Climate Point: SoCal tropical storm is yet another 2023 disaster
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. From muddy Palm Springs, I'm Janet Wilson.
Veteran National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Tardy strode the slippery, boulder-strewn Whitewater River channel here this week, and reported on video that Tropical Storm Hilary had unleashed huge amounts of water from all directions onto steep area mountains — not just those that typically see precipitation. The rain fell so hard and so fast, he said, "The (Interstate) 10 got jumped last night by the Whitewater River."
The rain, combined with mud and debris that roared down the river bed, inundated national parks, downtown Los Angeles, roads and scores of homes across Southern California Also affected: an elder care facility where residents spent the night trapped. They were rescued three-at-a-time in a giant earthmover bucket, as Desert Sun photographer Taya Gray chronicled.
“It’s not something I have ever done in my 34 years as a firefighter,” said the local fire chief of the rescue.
This summer, it seems we're lurching from one disaster to another. Extreme rainfall, tornadoes and hail have helped set a record pace for $1 billion disasters in the United States through early August, even before the Maui wildfires and Hurricane Hilary, report Janet Loehrke and Dinah Voyles Pulver for Paste BN.
At least 15 weather disasters have caused more than $1 billion in damage to date this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Taken together, the disasters exceed $39.7 billion, "A warming planet means that we need to be prepared for the impacts of climate change that are happening here and now," said Sarah Kapnick, NOAA's chief scientist.
Hurricanes, heat waves and flash floods have always occurred during the late summer, but scientists have predicted for decades that they would grow more fierce as we continue to pile heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. It takes time to calculate links between global warming and specific events, but we're all increasingly likely to experience a bumpy ride.
'Searing, oppressive and dangerous'
That's how the National Weather Service describes the current, potentially record-smashing heat wave affecting millions of Americans in the central and southeastern U.S., writes Paste BN's Doyle Rice. Temperature readings are expected to break numerous daily and potentially monthly records over the next few days, the weather service said. "Take the heat seriously and avoid extended time outdoors," they warned.
Not sure what the difference is between heat stroke and heat exhaustion? Need tips to stay cool and safe? Here's a handy graphic explainer to help.
Read on for more coverage of the environment from across the Paste BN Network, including how your lungs can get a "sunburn," a new wind project approved off Rhode Island, the benefits of bats in your garden, and how planes and drones penetrate monster storms. For stories requiring a subscription, sign up and get access to all eNewspapers in the Paste BN network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here.