Severe Weather News

September 29, 2016

A Perfect Sun-Storm

Changes: Hurricanes, Storm Surges and Icebergs

Indonesian Wildfire Smoke; 100,000 Early Deaths

Heatwaves in the Ocean: Risk to Ecosystems?

Latest Headlines

updated 8:00am EDT

Climate Change Jigsaw Puzzle: Antarctic Pieces Missing

Sep. 28, 2016 — A shift in westerly winds, which has led to climate impacts in Australia and the Southern Ocean, is human-induced, new research suggests. To date, limited data on Antarctic ... read more

High-Tech Future Early Warning System for Hurricanes, Tornados and Volcanic Eruptions

Sep. 27, 2016 — The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has been able to detect a gravity wave wafting through space ... read more

Underwater 'Cystoseira Zosteroides' Forests, the Mediterranean Algae, Threatened by Human Activity Impact

Sep. 23, 2016 — The effects of an intense storm every twenty-five years could make the marine alga populations of <em>Cystoseira ... read more

WMO Rules on Longest Distance and Longest Duration Lightning Flashes

Sep. 20, 2016 — Experts have established two new world records for the longest reported distance and the longest reported duration for a single lightning flash in, respectively, Oklahoma ... read more

Soil Management May Help Stabilize Maize Yield in the Face of Climate Change

Sep. 20, 2016 — How will we feed our growing population in the face of an increasingly extreme climate? Many experts suggest the answer lies in breeding novel crop ... read more

Mystery of Colorful Giant Plants of the Subantarctic Solved

Sep. 16, 2016 — The mystery of why so many plants on New Zealand’s otherwise bleak subantarctic islands have very large deeply colored flowers and giant leaves has been solved by new ... read more

2016 Ties With 2007 for Second Lowest Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

Sep. 15, 2016 — The Arctic's ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent on September 10, 2016, according to scientists. Arctic sea ice extent on that day stood at 4.14 million ... read more

Pacific Ocean’s Response to Greenhouse Gases Could Extend California Drought for Centuries

Sep. 15, 2016 — Clues from prehistoric droughts and arid periods in California show that today's increasing greenhouse gas levels could lock ... read more

El Niño, Global Warming Combine to Cause Extreme Drought in Amazon Rainforest

Sep. 14, 2016 — The impact the current 2015/2016 El Niño is having in Amazonia has been revealed by new research. Areas of extreme drought and changes to their ... read more

Coastal Occupation Affects Tropical Reefs in Brazil

Sep. 14, 2016 — Researchers in Brazil warn of the negative environmental impacts of unplanned coastal occupation on tropical reefs and consequently on the conservation of marine biodiversity. Researchers state that ... read more

Lightning Strikes Leave Australian State in the Dark

Rising Temperatures May Make 2016 Hottest Year Ever

Sea Ice Might Not Be At A Record Low Now, But It'll Get There

9/11 Survivors Still Battling Health Effects 15 Years on

'Funneling' Behind Severe Flooding on the Clyde

Sep. 15, 2016 — A “funneling” effect has been a major factor in severe flooding on the River Clyde in recent years, according to a study by English ... read more

Westerly Winds Have Blown Across Central Asia for at Least 42 Million Years

Sep. 13, 2016 — The winds that gust across the Tibetan Plateau have done so for far longer than previously believed, showing they are resilient to the formation of mountains and changes in carbon dioxide and ... read more

Unprecedented Atmospheric Behavior Disrupts One of Earth's Most Regular Climate Cycles

Sep. 8, 2016 — A team of scientists has discovered an unexpected disruption in one of the most repeatable atmospheric ... read more

Calculating the Role of Lakes in Global Warming

Sep. 7, 2016 — As global temperatures rise, how will lake ecosystems respond? As they warm, will lakes -- which make up only 3 percent of the landscape, but bury more carbon than the world's oceans combined -- ... read more

Pushing a Parasite from Land to Sea

Sep. 6, 2016 — Higher levels of rainfall and coastal development increase the risk of disease-causing organisms flowing to the ocean, according to a study. The work advances earlier work by tracking the parasite T. ... read more

Study Demonstrates Seasonality of Bird Migration in Response to Environmental Cues

Sep. 6, 2016 — For the first time, a study shows that remote sensing data from weather surveillance radar and on-the-ground data from the eBird citizen science database both yield robust indices of migration ... read more

New Tool Can Calculate Renewable Energy Output Anywhere in the World

Sep. 6, 2016 — An interactive web tool to estimate the amount of energy that could be generated by wind or solar farms at any location has now been created by ... read more

Latest Ocean Warming Review Reveals Extent of Impacts on Nature and Humans

Sep. 6, 2016 — Ocean warming is affecting humans in direct ways and the impacts are already being felt, including effects on fish stocks and crop yields, more extreme weather events and increased risk from ... read more

Detecting Forest Fragility With Satellites

Sep. 5, 2016 — Over the past decades forests in different parts of the world have suffered sudden massive tree mortality. Now an international team of scientists has found a way to spot from satellite images which ... read more

During Drought, Dry Air Can Stress Plants More Than Dry Soil

Sep. 5, 2016 — Newly published research finds that low relative humidity in the atmosphere is a significant, growing and often under-appreciated cause of plant stress in hot, dry weather conditions. The finding ... read more

A Strange Thing Happened in the Stratosphere

Sep. 2, 2016 — High above Earth's tropics, a pattern of winds changed recently in a way that scientists had never seen in more than 60 years of consistent ... read more

'Tug of War' Keeps Scientists Working on Storm Tracks

Sep. 2, 2016 — A new analysis finds that human-induced climate change complicates projecting the future position of ... read more

Time Window for Action to Limit Climate Change Is Closing Rapidly

Sep. 1, 2016 — The window of opportunity for limiting climate warming up to 2°C is closing rapidly. However, a reinforcing upward spiral of national government policy, non-state actions and transformative ... read more

Lightning Strikes: Thunderstorms Spread Mercury Pollution

Aug. 31, 2016 — Thunderstorms have 50 percent higher concentrations of mercury than other rain events, new research shows. Mercury is a naturally occurring chemical element that is used in several devices such as ... read more

Climate Change Has Less Impact on Drought Than Previously Expected

Aug. 29, 2016 — As a multiyear drought grinds on in the Southwestern United States, many wonder about the impact of global climate change on more frequent and longer dry spells. As humans emit more carbon dioxide ... read more

Researchers Unravel Process for the Formation of Rainstorms

Aug. 29, 2016 — Violent thunderstorms can often cause torrential rain, which pose a threat for both humans and the infrastructure. Until now such extreme weather phenomena have been very poorly understood. However, ... read more

A Better Way to Predict the Weather on Sea and Over Land

Aug. 26, 2016 — Scientists have made new updates to old technology that will enable weather forecasters to make improved predictions of severe ... read more

More to Rainbows Than Meets the Eye

Aug. 25, 2016 — In-depth review charts the scientific understanding of rainbows and highlights the many practical applications of this fascinating interaction between light, liquid and ... read more

Saving Irrigation Water With Superabsorbent Polymers

Aug. 25, 2016 — Soil conditioners called superabsorbent polymers have the potential to reduce irrigation needs for agricultural crops by storing water and nutrients and then releasing them in drought conditions, ... read more

X-Raying the Earth With Waves from Stormy Weather 'Bombs'

Aug. 25, 2016 — Using a detection network based in Japan, scientists have uncovered a rare type of deep-earth tremor that they attribute to a distant North Atlantic storm called a 'weather bomb.' The ... read more

Thursday, September 15, 2016