Laura went from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours, sending coastal residents scrambling to prepare. Hurricanes Harvey and Michael exploded in strength in similar ways.
Disaster preparation and evacuation procedures weren’t made for social distancing. The pandemic means response decisions are now fraught with contradictions.
From June through October, it’s not unusual for huge Saharan dust plumes to blow across the Atlantic. They can darken skies but also bring calmer weather and electric sunsets. Here’s how they form.
Extreme weather events prompt people to move, a trend that could accelerate in a warming climate. But the ability to migrate internally in the US depends largely on economic status.
If the forecasts are right, the US could be facing more natural disasters this year – on top of the coronavirus pandemic. Local governments aren’t prepared.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, people are stockpiling essential supplies. But policy-makers may be able to influence both the supply and demand through public announcements and advisories.
Michael Beck, University of California, Santa Cruz and Pelayo Menéndez, University of California, Santa Cruz
A new study estimates that mangroves prevent over $65 billion in damage from coastal storms every year, and says mangrove protection should be funded in the same way as infrastructure like seawalls.
Government agencies have detailed plans for responding to disasters, like the Dec. 10-11, 2021 tornados. But one issue doesn’t get enough attention: cleaning up the mess left behind.
It’s now officially the end of hurricane season, but the rebuilding of the Bahamas continues, slowed by the risks imposed by a history of colonialism and class division.
Some Californians want to ban people from living in wildfire-prone areas. Behavioral economics offers a less heavy-handed approach to reducing the costs and risks.
Hans Paerl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
As climate change speeds up tropical storm cycles, rivers and bays have less time to process nutrients and pollutants that wash into them after each event.
Big storms with lots of flooding, like hurricanes Dorian and Maria, actually restore the Caribbean’s delicate balance between native and nonnative fish species, new research finds.
Social media make it easier to push information out quickly during disasters, but also create challenges for public information officers, who have to judge which reports are credible enough to share.
The usual way we calculate the economic damage of natural disasters underestimates their true toll – which is key to understanding the costs of climate change.