environment and wellbeing. The event, which ran from 10th to 12th February, hosted approximately 4,000 participants from 140 countries to discuss key global solutions.
Goodbye, polar bears: Why climate change is much worse than you think
Climate 'alarmist' David Wallace-Wells says scientists' warnings are too tentative.
A third of Himalayan ice cap doomed, finds report
Even radical climate change action won’t save glaciers, endangering 2 billion people
Australia’s Burning, Flooding, Disastrous New Normal
We have moved into a new age of climate volatility. According to the 2018 State of the Climate Report, compiled by the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Southern Hemisphere oceans are absorbing most of the extra heat generated by global warming.
Why cold weather doesn’t mean climate change is fake
Weather and climate aren't the same thing, meaning you can expect harsher winters in a warming world.
There's 'no place on the planet', not even Hawaii, to escape climate change, experts say
Climate experts in the Aloha State told on Monday that tourists cannot escape climate change — not even on the islands, where 60-foot waves and ...
With climate change, what will your city's weather feel like in 60 years?
Within your child or grandchild's lifetime, the weather may be dramatically different because of climate change. The past five years have already been the hottest ...
Climate change: World heading for warmest decade, says Met Office
The world is in the middle of what is likely to be the warmest 10 years since records began in 1850, say scientists. The Met Office is forecasting that temperatures ...
Polar vortex grips the Midwest in a deep and dangerous freeze
Millions across the Midwest experienced a freeze normally reserved for the Arctic Circle on Wednesday as temperatures dropped to nearly 50 degrees below zero.
Extreme weather shatters records around the world
It's only one month into 2019 and meteorologists are already talking in superlatives as extreme weather patterns have brought cities and towns across the globe to a standstill.
Australia's extreme heat is sign of things to come, scientists warn
Hottest month ever shows temperatures rising faster than predicted, say climate experts.
Extreme Weather Is Already Breaking Records Around The World In 2019
Temperatures dipped to -38 degrees in Minnesota as Australia battled a heat wave that topped 115 degrees.
This Is Why Global Warming Is Responsible For Freezing Temperatures Across The U.S.
Weather isn't climate. The President isn't a scientist. And physics is still real.
Volcanic Activity
Mountains rumbling: Five most active volcanoes in the archipelago
The eruption of little-known volcano Mount Karangetang in Siau Island, North Sulawesi, has added to the list of active volcanoes that have recently awakened in the archipelago, home to more than 230 million people.
Revising the history of big, climate-altering volcanic eruptions
Researchers have developed a new isotopic method to analyze the recent history of large stratospheric volcanic eruptions, using 2,600 years' worth of records contained in ice cores from Antarctica.
Thirsty mantle: Subduction zones swallow more water than thought
A new study peering beneath the Mariana Trench in the Western Pacific has revealed that some subduction zones might pull significantly more water into Earth’s interior than previously thought.
Five explosive things the 2018 eruption taught us about Kilauea
Kilauea's 2018 eruption allowed volcanologists a clear window into the processes that have shaped and influenced the world's most watched volcano.
Before-and-after photos from space show the collapse of the Indonesian volcano that caused a deadly tsunami
In December, a section of the Anak Krakatau crater collapsed into the ocean, causing a tsunami. These images show what the volcano looks like now.
Wildfires
Will the government shutdown make it difficult to suppress wildfires?
Today the wildfire danger was “elevated” or “critical” in parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas according to the National Weather *Service's* Storm Prediction ...
Government Shutdown Adversely Affects Workers Fighting Wildfires
Steve Inskeep talks to Scott Gorman and Sarah Barnes, a husband and wife who have had to make difficult decisions for their family as a result of the government shutdown.f the ...
Landslides
Death Toll From Indonesia Landslide Climbs to 17
A weeklong, round-the-clock search for victims of a landslide that may have buried dozens of miners in Indonesia is still underway...
Peru: Deadly floods and landslides hit Huancavelica
Two more people have been killed in a landslide in Peru, bringing to at least 50 the number of people who have died since the rainy season started in September, according to the Centre for National Emergency Operations.
More extreme coastal weather events likely to increase bluff erosion, landslide activity
Unstable slopes on Oregon's coastline could see a 30 percent jump in landslide movements if extreme storms become frequent enough to increase seacliff erosion by 10 percent, a new study by Oregon State University shows.
Varying Impact of Earthquake- and Monsoon-Induced Landslides
Using nearly 50 years of satellite data and records stretching back millennia, scientists determine the relative frequency and the erosional power of the monsoon- and earthquake-induced landslides in Nepal.
California's Big Sur's $54 Million 'Catastrophic Landslide' a Result of Drought Followed by Deluge, Scientists Say
A $54 million catastrophic landslide near Big Sur, California, was the result of heavy rains that came on the heels of a five-year drought, scientists say.
Major London train route closed until the weekend by a 400 tonne landslip
A major train route into London has been closed until the weekend after 400 tonnes of soil and trees slid onto the track.
Floods
Australian flooding kills 500,000 cattle (Video)
Devastating floods, following seven years of drought, have killed half a million cattle in Queensland, Australia.
River swells to 37 miles wide in 'once-in-a-century' floods in Queensland, Australia
The waters force thousands to flee, as well as closing airports and schools and leaving cars and houses submerged.
World's Driest Desert Floods as Extreme Weather Events Rise
The world's driest desert is flooding and some of the planet's wettest woodlands are burning. Welcome to summer in Chile. Rains high up in the Andes ...
Thousands of Syrian children at risk as flooding hits refugee camps
More than 11,000 children living in camps in northern Syria have been affected by torrential rains that have caused floods and washed away tents.
