Latest news with #AndrewFreedman
RNZ News
21-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
This is the summer of flooding across the US, and scientists know why
By Andrew Freedman , CNN A man looks at a damaged road after severe flash flooding that occurred during the July 4 holiday weekend, in Hunt, Texas, on July 6. Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, summer has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution - alongside other compounding factors - has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires and catastrophic flooding. This summer, in particular, has been defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world. It's no accident this is the summer of flooding, climate scientists say, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days. Large parts of the US have seen an unusually humid summer with record amounts of moisture in the air. When cold fronts and other weather systems come along, that moisture can get wrung out, squeezed like a water-laden sponge, yielding heavy and often highly localized downpours. For much of the summer, the atmospheric conditions over the US have funneled humid air north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, UCLA climate researcher Daniel Swain told CNN. This has yielded unusually high levels of moisture at all levels of the atmosphere across the US east of the Rockies, Swain said. It has led to record levels of what meteorologists call precipitable water, which is the amount of rain that would result from instantaneously extracting all the water in the air. This pattern has led to one flash flood after another. Omar Gutierrez, 31, helps clear debris from the inundated dining area of La Salsa Kitchen, a Mexican restaurant, after deadly flash flooding in Ruidoso, New Mexico, July 9. Photo: Paul Ratje/Reuters via CNN Newsource First and foremost, there was the devastating Texas flood that killed more than 130 people on the night of July 4. But flash flood events have been focused elsewhere as well. Three people were killed in a flash flood related to torrential rains falling on a wildfire burn scar in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on July 8. Some major roads in Chicago were suddenly under water when a 1,000-year rainfall event struck in early July. In portions of North Carolina, the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal led to deadly heavy rain and flooding the same weekend as the Texas tragedy . In New York City, water rushed into the subway tunnels when the city saw its second-heaviest rainfall total in one hour on July 14, with widespread flash flooding lasting into the 15th. And this past week, it was Kansas City's turn to flood on July 17. Some of these floods resulted from rainfall that has a return frequency of about 1,000 years, meaning it has just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year. But climate change is loading the dice in favor of extreme precipitation. "When we talk about e.g. '1000 year' events, we're talking about the likelihood of these events in the absence of human-caused warming (i.e. how often we would expect them from natural variability alone)," said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. "These events are of course much more frequent *because* of human-caused warming," he said in an email. But his research has identified other factors, such as persistent large-scale weather patterns known as "atmospheric resonance," that can make extreme weather, including floods, even more likely. Just as sound waves or ocean waves can resonate and reinforce each other, atmospheric resonance can happen to undulating jet stream patterns in the upper atmosphere, resulting in weather systems that stay in place for weeks. A recent study Mann worked on found such weather patterns have tripled in incidence since the mid-20th century during the summer months. The problem is these patterns are "not necessarily well-captured in climate models," he said. This increases uncertainty about future projections for extreme weather trends. The influence of climate change on heavy rainfall is most evident when it comes to short duration extreme events, like what has happened repeatedly this summer, according to Swain. "It is not average precipitation that really is most affected by climate change," Swain said. "It truly is mathematically correct that the more extreme the rain event, the clearer the connection to climate change is." Tropical Storm Chantal flooded central North Carolina with torrential rain, seen here in Chapel Hill on July 7. Photo: Peter Zay/Anadolu/Getty Images via CNN Newsource The physics of how global warming affects heavy precipitation events is well known, according to climate scientist Kate Marvel. "This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts," she told CNN. "The science behind it is so basic you can see it in daily life. Warm water drives more evaporation - the bathroom gets much steamier after a hot bath than a cold one," she said. "Warm air contains more water vapor - a cold beer gets wet on the outside on a hot day, because when air comes into contact with the cooler surface, it has to condense out its water vapor," Marvel said. "Warm ground makes it easier for moist air to balloon upwards - this is why thunderstorms happen on hot summer afternoons. Put these all together, and you get the perfect conditions for torrential rain," said Marvel, author of the new climate book "Human Nature." "Whether a downpour turns into a catastrophic flood depends on a lot of things: how porous the ground is, the topography of the area, the people and things in harm's way. But there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme." - CNN
RNZ News
01-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
The Eiffel Tower is closed to tourists due to heat. Here's why it's happening
By Laura Paddison , Andrew Freedman French authorities put Paris on red alert for extreme heat. Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource A marine heat wave in the Mediterranean Sea is combining with a powerful heat dome to cause Europe to swelter under a brutal early summer heat wave. It's a pattern that's popping up frequently as the planet warms: The influence of Mediterranean marine heat waves has been more pronounced in recent summers, with the ocean heat playing a role in spiking temperatures on land, contributing to deadly floods and stoking devastating fires. Water temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea are up to 9 degrees above average for this time of year amid a significant marine heat wave. The most intense warming is present in the western Mediterranean, including just south of France. This is helping to cause high humidity to surge north and to keep temperatures elevated at night across the heat wave-affected regions. The heat wave, which also involves hot air flowing north from Africa, is also reinforcing the marine heat wave in a feedback cycle. People take advantage of water mist fountains in Valencia, Spain on June 21, 2025, as parts of the country experience a heatwave. Photo: Michaelvia CNN Newsource Temperatures have broken records in Spain and Portugal as swaths of Europe brace for more records to fall through Wednesday as the heat wave intensifies. The town of El Granado in Spain saw temperatures spike to 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, a new national record for June, according to Spain's national meteorological service AEMET. Last month was Spain's hottest June in recorded history, as temperatures "pulverized records," Aemet said Tuesday. In Portugal, a provisional temperature of 46.6 degrees Celsius (115.9 Fahrenheit) was recorded in the city of Mora, about 80 miles east of Lisbon, according to the country's weather service IPMA, which would be a new national record for June. Scorching heat is sweeping almost the entirety of France. Multiple towns and cities endured temperatures above 100 degrees on Monday, according to provisional recordings from Météo France. Wimbledon tennis spectators use handheld fans to cool themselves down during the first round match between Russia's Daniil Medvedev and France's Benjamin Bonzi in London on June 30, 2025. Photo: Isabel Infantes/Reuters via CNN Newsource A red heat wave warning, the highest designation, is in place for 16 French départements Tuesday, including Île-de-France, where Paris is located. The Eiffel Tower summit is closed to tourists Tuesday and Wednesday due to the heat. The United Kingdom is also baking, currently enduring its second heat wave of the summer. Temperatures pushed above 90 degrees on Monday, making for very uncomfortable conditions in a country where fewer than 5 percent of homes have air conditioning. "The current June-July heatwave is exposing millions of Europeans to high heat stress," Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, said in a statement. "The temperatures observed recently are more typical of the months of July and August and tend to only happen a few times each summer." Wildfires are sweeping several countries as the temperatures spike. Fires broke out Sunday in Aude, in the southwest of the country, burning nearly 400 acres. In Turkey, 50,000 people have been evacuated as firefighters tackle fierce blazes mostly in the western Izmir and Manisa provinces. Smoke and flames from wildfires in Seferihisar district of Izmir, Turkiye on June 30, 2025. Photo: Mehmet Emin Menguarslan/Anadolu/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Temperature records are also poised to fall Tuesday and Wednesday in Germany as the heat dome expands east, and before a series of relief-providing cold fronts begin to swing into northwestern Europe from the west. Human-caused climate change is causing heat waves to be more frequent, intense and long-lasting. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. Climate change is also leading to more frequent and intense marine heat waves. - CNN
Axios
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Axios
Louisiana's climate anxiety, mapped
New Orleanians are stressed about climate change, recent estimates find. Why it matters: The rest of Louisiana isn't as anxious. The big picture: 74.1% of adults in New Orleans say they are "somewhat" or "very" worried about climate change, per estimates from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication based on survey data. In Jefferson Parish, it's 64.3% of adults. The national average is 63.3%, with higher anxiety levels in coastal communities and large cities. The findings paint a stark picture of how attitudes toward climate change vary nationwide. Zoom in: About 53% of adults in Louisiana's coastal parishes, which face the brunt of hurricanes and coastal erosion, report feeling anxious about climate change. Cameron Parish had the lowest rate of concern (44.4%), with Jefferson Parish having the highest. Catch up quick: South Louisiana has endured one extreme weather event after another in recent years. Residents have dealt with saltwater intrusion, extreme drought, super fog, flooding, tornadoes and marsh fires. Hurricane Francine made landfall here last year, and the region was battered by Hurricane Ida in 2021. The historic snowfall was magical, but it was a nightmare for the region's infrastructure. What they're saying: While the map above may look like a sea of purple, "it's crucial to remind people that the vast majority of the population exists in some of these green places," says Jennifer Marlon, executive director of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions and senior research scientist at the Yale School of the Environment. Zoom out: A Gallup survey this month showed an uptick in the number of Southerners who have experienced an extreme weather event where they live, writes Axios' Andrew Freedman. 28% of respondents said they experienced a hurricane in the past two years, up from 18% in 2023, the survey showed. Climate change is projected to lead to more frequent occurrences of severe hurricanes (though not more frequent hurricanes overall) and is already showing a tie to increased instances of rapid intensification of storms. Climate change is also causing these massive storms to deliver more rainfall than they used to, leading to inland flooding disasters. How it works: The findings are based on statistical modeling using data from nationally representative Ipsos surveys. Between the lines: Individual attitudes about climate change are not based entirely (or perhaps even primarily) on local risk, with politics, education, and other factors playing big roles.
CNN
21-04-2025
- Climate
- CNN
Andrew Freedman Joins CNN as a Senior Reporter
April 21st, 2025 WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 21, 2025 – Andrew Freedman joins CNN Climate & Weather as a Senior Reporter, the network announced today. Previously, Freedman served as a Senior Climate Reporter with Axios and was an author of the daily Axios Generate newsletter. He covered climate science and policy, extreme weather, and the energy transition. Freedman has also broken multiple key stories on the Trump Administration's plans for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service. Before Axios , Freedman was previously with The Washington Post, where he served as an editor for the Capital Weather Gang. Freedman covered science research and policy, with a focus on climate change, extreme weather, and the environment. He was among the first reporters to popularize the term 'polar vortex' during the infamous East Coast winter of 2013 to 2014. Freedman has also reported for Mashable, Climate Central, and other publications in the past. Freedman has won several awards throughout his extensive career, including an award for Professional Excellence in Climate Reporting from the Association of Foreign Correspondents in the United States in 2024, the National Press Foundation's Innovative Storytelling Award in 2022, and the Society of Environmental Journalists Award for Outstanding Explanatory Storytelling in 2018. Freedman holds a master's in Climate and Society from Columbia University and a master's in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts. Freedman will be based out of CNN's Washington, D.C., bureau.
Axios
08-04-2025
- Climate
- Axios
Indianapolis rainstorms intensify with climate change
Rainstorms are getting more intense in Indianapolis and many other U.S. cities amid human-driven climate change, a new analysis finds. Why it matters: The Indy area is still dealing with damage and flooding caused by severe storms that battered the region last week, including a midweek barrage that produced an EF-1 tornado in Carmel and left tens of thousands without power. Driving the news: Hourly rainfall intensity increased between 1970 and 2024 in nearly 90% of the 144 locations analyzed, per a new report from Climate Central, a research and communications group. Among the cities with an increase, hourly rainfall intensity rose by an average of 15%. Zoom in: Indianapolis saw its hourly rainfall intensity rise by 14.6%. Zoom out: Wichita, Kansas (+38%), Reno, Nevada (+37%) and Fairbanks, Alaska (+37%) had the biggest gains in hourly rainfall intensity, per the analysis. That Reno is in the top three underscores Climate Central's point that rainfall intensity is rising in places that are generally dry, not just those that get at least a decent amount of annual rainfall. How it works: The researchers divided each location's total annual rainfall by its total hours of annual rainfall, using NOAA weather station data. That approach quantifies how much rain fell for each hour it was raining in a given year — in other words, rainfall intensity. Some locations were not included because their stations haven't consistently collected hourly precipitation data. Between the lines: Human-driven climate change is resulting in warmer air, which holds more moisture and thus can drive more intense precipitation. Hotter temperatures also evaporate more water vapor from lakes, oceans and vegetation. Threat level: Flooding costs the U.S. economy up to nearly $500 billion annually, by one estimate, and is creating "climate abandonment" zones as people flee for safer areas, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports. Researchers have also found that predominantly Black coastal communities may be particularly vulnerable to increased flood risk over the coming decades, Climate Central notes. What's next: The group recommends that people stay aware of their area's flooding risks, and suggests homeowners carry flood insurance and improve their home's resiliency against flooding. What we're watching: How hard the next storm will hit Indianapolis. A hazardous weather outlook from the National Weather Service calls for more rounds of heavy rain that could lead to additional flooding or prolong existing flooding.
