Climate

Experts offered plenty of advice about ways to make the disaster-recovery process work. Here’s what to do and what to avoid.

Firefighters carry heavy packs along rugged slopes to calm fast-moving fires, and sweltering weather is compounding already dangerous work

• Life as a roofer in Florida’s sweltering heat: ‘It feels like 120F’
• Life as California warehouse worker: ‘Products matter more than people’
  

After 20 years fighting flames for the US Forest Service, the fire captain Abel Martinez has pretty much seen it all.

His lungs are scarred from the smouldering car tires and scorched homes that fed billowing flames alongside highways, through parched canyons, or over treetops in the Angeles national forest, the mountainous wilderness where he works in southern California. Whether it’s a dry year or a wet one, the decades on the job have taught him that every fire season is likely to be a busy one.

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Rescuers search for missing after huge volumes of rain fall in area around Jablanica and Konjic, causing sudden flooding

Rescue teams are searching for survivors after flash floods and landslides hit parts of Bosnia, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more.

Construction machines worked to remove piles of rocks and debris covering the central town of Jablanica after the rainstorm early on Friday.

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City officials have refused to provide estimates of when the devastated water system in Asheville, N.C., will be back in operation.

The Middle East crisis, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Femen activists in Kyiv and Paris fashion week: the last seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

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Republican-led states and industry groups argued that the Environmental Protection Agency had moved too fast and imposed onerous regulations.

Firms such as Smallhold have lessons to be learned on what business can – and can’t – do in transforming agriculture

When Andrew Carter and Adam DeMartino started their business Smallhold in 2017, they set out with a simple vision they thought could have a big impact: feed people mushrooms.

“Mushrooms are one of the most sustainable calories on the planet, in every aspect,” Carter said, whether you’re looking at water, waste, plastic use or greenhouse gas emissions. “We just wanted to get more people eating them.”

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A severe overnight rainstorm left several towns and villages flooded. Record summer temperatures caused a drought that hampered the absorption of floodwaters.

Exclusive: Broadcaster joins board of Climate Emergency Fund and says there needs to be new ways of pushing for change

Climate activists need to stop blocking roads and start holding fossil fuel executives personally to account, Chris Packham has said, after being appointed to the board of one of the biggest activist funds in the world.

The naturalist and broadcaster is the first non-US-based director of the Climate Emergency Fund, which has given almost $15m (£11.4m) to activists taking part in non-violent civil disobedience around the world since 2019.

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Behind the violence of extreme weather is that of the fossil fuel industry, and Americans are suffering for it

The weather we used to have shaped the behavior of the water we used to have – how much and when it rained, how dry it got, when and how slowly the snow in the heights melted, what fell as rain and fell as snow. Climate chaos is changing all that, breaking the patterns, delivering water in torrents unprecedented in recorded history or withholding it to create epic droughts, while heat-and-drought-parched soil, grasslands and forests create ideal conditions for mega-wildfires.

Water in the right time and quantity is a blessing; in the wrong ones it’s a scourge and a destroying force, as we’ve seen recently with floods around the world. In the vice-presidential debate, Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, noted that his state’s farmers “know climate change is real. They’ve seen 500-year droughts, 500-year floods, back to back.” Farmers around the world are dealing with flood, drought and unseasonable weather that impacts their ability to produce food and protect soil.

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The term has recently begun taking root in popular culture and policy.

Analysis of satellite data finds plant cover has increased more than tenfold over the last few decades

Plant cover across the Antarctic peninsula has soared more than tenfold over the last few decades, as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent.

Analysis of satellite data found there was less than one sq kilometre of vegetation in 1986 but there was almost 12km2 of green cover by 2021. The spread of the plants, mostly mosses, has accelerated since 2016, the researchers found.

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Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same

Political leaders “walking the talk” on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a “crucial missing link” in fighting global heating, according to a study.

Researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same. The finding, by psychologists in the UK, was not a given, as green action by high-profile people can sometimes be dismissed as virtue-signalling.

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Who was behind a national campaign to ban geoengineering? One reporter went down a few rabbit holes to find out.

Revitalising the country’s industrial heartlands and creating decent, well-paid jobs is at the heart of our mission

• Rachel Reeves is the chancellor of the exchequer

Three months ago, the British people voted for change. For a Britain that works for working people again, with an economy that is growing, an NHS that is fixed and more money in people’s pockets.

I am determined to deliver that change. But I know it can only happen if we bring investment back to Britain. Investment that can reignite Britain’s industrial heartlands to create good jobs in the industries of the future – like wind power and solar. And this includes carbon capture and storage. That’s why today we have announced up to £21.7bn of funding over 25 years to launch this major new industry for our country in a new era for clean-energy investment and jobs.

Rachel Reeves is chancellor of the exchequer

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In our new weekly series, we’re covering the vast amount of investment, ingenuity and scientific expertise going toward stopping climate change.

The National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, N.C., sweep together data from around the world to help track Earth’s warming.

Sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in from 2020 to 2050 due to climate crisis, scientists warn

Floods affecting much of the south-east US show the destructive force of higher sea levels and warmer temperatures. Now, researchers at the non-profit Climate Central are using artificial intelligence to predict how climate-related flooding will affect US communities into the next 75 years if warming continues at its current pace.

Previous research has shown that by 2050, sea levels along the US coastline could rise as much as 12in (30cm) from 2020 levels. High-tide flooding, which can occur even in sunny weather, is projected to triple by 2050, and so-called 100-year floods may soon become annual occurrences in New England.

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Hurricane Helene has left an 800-mile path of destruction across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky. Right now, people are desperately waiting to hear from loved ones to confirm their safety, while others are living their worst fears as the death toll rises.

My heart is heavy. The grief of yet another climate-changed event is overwhelming. I am writing this post to share how this disaster has affected people I care about and to share resources for folks looking to support organizations on the ground helping survivors access critical food, water, and shelter (see list below).

Alongside the incredible mutual aid efforts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must coordinate and support equitable recovery efforts, and Congress should provide robust funding for the agency to do its job to help communities get back on their feet.    

What happened

Last Thursday, Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified to a Category 4 storm before making landfall in Florida. Schools in Kentucky, where I live, and Indiana announced closures for Friday, September 27 in anticipation of the storm.  

That’s right—schools closed in Kentucky for a hurricane.  

The image (below) from the National Weather Service suggested that the storm would make a straight shot toward Kentucky as it progressed inland. I feared strong winds, spin-up tornadoes, downed trees, and power outages. I’m living in the new tornado alley, and we’ve had damaging winds and storms more often lately—so it made sense to be prepared for severe weather. 

US National Weather Service (NWS)

While my power went out for a few minutes and flickered off a few times throughout the day, it was much calmer in Louisville than I anticipated. Several counties in eastern Kentucky declared states of emergency due to wind damage, power outages, and flooding. Personally, I was relieved to finally hear from my relatives in Greenville County, South Carolina confirming they were safe. Though, my cousin and his baby had a scary close call—they were only a few feet away inside their house when a tree crashed down on their deck. 

Photo provided by the author

The aftermath of Helene is proving the worst of what we imagine in the face of climate change. I asked my colleague, Dr. Marc Alessi, an atmospheric scientist, about the hurricane. Here’s what Marc had to say: 

“Helene was an example of what hurricanes will look more like in the future. With ocean surface temperatures more than 2 degrees Celsius above normal in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, Helene was able to rapidly intensify to a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall in Florida. Helene was well forecasted by the National Hurricane Center, which accurately predicted its rapid intensification and extreme rainfall amounts in southern Appalachia.  

“Despite the warning, Helene’s torrential rain and winds brought devastation to western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western Virginia, and eastern Kentucky. Some areas received over 2 feet of rain in a short time period, breaking rainfall records for most areas in southern Appalachia. Rivers crested above record levels set by The Great Flood of 1916, which brought similar devastation to the Asheville, NC region. According to a provisional rapid attribution study human-caused climate change may explain up to 50% of Helene’s record-breaking rainfall amounts. Needless to say, this storm is of historic proportions and will be remembered by folks in this region for decades to come.” 

Given the warming ocean surface temperatures, rapid intensification of hurricanes is happening more often. That means that, because of climate change, we need to be prepared for more destructive storms like Helene.

“It’s imperative that local, state, and federal policymakers and emergency planners help keep communities safe by prioritizing investments to get homes, businesses, and infrastructure in frontline communities climate-ready and be prepared to ensure a quick and just recovery should disaster strike. Reining in heat-trapping emissions driving the climate crisis is also essential,” Dr. Astrid Caldas, senior climate scientist for community resilience, says.

How you can help 

The road to recovery will be long, and it is important to get money to folks on the ground to assist those impacted directly. Here is a short, not exhaustive, list that some of my Southeast colleagues and I have pulled together of organizations we know, love, and trust. Please consider donating and sharing this information on social media. 

• The Southeast Climate and Energy Network: UCS is a member organization of SCEN. Donations should be tagged with “Helene.”  

• The Appalachia Funder’s Network has launched the Appalachian Helene Response Fund. Donations will be received through the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and channeled directly to areas of greatest need in the region. 

• Appalachian Voices: our union siblings (UCS United and Appalachian Voices Workers Union are both represented by the Progressive Workers Union), has a list of resources for ways to give, for folks seeking shelter, for finding missing loved ones, and more.  

FEMA has additional information, including how to be aware of scams during disaster response. And, if you or someone you know is experiencing distress, please reach out for help from the Disaster Distress Helpline. Call or text: 1-800-985-5990. 

Photo provided by author What’s next?

I consider myself lucky to work every day with my colleagues and folks around the country to build community resilience to climate change. At the same time, there is so much more we need to do to keep the people and places we love safe. It can be demoralizing when fossil fuel companies’ interests seem valued over human lives, and it’s infuriating when elected officials fail to do the right thing.

What is happening now, from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the mountains of Appalachia, is our reality. It is the reason we must continue to push forward, demanding a wide-scale switch to clean and renewable energy and holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the harm that burning their products is causing.  

No matter what, we must be here for each other. Let’s support those in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene now and let’s commit to advocating for communities to get the investments they need before the next storm.   

As the Line fire exploded, dense smoke made it difficult to breathe and heat became ‘intolerable’, but work carried on

• Life as a roofer in Florida’s sweltering heat: ‘It feels like 120F’

Uncontrolled wildfires ripped across southern California amid a startling late summer heatwave this month, shrouding the region in thick, dark smoke as temperatures climbed past 110F (43.3C).

But Cynthia Ayala, a ramp agent at one of Amazon’s largest air freight hubs, had to report to work anyway.

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