Links

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/longest-red-tide-bloom-in-over-a-decade-kills-hundreds-of-marine-mammals-along-floridas-west-coast/70005653
Aug. 2, 2018
Worst red tide bloom in over a decade kills hundreds of marine mammals along Florida's west coast
The ongoing toxic algae bloom is considered to be the longest red tide outbreak for the Gulf of Mexico in over a decade, and officials say it will most likely last until 2019.
High concentrations of toxic algae, known as blooms, have affected at least 120 miles of the peninsula’s Gulf of Mexico coast since November 2017.
Officials say nearly 300 sea turtles have died because of the toxic bloom. Pelicans, manatees and a whale shark have also washed ashore since this unprecedented bloom started.
Not only does red tide affect marine life, but it also poses health risks to beachgoers along the west coast of Florida.
Red tide blooms produce toxic chemicals that can affect both marine organisms and humans. The Florida red tide organism, known as K. brevis, produces brevetoxins that can affect the central nervous system of fish and other vertebrates, causing these animals to die.
Wave action can break open K. brevis cells and release these toxins into the air, leading to respiratory irritation.
For people with severe or chronic respiratory conditions, such as emphysema or asthma, red tide can cause serious illness.


https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/deadly-flooding-displaces-nearly-150-000-in-myanmar-heavy-rain-to-persist-into-next-week/70005668
Aug. 2, 2018
Recent monsoon downpours have caused significant flooding across Myanmar, killing at least 12 people and displacing nearly 150,000 others.
Flooding will remain a major concern into next week as the heaviest monsoon rainfall remains centered across Myanmar, Bangladesh and northeast India.


https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-carr-fire-destroys-over-1-000-homes-in-redding-california-area-mendocino-complex-fires-threaten-over-12-000-homes/70005649
Minimal relief is on the way for California firefighters battling several massive wildfires that have set large swaths of the state ablaze.
As of Wednesday evening, the deadly Carr Fire in Shasta County had burned over 125,000 acres and was 35 percent contained. It first ignited July 23 following the mechanical failure of a vehicle.
Six people have died in the fire, including two firefighters.
The blaze has destroyed 1,060 residential structures while damaging over 186, according to Cal Fire. Sections of several neighborhoods in the city of Redding were completely lost. Over 2,500 structures remain threatened.
On Thursday, July 26 a fire whirl caused damage that was equal to that of an EF 3 tornado with winds in excess of 143 mph.
Farther south in Mendocino County, the River Fire and Ranch Fire were combined into the Mendocino Complex. Both blazes, which began July 27, are threatening more than 12,000 residents in Lake and Mendocino counties. Fourteen residences have been destroyed.
Nearly 2,000 firefighters have been assigned to the blaze, which is 39 percent contained and has burned over 110,000 acres.


https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/flooding-rainfall-to-threaten-eastern-us-through-the-end-of-the-week/70005663
Aug. 2, 2018
More torrential downpours will swamp the Appalachians and are forecast to push to the Atlantic coast into the start of the weekend.
Flooding will continue to be a major concern. Expect low-lying and poor drainage flooding to occur first during periods of heavy rainfall.
"With more heavy rainfall ahead, additional flash flooding along streams and creeks will be likely through the end of the week," warned AccuWeather Meteorologist Kyle Elliot.
"Through Friday, areas hit repeatedly by drenching downpours may receive an additional 4-8 inches of rain," Elliott said.


https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article215880020.html
Aug. 2, 2018
Beleaguered firefighters across the U.S. are being pushed to their limits battling wildfires that have broken out in rapid succession across the West. They’ll soon get reinforcements – from the other side of the globe.
Nearly 150 specialists from Australia and New Zealand are being deployed this weekend to provide assistance to American firefighters, the National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday. The 146 firefighters are veterans with experience in fire management and strategy, and will help firefighting units around the country, NIFC spokeswoman Carrie Bilbao said.
The U.S. request for international aid was triggered when the NIFC reached “preparedness level five” on July 27, Bilbao said, signifying that the vast majority of American firefighting units are occupied fighting wildfires.
More than 26,000 people are engaged in wildland firefighting activities across the nation, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday. There are at least 13,000 firefighters battling to control the 19 active blazes across California, according to the Associated Press.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/drought-brings-big-worries-farmers-across-northern-europe-n896096
Aug. 1, 2018
Brown is the color of summer in northern Europe this year.
Fields that are usually covered in lush green grass have now turned to dust, trees are shedding their leaves and animals eating dry hay or grain instead of grazing in pastures.
Farmers in around a dozen countries — from Ireland to the Baltics — are grappling with a once-in-a-generation drought. The unrelenting heat wave has devastated crops, with more than half of the harvest expected to be lost in some areas.
The extreme weather comes as no surprise to scientists or to farmers, who say they are on the front line of climate change.


https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a22454576/climate-change-internet-damage/
July 19, 2018
How Climate Change Could Break the Internet
A new look at sea-level rise projections discovered a threat to coastal internet infrastructure that may come much sooner than expected.
Fiber buried on land is not armored and rubber clad like the deep-sea cables that connect the continents. Instead, conduit on land is often sheathed in PVC tubes with jelly surrounding the fibers. They are water- and weather-resistant, but not designed to be submerged. Some of this infrastructure is more than 20 years old.
“It's not clear what will happen when those points are inundated,” Barford says. “The bottom line is that these points are not meant to be surrounded by or under water so steps will need to be taken.”
As the climate warms, frozen slopes will thaw and landslides and avalanches may become a greater hazard to deep-sea fiber, says Hermann Fritz, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Even when the landslide halts, currents suspend ground rock and carry it in a turbidity current that’s like an underwater dust storm.
Turbidity currents broke telegraph cables after Grand Banks, Fritz points out. One method of clocking the speed of turbidity currents is by analyzing the cables it breaks along its path.
“We’re extremely dependent on technology but at the same time it’s also quite vulnerable to any kind of environmental or climate change issues,” Fritz says.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-middle-class-is-slowly-being-wiped-out-2018-07-23?mod=mw_share_facebook
July 23, 2018
America’s middle class is slowly being ‘wiped out’
In her book, author Quart lays out how America’s middle class is being wiped out by the cost of living far outpacing salaries while a slew of traditionally secure professions — like teaching — can no longer guarantee a stable enough income to clothe and feed a family.
“Middle-class life is now 30% more expensive than it was 20 years ago,” Quart writes, citing the costs of housing, education, health care and child care in particular. “In some cases the cost of daily life over the last 20 years has doubled.”
In one of her book’s many striking findings, Quart writes that according to a Pew study, “Before the 2008 crash, only one-quarter of Americans viewed themselves as lower class or lower-middle class. No longer. After the recession of 2008 ...a full 40% of Americans viewed themselves as being at the bottom of the pyramid.”
One of the book’s main messages, therefore, is that people finding it impossible to make ends meet shouldn’t blame themselves. It’s the system, she says, that’s broken.
The problems have surprised many by reaching into the middle and upper-middle classes. The only people doing well in this economy, writes Quart, are the already wealthy, and our massive levels of income inequality are a significant factor.
However we dig our way out — and especially if we don’t — Quart wants those who are struggling financially to realize that more and more people are in the same boat.