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Climate
Some Floridians choose to stay despite warnings of life risk: ‘We have faith in the Lord’
As Hurricane Milton approaches many cities were largely deserted but some people decided to shelter in place
Most left when they were told to. But some chose to stay, even though officials warned Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.
Along Florida’s Gulf coast, where millions of people were urged to get out of harm’s way, cities were largely deserted on Wednesday afternoon as time ran out to evacuate. Those who remained were advised to shelter in place as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their dread at what, if anything, they would return to once the storm had passed.
Continue reading...‘Florida isn’t safe’: Ron DeSantis is unfit for hurricane response, activists say
Advocates believe governor is unfit for emergency planning due to policies that fuel the crisis worsening storms
Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, is back in the spotlight as he briefs residents on the arrival of Hurricane Milton, amid warnings it could be one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the state.
DeSantis, who dropped his presidential campaign in January, is as governor responsible for implementing Florida’s emergency plan by coordinating agencies, marshaling resources and urging residents to follow evacuation orders.
Continue reading...Mi pesadilla con el virus del Nilo Occidental
MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Region Braces for Milton Flooding
Our dystopian climate isn’t just about fires and floods. It’s about society fracturing | Bill McKibben
Climate disasters risk pulling society apart. To survive we need solidarity – and only one ticket in the US election offers that
Even as the good people of Florida’s west coast pulled the soggy mattresses from Helene out to the curb, Milton appeared on the horizon this week – a double blast of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico that’s a reminder that physics takes no time off, not even in the weeks before a crucial election. My sense is that those storms will help turn the voting on 5 November into a climate election of sorts, even if – as is likely – neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump spend much time in the next 25 days talking about CO2 or solar power.
That’s because these storms show not only the power of global heating (Helene’s record rains, and Milton’s almost unprecedented intensification, were reminders of what it means to have extremely hot ocean temperatures). More, they show what we’re going to need to survive the now inevitable train of such disasters. Which is solidarity. Which is something only one ticket offers.
Continue reading...Andrew Forrest says net zero is ‘fantasy’ so his goal is ‘real zero’. What does he mean – and can he achieve it? | Temperature Check
The mining tycoon says his iron ore business will stop using fossil fuels by the end of the decade without carbon offsets or carbon capture and storage
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About $45tn of global business revenue is covered by corporate “net zero emissions” pledges but the iron ore billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest thinks the whole net zero thing is “fantasy”.
“Now is the time to walk away from net zero 2050, that hasn’t been anything really but a con to maintain fossil fuels,” Forrest said last week.
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Continue reading...US emergency crews struggle as climate crisis fuels ‘unprecedented’ competing disasters
Resources are stretched thin as the south-east grapples with hurricanes and the west swelters in high temperatures
It’s been a brutal week in weather-related disasters across the US. Large parts of the south-east are still grappling with the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and another potentially catastrophic storm is barreling towards Florida. At the same time, much of the west has been sweltering amid scorching temperatures, which have elevated fire risks and fueled extreme fire behavior.
Hurricanes and fires aren’t abnormal in early autumn. But the climate crisis has turned up the dial and created more opportunities for catastrophes to overlap, ultimately adding strain on relief resources, emergency response, and those who have been impacted by the dangerous and destructive events.
Continue reading...Anger at UK’s ‘bonkers’ plan to reach net zero by importing fuel from North Korea
Government criticised over list of potential countries for sourcing biomass, which also includes Afghanistan
A plan by the British government to burn biomass imported from countries including North Korea and Afghanistan has been described as “bonkers”, with critics saying it undermines the credibility of the UK’s climate strategy.
A bioenergy resource model, published in late summer, calculates that only a big expansion in the import of energy crops and wood from a surprising list of nations would satisfy the UK’s plan to meet net zero.
Continue reading...¿Tu vehículo eléctrico puede incendiarse tras un huracán?
We Live in the Era of Nightmare Hurricanes Now
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Hurricane Milton: what does it actually take to evacuate during a weather crisis?
While Florida residents are being told to flee before the hurricane makes landfall, it may not be possible for all
On 7 October, as Hurricane Milton was just days away from making landfall in Tampa, Florida, the city’s mayor Jane Castor issued a dire warning to residents in evacuation zones: “If you choose to stay … you are going to die.”
But leaving one’s home to avoid the category 5 hurricane is not possible for everyone.
Continue reading...Hurricanes like Helene twice as likely to happen due to global heating, data finds
Analysis shows Gulf’s heat that worsened Helene 200-500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating
As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, fueled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, a new analysis has shown how the Gulf’s heat that worsened last month’s Hurricane Helene was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating.
Helene, one of the deadliest storms in US history, gathered pace over the Gulf before crashing ashore with 140mph winds.
Continue reading...China to head green energy boom with 60% of new projects in next six years
IEA says faster clean energy rollout being led by solar power in China with country set to boast half of world’s renewables by 2030
China is expected to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
The IEA’s highly influential renewable energy report found that over the next six years renewable energy projects will roll out at three times the pace of the previous six years, led by the clean energy programmes of China and India.
Continue reading...‘A huge loss’: is it the end for the ship that helped us understand life on Earth?
The Joides Resolution has contributed to our understanding of climate crisis, the origin of life, earthquakes and eruptions. But funding cuts mean it may have sailed its last expedition
In the early summer of this year, a ship set sail around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. But this wasn’t any ordinary ship. For almost 40 years the Joides Resolution drilled into the ocean floor to collect samples and data that helped scientists to study Earth’s history and structure. Expeditions on the vessel have made a vital contribution to our understanding of the climate crisis, the tectonic plates theory, the origin of life on Earth and natural hazards such as earthquakes and eruptions. Yet the two-month voyage around Svalbard was to be its last.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), the US agency that provided scientists at Texas A&M University with funds for the ship, announced last year it would not give money for the drilling vessel past September 2024. It was a declaration that shocked the global scientific community and meant that Svalbard would be the ship’s final outing.
The vibration isolated television is attached to the drillpipe and is used to image the seafloor before drilling begins. Photograph: Lisa Crowder/IODP JRSO
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