Weather & Earth Science News

Minus 45 degrees in October? An Arctic blast is breaking records across western and central US A new study suggests that sea level rise to affect 'three times more people' than previously thought (I know of some, however, who refute that sea levels are rising at all!).  Meanwhile, Greenland ice cap melt measured by satellites - and it's enough to cover Tasmania in almost 5m of water  and the Arctic sea ice at lowest extent on record for late October Meanwhile, as permafrost melts, abrupt shifts in Arctic climate projected , along with more wildfires (which cause more melting .... ) Why does the Arctic have more plastic than most places on Earth? Another unusual storm forms out in the Atlantic during odd 2019 hurricane season - Rebekah isn't expected to amount to much though New kit to aid avalanche warnings erected in Cairngorms California wildfires: Strong winds fan flames around Los Angeles In the latest Australian wildf...

California faces huge power cuts as wildfires rage Temperatures plunge as chilly, dry weather replaces deluge that left parts of the westcountry under water and turned Tewkesbury into an island - well, that part of Tewkesbury that originally was an island, anyway .... The Clovis Comet again ...... Did an extraterrestrial impact trigger the extinction of ice-age animals? And we're all south Africans.  Origin of modern humans 'traced to Botswana'

Saturday was the wettest day in Evesham since February 2016 with 33.0mm of rain.  A weekend of heavy downpours leaves roads flooded as rivers burst their banks in Wales and York with the Wye at record levels as people rescued by boat in Hereford whilst the Welsh north-south rail line closed by flood damage between Hereford and Abergavenny Kincade fire: Emergency declared across California as fires rage   Tropical Cyclone Kyarr strengthens in the Arabian Sea In NSW the Ramsar-protected Macquarie Marshes wetland on fire with 90pc of crucial reed bed razed And Hurricane Pablo forms in a weird Atlantic Ocean location , much closer to Britain than America.  It's the most easterly, and second most northerly, location on record.  It's quickly weakening though.

Rather a strange case as hail survives two weeks of heat buried on outback Queensland property California wildfires: Millions warned of possible power cut as more strong winds forecast Japan flooding: death toll rises to 10 as heavy rains hit east of country A rare hurricane-like storm in the Mediterranean threatens Egypt and Israel How plastic waste aggravates flooding in DRC's Kinshasa And see the power of the wind as a storm pushes jet bridge across tarmac at Memphis airport

Typhoon Hagibis-hit areas in Japan battered by heavy rain as 60,000 advised to evacuate   Severe flooding in south of France leaves three dead Meanwhile, in Egypt: Death toll from heavy rains, flooding rises Kincade fire: Thousands evacuated as California wildfire rages but the drought in US south shows first improvement in weeks  New images reveal Iceland's glacier melt  How strong winter dust storms may have caused the collapse of the Akkadian Empire And an interesting story: US corn yields get boost from a global warming 'hole' - because the summer temperature there has actually fallen .....

After a heavy rain and a spate of flash floods in Southern Europe: Dead and missing in Spain and Italy and there is also more on the recent storm damage across the Balearic Islands  How sudden stratospheric warming is the unusual climate variation affecting ozone, heat and wind in Australia - it doesn't just mean cold weather in winter!  And people 'more likely to feel pain on humid days' - hot, humid days, maybe.  For me, cold and wet is good - as I found out in Scotland last month!

Several people are hurt as a tornado tears through holiday island of Ibiza and more details after Sunday night's tornado rips through Dallas, leaving widespread damage and power outages Heat, winds and power outages: California braces for days of dangerous conditions   Satellite captures rarely seen atmospheric gravity wave phenomenon off WA's north India just had its latest monsoon withdrawal on record, so what will it mean for Australia?  Melting glaciers reveal five new islands in the Arctic There are concerns about the widespread drying of European peatlands - they obviously weren't up in the saturated Highlands of Scotland last month! Satellite data used to calculate snow depth in mountain ranges Scientists suggest that Mars once had salt lakes similar to those on Earth And astronomers have spotted a new type of storm on Saturn

8 tornadoes later, Nestor's rains are helping more than hurting parched Southeast, East .  Meanwhile, a violent tornado touches down in Dallas without warning overnight to wreak carnage ‘Everything is gone’: Japan left reeling from worst storm in decades with the final toll from Typhoon Hagibis at least 78 dead And, according to Australia's Department of Environment t he climate is apparently not getting 'worse' because some places, like Canada, will benefit

Roofs ripped off houses as tornado tears through French town on Tuesday In Scotland there's chaos in north-east as torrential rain causes flooding   Tornadoes strike central Florida as Hurricane Michael survivors grow wary as Nestor nears Florida   (that's really not a very well worded headline!).   Meanwhile, the US northeast cleans up after storm for the record books F loods Leave Thousands Homeless in Chad and Cameroon whilst a f amily of four buried alive by landslides in Kenya brought on by heavy rain How aerosols affect our climate Poppies, dandelions and daisies bloom in never before seen Arctic oases only 1,000 miles from the north pole How a ncient stars shed light on Earth's similarities to other planets And one prediction which I am quite certain won't come true: Exact date snow will hit capital city revealed by Accuweather

Switzerland's glaciers have shrunk by 10 per cent in just five years and are melting 'at record speed' Lebanon calls for help as forest fires spread , the worst they have experienced in decades In Ireland, it's suggested that a bizarre localised 'mini-tornado' damages homes during torrential rain (nothing bizarre about it and, obviously, by definition, tornadoes are going to be localised!) On Majorca, a freak storm causes serious damage to Puerto Andratx And in northeast Greenland, how extreme snowfall kept most plants and animals in one Arctic ecosystem from reproducing

Typhoon Hagibis death toll rises to at least 68 as rescuers race against the clock to find survivors  and satellites show Japan rivers in flood Indonesia shuts some schools as haze again clouds the skies   In the Aleutians, an underwater volcano belched explosive bubbles larger than a stadium How flood turns dreams into nightmare in the megacity Lagos

In Japan there are at least 35 killed and 17 missing after Typhoon Hagibis tears through country, flooding rivers and submerging cities with many more pictures of the disaster as 110,000 are involved in a race against time to save the missing victims of Typhoon Hagibis   Manitoba to declare state of emergency due to October snowstorm Queensland's weather outlook for summer forecasts fewer cyclones, more severe bushfires   Shrinking glaciers: Mont Blanc from the air, 100 years on Humans put 100 times more carbon into the atmosphere than volcanoes, but that's just the tip of the iceberg Amazon fires: What's the latest in Brazil? And the curse of microplastics: Seeking the 'plastic score' of the food on our plates

Typhoon Hagibis: Japan braced for biggest storm in decades In the US, blizzard warnings issued across the Northern Plains for the weekend as 'historic' two-feet of snow blasts the Dakotas Tens of thousands ordered to evacuate after wildfire explodes in Southern California And when it comes to tackling climate change: Big lifestyle changes are the only answer - personally I shall stop driving, flying and cut right back on how much central heating I use.  Oh, wait .....

Super typhoon on track to drench Japan's main island at the weekend Two people confirmed dead in NSW bushfires after police find bodies on remote property .  But, it's only October, so what's with all these bushfires? New research explains it . ENSO plays a big role, but climate change is also a factor. Ancient Maya canals and fields show early and extensive impacts on tropical forests And how believing in climate change doesn't mean you are preparing for climate change

Across the northern hemisphere there were hundreds of temperature records broken over summer Meanwhile, a new study funded by NOAA suggests that heat waves could increase substantially in size by mid-century 'Explosive' Typhoon Hagibis has Tokyo area in its sights after rapidly gathering strength in Pacific Australia bushfires: Dozens of houses destroyed or damaged in NSW Northern California braced for mega power cut aimed at preventing a repeat of last year's tragic wildfires And UK fast food ‘linked to Brazilian forest fires' - one hopes all Extinction Rebellion supporters boycott MacDonalds forthwith!

Serious cyclogenesis in the Pacific as from Tropical Storm to category 5, Super Typhoon Hagibis' rapid intensification one of most explosive on record Summer heatwave 'death spike' seen in UK Bolivia wildfires in east extinguished by rain The disappearing Peruvian glaciers Saturn overtakes Jupiter as planet with most moons - we now know of 82, most very small The hole in the Antarctic may be the smallest in years, but 'ozone hole vigilance still required' And how the last mammoths died on a remote island 4,000 years ago

The wettest day of the year yesterday in parts of East Anglia as the fire service 'inundated' with flooding call outs across Norfolk including school Meanwhile, in Suffolk last week, Orfordness Lighthouse bungalow destroyed by storms Why Hurricane Dorian was worthy of a category 6 rating And climate change means geoengineering under pressure to keep our CO2 budgets under control - though much more research and modelling is needed before any attempts are made.  Interesting though to note that " The concept of using reflective particles to reduce warming was floated as early as 1965 , when scientific advisors to US President Lyndon Johnson recognised that increased CO2 in the atmosphere could bring about climatic change "

Globally, a sizzling September equals warm temperature record How blistering heat and little rain is causing a 'flash drought' in the South USA Severe weather causes extensive property damage across Greece Australia is not prepared to fight the bushfires of the future, experts warn And the mystery of the tidal phenomenon of Chalkida, Greece

Typhoon Mitag kills at least 9 in South Korea Hurricane Lorenzo lashes Azores with high waves, heavy rain , and in Ireland today, thousands of people without power after Storm Lorenzo .  But there was no real impact on Britain. The USA's Fall heat wave crushes October records in dozens of cities in South and East How northern forests have lost crucial cold, snowy conditions - winters just aren't like they used to be Ocean Cleanup's floating boom now working and collecting plastic in the Pacific Ocean And the "Clovis Comet" just won't go away as new African evidence support Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

Latest figures show that, in total, over 1,600 killed in India's heaviest monsoon in 25 years - the most deadly natural disaster this year by some way. An update on yesterday's story as Isle of Man flooding leaves residents trapped with more rain forecast after flash floods across Britain Parts of the USA have experienced their hottest October day ever: Record breaking temperatures soar from Midwest to the South In Australia, Perth notches hottest September on record, driest in 42 years as weather warms up The recent extent of fire damage in Gold Coast rainforest revealed - rain forests like this aren't supposed to burn ... It's suggested that 'flight shame' could halve growth in air traffic .  I have my doubts. And, in any case, the number of flights is still expected to increase . NASA's new black hole visualisation shows how gravity warps our view of them - and perhaps helps end the myth that they are holes.  They are not.  The...

This morning there's a 'major incident' on Isle of Man as floods trap people in homes . Meanwhile, the Met Office warns of more rain as floods close rail line in Wales Three people dead in Central Europe storm Hurricane Lorenzo breaks record in mid-Atlantic and its remnants are likely to impact the British Isles at the weekend.  'Historic' winter storm dumps 48 inches of snow in Montana In Victoria, half of Gippsland is battling drought while the other half is dealing with landslides In the latest India floods: Death toll rises to 140 in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh after the heaviest monsoon since 1984.  And the incredible moment river in India 'changes course' after heavy rains and cascades into coal mine as an impromptu waterfall And a 315 billion-tonne iceberg breaks off Antarctica