December 23, 2019

Saturday, December 21, was the winter solstice in the United States and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere—which includes Australia, New Zealand, and other lands south of the equator—the solstice marks the beginning of summer. In Australia, summer is a season known for bushfires. Such wildfires are common in Australia, due in part to the country’s hot and dry climate. Many wildfires start in the remote countryside known to Australians as the bush. Bushfires can be extremely destructive, especially if they reach urban areas. The fires often kill people and destroy property and farmland. They also devastate forests, along with the koalas and other animals that live there.

Police in Jimboomba, Queensland, rescued this koala and her joey from a bushfire in late November 2019. Many other koalas were not so lucky. Credit: Jimboomba Police

A number of major bushfires have plagued Australia in 2019. Late last summer, in February, bushfires consumed more than 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of land in northern New South Wales. Far more destructive bushfires ignited again in New South Wales in September, burning nearly 5 million acres (2 million hectares) there and in neighboring Queensland. Some of those fires lasted for weeks, while others continue to burn, turning skies black or orange, causing severe damage, and killing a number of people. The bushfires also killed thousands of vulnerable and slow-moving koalas trapped by the rapidly spreading flames.

Bushfires are relatively common in Australia. These fire-damaged buildings are seen alongside a house that survived Christmas Day bushfires near Melbourne in 2015. Credit: © Julian Smith, EPA/Landov

Koalas live only in the forests of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, in eastern Australia. They are found in significant numbers in only a few areas, and the animals are protected by law. Bushfires, however, ravage the koala’s natural habitat and its population. Koalas cannot escape the fast-moving fires, and their only defense is to climb to the top of a tree, curl into a ball, and hope the flames do not rise to reach them. Koalas sometimes survive this way, but they often burn their paws and claws descending charred trees, leaving them unable to climb properly again.

Koalas are not officially listed as endangered, but the population in New South Wales and Queensland has decreased by more than 40 percent since 1990. The animals are threatened by deforestation and habitat loss, as well as the effects of climate change, which is causing longer and more intense heat waves and droughts, leading to more frequent, intense, and longer-lasting bushfires. Beyond the flames and smoke of the fires, many koalas die from lack of water or exposure to prolonged periods of high temperatures. Australia just suffered through the driest spring in its history, and a brutal heat wave peaked on Dec. 19, 2019, when the highest ever nationwide average temperature—107.4 °F (41.9 °C)—was recorded.

September 23, 2019

Three weeks ago, on September 1, Hurricane Dorian savaged the Bahamas, a chain of islands east of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. In the slang of the islands, Dorian mashed up (devastated) much of Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands in the northwestern part of the archipelago. Dorian, one of the strongest hurricanes on record to strike the Bahamas, killed at least 53 people there. That number will almost certainly skyrocket, however, as more than 600 people remain missing.

Hurricane Dorian’s high winds and floods destroyed much of Freeport, Grand Bahama, seen here on Sept. 5, 2019. Credit: © Adam DelGiudice, AFP/Getty Images

Dorian struck the Bahamas as a category 5 storm on the Saffir-simpson scale, which measures hurricane intensity. Category 5 is the strongest hurricane rating, with winds above 157 miles (252 kilometers) per hour. Hurricanes of this strength typically occur about every three years, but Dorian marked the fourth consecutive year that a category 5 hurricane has struck the Caribbean, with two striking in 2017 when Irma and Maria killed more than 3,000 people, mostly in Puerto Rico. Hurricanes of all categories can cause terrible destruction and loss of life, but category 5 hurricanes are labeled “catastrophic” by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Winds that strong will destroy most framed houses by tearing away roofs and collapsing walls. They will flatten trees and electric power poles and leave residential areas uninhabitable for weeks or months. Increases in the intensity of hurricanes and other bad weather align with what scientists expect as the world’s climate continues to change.

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Bahamas.
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Dorian formed as a tropical depression over the Atlantic Ocean on August 24. A tropical depression is a low-pressure area surrounded by winds that have begun to blow in a circular pattern. Dorian developed into a hurricane four days later. The storm rapidly gained size and strength, reaching category 5 status by September 1. That day, the massive hurricane hit Elbow Cay and Great Abaco Island before moving on to Grand Bahama, where Dorian lingered for more than 24 devastating hours. Dorian lashed the islands with sustained winds of 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour and gusts over 220 miles (350 kilometers) per hour. Storm surges (sudden onrushes of seawater) and torrential rains caused deadly flooding in many parts of the low-lying islands.

On Sept. 5, 2019, people search through the ruins of their home in Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island, days after Hurricane Dorian hit as a category 5 storm. Credit: © Jose Jimenez, Getty Images

Dorian then spun away along the coasts of eastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, greatly diminishing to a category 1—but still dangerous—hurricane before hitting Cape Hatteras in North Carolina’s Outer Banks on September 6. From there, Dorian further downgraded to an extratropical cyclone (a stormy low pressure system) and raced northward off the U.S. east coast. On September 7, Dorian’s final gasp brought heavy rains and fierce winds to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in Canada. The storm at last dissipated near Greenland on September 10.

Dorian threatened many areas, and states of emergency were declared in several Caribbean and Atlantic islands and eastern U.S. states. But the storm’s rapid degradation after striking the Bahamas greatly reduced its deadliness. Dorian still killed people—directly or indirectly—outside the Bahamas, however, including one person in Puerto Rico, six people in Florida, and three people in North Carolina. Direct deaths are caused by such things as blown debris, flooding, or falling trees. Indirect deaths include people who die by accident or heart attacks while involved in storm-related activities, such as clearing trees or boarding up houses. They also include those who die in car accidents trying to evacuate.

July 17, 2019

To help reduce pollution in the United States, a Sierra Club program called “Ready for 100” is encouraging communities and individuals to commit to the use of 100 percent renewable energy sources. The Sierra Club, founded in 1892 by the naturalist John Muir, is an organization that works to protect the environment. Ready for 100 is asking business, civic, community, and religious leaders, as well as families and students, to help achieve the goal of complete nationwide reliance on clean, renewable energy by the year 2050.

Renewable energy comes from such sources as the sun, wind, moving water, heat beneath the ground, and plants. Such energy sources are considered “clean” because they cause little or no pollution, and they differ from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning fossil fuels causes air pollution and acid rain, and also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The gases trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change.

Since November 2016, solar panels and battery systems have provided 100 percent of the energy needed to power the island of Ta’u, seen here, in the U.S. Pacific territory of American Samoa. Credit: © SolarCity

There are many benefits to using clean energy sources. They can provide communities with cleaner air and water, lower energy costs, greater energy independence, and greater local ownership of energy systems. More than 50 nations around the world, including Brazil, Canada, and Norway, already get more than 50 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources. Costa Rica expects to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2021. The U.S. state of Hawaii has promised to be Ready for 100 by 2045, and recent California legislation requires the country’s most populous state to achieve 50 percent renewable energy use by 2030. Such worldwide cities as Munich, New York, and Sydney are also well beyond the 50 percent mark, and they are fast approaching total reliance on renewable energy. To reach 100 percent, the amount of energy generated from renewable sources (for such uses as electric power, heating and cooling, and transportation) must equal or exceed the annual energy consumed.

Hoover Dam on the Colorado River has been providing renewable hydroelectric energy in the southwestern United States since 1935. Credit: U.S. Department of Transportation

So far, 182 U.S. towns and cities from coast to coast have committed to 100 percent renewable energy use by 2050. Aspen, Colorado (since 2015); Burlington, Vermont (2014); Georgetown, Texas (2018); Greensburg, Kansas (2013); Kodiak Island, Alaska (2012); and Rock Port, Missouri (2008) have already hit the 100 percent renewable energy mark, leading the push for cleaner energy and a healthier future.

June 21, 2019

Today, June 21, is the first day of summer, and people in parts of the Midwestern and Southeastern United States can say goodbye to a stormy spring that included record flooding and an unusual number of powerful tornadoes. Beginning in March, snowmelt and repeated heavy rains overflowed the Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and other rivers. Tornadoes ravaged many areas in March and April, and in the month of May alone, an astounding 362 twisters touched down in 12 different states. The combined spring storms killed 64 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

Mississippi River floodwaters cut off a highway at the Illinois-Missouri border on May 30, 2019. Spring storms ravaged many parts of the Midwest and Southeast in 2019. Credit: © Scott Olson, Getty Images

An unusually cold winter resulted in large snowfalls and frozen ground throughout the Midwest. In March, melting snow added large amounts of water to streams and rivers. Torrential downpours then followed, resulting in floods that affected Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Six people died in the regional flooding, and the waters caused some $8 billion in damage. Powerful thunderstorms and flooding continued in April and May, spreading damage to the states of Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. In some states, more than a month’s worth of rain (compared with the average) fell in a single day. Saturated fields prevented many crops from being planted, and many existing crops were severely damaged.

In early March, tornadoes first struck in the Southeast, killing 23 people and causing extensive damage in parts of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. In April, tornadoes killed 20 more people in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Then, in May, 362 tornadoes killed 15 people across the Midwest. A number of the tornadoes rated EF4—wind speeds of 166 to 200 miles (267 to 322 kilometers) per hour—on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, used to measure a tornado’s intensity. (EF5, with winds over 200 miles (322 kilometers) per hour, is the highest rating.) Destruction was substantial in Dayton, Ohio, and Linwood, Kansas, but no people were killed.

The Midwestern and Southeastern United States are accustomed to bouts of severe spring weather, but this year’s storms were abnormally abundant and strong. The increases in bad weather—in both winter and spring—aligned with what scientists expect as the world’s climate continues to change. As average global temperatures rise, air becomes saturated with moisture, resulting in higher amounts of precipitation. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have warned of increasing episodes of severe weather because of climate change.

April 26, 2019

Last month, in March, Tropical Cyclone Idai struck the southeastern coast of Africa. One of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, Idai caused catastrophic landslides and flooding that killed more than 1,000 people in Mozambique and in neighboring Malawi and Zimbabwe. The storm left more than 300,000 people homeless and led to deadly outbreaks of cholera and increased cases of malaria. More than a month later, thousands of people remain missing in affected areas, and government and international aid agencies continue to struggle to provide badly needed food, water, and medical supplies.

On March 23, 2019, residents of Beira, a coastal city in central Mozambique, survey the damage done by Cyclone Idai. Credit: © Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP/Getty Images

Cyclone Idai formed as a tropical depression over the warm waters of the southwestern Indian Ocean in early March. The storm intensified into a cyclone as it struck central Mozambique on March 4. Torrential rains and deadly winds whipped coastal areas for days as Idai spun along the Mozambique Channel between the African mainland and the island of Madagascar. Idai varied in strength, until reaching peak intensity with winds of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per hour on March 14. After 17 days of damage and deluge, the storm finally weakened and dissipated on March 21.

This satellite image shows Cyclone Idai in the Mozambique Channel on March 14, 2019. Credit: NASA

The broad and determined storm reached inland to Malawi and Zimbabwe and pelted coastal areas of Madagascar. The storm extensively damaged or destroyed vital infrastructure, including communication networks, hospitals, roads, sanitation facilities, and schools. Wide swaths of farmland were ruined, portions of forests were flattened by high winds, and flooding created a temporary inland sea in Mozambique that measured some 80 miles (130 kilometers) long and 15 miles (24 kilometers) wide. Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi called Cyclone Idai a “humanitarian disaster of great proportion.”

Mozambique. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Mozambique’s typically able Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (National Disasters Management Institute) was overwhelmed by the scale of Idai’s destruction, and an urgent note verbale (formal diplomatic notice) went out requesting international help. The Red Cross and Red Crescent, Doctors Without Borders, and several United Nations organizations came to the rescue, as did the European Union and the governments of Canada, France, Portugal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Cyclone Idai was the seventh tropical cyclone of the Indian Ocean season, more than twice the average for this time of year. Globally, high-intensity storms have been occurring more frequently in recent years, a trend directly related to climate change. Global warming increases sea temperatures, creating more moisture and instability in the atmosphere—factors crucial to the birth of dangerous cyclones and hurricanes. Tropical cyclones need high humidity and surface water temperatures of 79 °F (26 °C ) or higher to form. Melting glaciers and ice have increased global sea levels, resulting in more frequent and intense flooding in coastal areas around the world.

February 11, 2019

Last week, monsoon rains dumped record amounts of water in northern  Queensland, Australia, flooding roads, swelling rivers above their banks, and causing landslides. The coastal city of Townsville received more than 3.3 feet (1.0 meters) of rain, raising the level of water held by the Ross River dam to dangerous levels far above its capacity. On February 3, city officials opened the dam’s gates, intentionally flooding several neighborhoods to ease pressure on the dam and keep it from collapsing. Crocodiles, snakes, and other wildlife followed the waters into the flooded streets, appearing in places they are not typically found. Boats and other vehicles capable of navigating high waters rescued many people and pets trapped by the flooding. Two people are known to have died in the flooding.

Floodwaters inundate the Townsville, Australia, suburb of Idalia on Feb. 4, 2019. Credit: © Ian Hitchcock, Getty Images

Some Queensland farmers welcomed the rainfall. Drought conditions have been widespread in recent months across Australia (where summer is from December to February), and the farmers hoped the rain would help their crops. The monsoon flooding came at the tail end of the hottest month ever recorded by Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. On February 1, the agency reported that the average January temperature across the continent exceeded 86 ºF (30 ºC). The Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Victoria all set new high temperature records for the month of January. Some parts of western Queensland and New South Wales had weeks of temperatures above 104 ºF (40 ºC). Numerous farm and wild animals died in the extreme heat, as did many fish in overheated lakes and rivers.

Despite the monsoon rains in Queensland, much of Australia remains in a drought. Scientists believe that such extreme weather events will become more frequent in coming years as a result of global climate change.

October 1, 2018

Two weeks ago, early on the morning of Sept. 15, 2018 (September 14 in the United States), Typhoon Mangkhut struck the main Philippine island of Luzon. In a country accustomed to seasonal tempests, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) gives its own names to storms: there, Mangkhut (the named bestowed on the storm by the World Meteorological Organization) was known as Ompong. The typhoon raged regardless of name, causing deadly flooding and landslides that killed 95 people in Luzon. Mangkhut then killed one person on Taiwan and six others in China. On September 20, days after the storm dissipated, waterlogged soil on the central Philippine island of Cebu caused a landslide that killed another 85 people.

Members of the Filipino Bureau of Fire Protection carry a victim of a landslide in Luzon’s Benguet province on Sept. 18, 2018. Credit: © Basilio Sepe, Getty Images

Typhoon Mangkhut formed as a tropical depression over the Marshall Islands in the North Pacific Ocean on September 7. The storm grew into a tropical storm near Bikini Atoll and escalated to a Category 5 (the strongest level) typhoon in the Northern Marianas. Mangkhut roared westward across the Pacific and on September 12 the storm entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the zone in the northwestern Pacific where PAGASA tracks dangerous weather.

Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong) hit the northern Philippines and then crossed the South China Sea to Hong Kong and China’s Guangdong Province. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

In preparation for the massive storm, schools and public offices were closed in northern Luzon and people were evacuated from many coastal areas. Across the South China Sea in Hong Kong, officials issued a rare “No. 10” typhoon warning signal, the highest level of storm threat, and briefly shut down public services. Parts of China’s Guangdong Province also issued red alerts and closed schools and public offices.

Mangkhut reached the shores of Cagayán Valley, Luzon’s most northern administrative region, on September 15. The storm lashed Cagayán and the nearby Cordillera and Ilocos regions, where winds as fierce as 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour ripped up trees and houses and torrential rains caused flash flooding and mudslides. Mangkhut then leapt to China, where deadly winds knocked down thousands of trees and shattered windows in swaying high-rise buildings. Floodwaters blocked roads and railways and inundated coastal communities. On nearby Taiwan, the lone death occurred when strong ocean currents related to the storm swept a beachgoer out to sea.

August 3, 2018

For many people in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer of 2018 has been touched by fire and obscured by smoke. Summers are typically fire seasons in many areas, but climate change has caused hotter and drier conditions in recent years, and wildfire outbreaks have become more frequent and more destructive. Other causes of increased fire activity include the building of more developments in fire-prone areas, a lack of proper forest management, and, of course, simple human carelessness. In the past weeks, fires have killed more than 100 people and destroyed homes and large swaths of land in Asia, Europe, and North America.

A firefighting helicopter flies over a wildfire in the Greek town of Rafina near Athens on July 23, 2018. The Greek wildfire was the deadliest yet this year, claiming the lives of 92 people. Credit: © Angelos Tzortzinis, AFP/Getty Images

In southeastern Greece, a wildfire erupted July 23, destroying or damaging some 3,500 structures and killing 96 people along the Attica coast. The giant wildfire, just 18 miles (30 kilometers) east of Athens, the Greek capital, burned out of control for several days, gutting seaside resorts and holiday homes. Fanned by high winds, the fast-moving blaze trapped and killed groups of people, including entire families as they huddled between the flames and steep cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. The high death toll prompted criticism of the the area’s lack of access roads, warning systems, and other civil protection measures in areas surrounded by forest and at high risk of wildfires.

In far northern Europe, dozens of wildfires have consumed more than 62,000 acres (25,000 hectares) this summer in Sweden, which is experiencing an abnormally lengthy and intense heat wave. Neighboring Finland and Norway are also suffering from unusual heat and wildfire outbreaks, as are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Wildfires also torched drought-stricken areas of Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.

This week in northern California, firefighters continued to battle the Carr Fire that has killed 8 people, destroyed over 1,500 buildings, and consumed some 125,000 acres (50,000 hectares) of land. The wildfire started on July 23 along Carr Powerhouse Road in Shasta County near the city of Redding. The “mechanical failure of a vehicle” ignited dried grasses and trees, and soon flames were roaring through the forested hills around Whiskeytown Lake west of Redding. The wildfire, aided by hot and dry weather, high winds, an abundance of natural fuel, and steep terrain, has since been chased westward by more than 4,200 firefighters—2 of whom have died fighting the blaze. Reports of  “firenados” (huge, rotating whorls of smoke, flame, and ash) encouraged nearly 40,000 people to obey evacuation orders and leave the fire area (which included parts of nearby Trinity County). Many people will return to find their homes and property in ashes.

The Carr Fire is the largest of 17 wildfires currently burning throughout the state of California. Collectively, wildfires in the western United States have scorched 4.6 million acres (1.86 million hectares) so far this year, a 24 percent increase over the annual average for the past decade. Wildfires have also stricken large areas of western Canada and parts of Mexico this summer.

Wildfires have also consumed vast amounts of territory in Siberia of eastern Russia. Since May, firefighters have been battling immense wildfires in the Amur Oblast region along the Chinese border, where towering pyrocumulus clouds have injected smoke and pollutants high into Earth’s atmosphere. Pyrocumulus clouds are formed by rising heat from wildfires or by plume emissions from fossil fuel-burning industrial plants, and they sharply increase the levels of carbon dioxide and harmful aerosols in the atmosphere.

July 24, 2018

From the end of June through early July 2018, torrential rains intensified by Typhoon Prapiroon caused catastrophic flooding in southwestern Japan. The floods breached levees and washed out towns and roads in heavily populated areas, killing 225 people and leaving several others missing. The freshwater floods (as opposed to tsunamis and ocean-generated flooding) were the deadliest in Japan since flooding killed 299 people in Nagasaki in 1982.

Floodwaters swamp houses in the Okayama city of Kurashiki on July 8, 2018. Credit: © STR/AFP/Getty Images

Unusually heavy seasonal rains began on the island of Kyushu and nearby areas on June 28. With flooding already beginning in some prefectures, Typhoon Prapiroon dumped immense amounts of rain beginning on July 3. As the situation worsened, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued emergency alerts, prompting the evacuation of several million people. Areas of Kyushu became awash in flooding, as did parts of nearby Honshu and Shikoku islands. In Honshu, Japan’s largest and most populous island, floodwaters as high as 16 feet (5 meters) devastated the southwestern prefectures of Hiroshima and Okayama. The worst short deluge took place in Kōchi prefecture on Shikoku, where 10.4 inches (26.3 centimeters) of rain fell in just 3 hours. On July 6 and 7, the Kōchi city of Motoyama recorded 23 inches (58.4 centimeters) of rain in as many hours. The deluge continued until July 9, when the rain gave way to stifling heat that has since claimed another 70 lives.

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In late June and early July 2018, flooding killed 225 people in southwestern Japan. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Flooding and mudslides caused the most casualties in Hiroshima, where 113 people died and hundreds more were injured. At least 60 people died in Okayama where the Odagawa and Takahashi rivers burst their banks, and 26 people were killed in Ehime prefecture on Shikoku. Deaths also occurred in Fukuoka, Kōchi, Kyoto, Yamaguchi, and other prefectures. Most of the victims had ignored evacuation and other precautionary orders; several died trying to escape the floods when their vehicles were swept away. The hardest hit areas lacked appropriate levees and other flood emergency infrastructure.

More than 50,000 military and emergency personnel and thousands of volunteers responded to help people trapped by the flooding. Many roads and railways were submerged by floodwaters or blocked by debris, but boat and helicopter rescue missions ran nonstop until the floodwaters subsided and roads once again became passable. Thousands of people were rescued from the rooftops of their flooded homes.

The floods also severely damaged area crops, livestock, and wildlife. People out of immediate danger were troubled by electric power outages, commuter train stoppages, and the closure of many public and private businesses.