Latest news with #Noaa
India Today
4 days ago
- Science
- India Today
Solar storm calming after hammering Earth's magnetic field overnight
The mega solar storm that struck Earth is subsiding and the radiation is calming down after battering the planet's magnetic field halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) struck Earth on the intervening nights of June 1 and June 2, 2025 sparking a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm.A halo CME is an eruption of solar plasma and magnetic field that appears to form a halo around the Sun when it is moving directly along the line of sight—either toward or away from Earth. If it's Earth-directed, it can have serious effects on technology and Experts have already dubbed it one of the biggest space weather events of Solar Cycle 25."There are indications that the coronal mass ejection (CME) passage is weakening, but the solar wind conditions remain elevated, therefore additional periods of G3-G4 (Strong-Severe) levels remain possible. However, we now anticipate that conditions should weaken enough by tomorrow evening, June 2nd (EDT), that G1 (Minor) storm levels are the most likely peak response," the Space Weather Prediction Center under National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) source of this solar eruption is Sunspot 4100, which erupted in dramatic fashion on May satellites detected an M8.2-class solar flare that lasted more than three hours, an unusually long and powerful event. While technically just shy of the X-class threshold, the flare's slow, sustained energy release provided ample force to launch a massive CME from the Sun's geomagnetic storm has triggered auroras in several parts of the world."Auroras occur when charged particles from the Sun collide with Earth's magnetic field. These particles are usually directed toward the north and south poles, but during more intense solar events—like the one expected soon—the auroras can extend much farther from the poles, becoming visible in regions closer to the equator."Experts are also hopeful that the auroras could be visible in parts of Ladakh, Watch
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump cuts will lead to more deaths in disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary'
The Trump administration's sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost lives in the US, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned. Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. 'The overall risk of threats and hazards occurring in the US has increased since this administration took over, while the capacity of our emergency management system is being diminished,' said Montano in an interview. 'Emergency managers will be operating blindly without the data that we have become accustomed to from Noaa and other science agencies. It's what we rely on to issue warnings and evacuation orders, and pre-position resources. It is really scary because we used to not have good weather data – and death tolls were remarkably higher. 'It is difficult to know if it will be the next hurricane where the response completely fails or three hurricanes from now. But I feel confident in saying that if the cuts continue, we will be seeing higher death tolls and more devastation, absolutely. It's beyond crazy that we are eliminating the funding for these agencies particularly at this moment where hazards are increasing because of climate change,' Montano said. Emergency management involves mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery from all sorts of disasters including Covid and other major disease outbreaks, as well as floods, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and explosions. Fema works closely with state and local government agencies to provide resources, coordination, technical expertise, leadership and communication with the public. Since returning to the White House, Trump has threatened to disband Fema, frequently belittling the agency amid its ongoing efforts to help communities devastated by the Los Angeles wildfires and Hurricane Helene, the category 4 storm that left at least 230 people dead in southern Appalachia. 'What happened with Helene was horrible, so much devastation and so many lives were lost. I don't want to minimize that, but it's also really important for people to understand that Helene could have been so much worse,' Montano said. 'There could have been a death toll into the thousands, if it were not for accurate forecasting, if it were not for Fema mobilizing and resources flowing as quickly and effectively as they did.' With the start of the hurricane and tornado season just days away, Fema's preparedness plans and billions of dollars in disaster assistance and grants have stalled. Reports suggest that more than a third of Fema's permanent full-time workforce has been fired or accepted buyouts, including some of its most experienced and knowledgable leaders who coordinate disaster responses – which can involve multiple federal agencies for months or years. About 75% of the agency's workforce are on-call or reservists whose contracts may not be renewed, internal memos suggest. 'There's already been a brain drain from Fema. We simply will not have the people to respond to a major disaster like Helene, but they're also going to run into problems responding to multiple smaller disasters – fires, floods, storms that happen around the country simultaneously, which with the climate crisis are becoming more common. The administration has lit the world's premier emergency-management agency on fire,' said Montano. Under Trump, Fema has so far denied federal assistance for tornadoes in Arkansas, flooding in West Virginia and a windstorm in Washington state. It also has refused North Carolina's request for an extension of federal relief, as recovery efforts from Helene continue. Pulling back resources will have an immediate impact on individual households and communities, many of whom voted for Trump. Somewhat harder to measure is the impact of shrinking Fema and the National Weather Service on messaging, a key element of emergency management that was already challenging amid mounting misinformation and disinformation about extreme weather, Covid, measles and even Fema itself. 'Effective communication rests on trust and I do not know how the American public can trust a single thing that this administration says and that extends to Fema,' Montano said, 'where they put in an acting administrator [Cameron Hamilton] who himself was spreading disinformation about the agency during Hurricane Helene.' Hamilton amplified false claims by Trump and Musk that Fema had spent disaster aid on immigrants and blocked help to North Carolina. Said Montano: 'In a communication ecosystem where there's already so much confusion, we have now lost Fema as a generally reliable source. It's difficult to see how people are going to get accurate information in major disasters, let alone deal with the complicated recovery process after … It's incredible, but every phase, every aspect of emergency management has been under assault in Trump's first 100 days … 'And while cuts to HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] and USAID are most important for preventing disease outbreaks, everything being done to the emergency management system is also making us less prepared for the next pandemic.' Noaa's workforce and budget are also being shrunk, with the agency's National Weather Service (NWS) and climate research among the worst hit. Trump's policy blueprint, Project 2025, called for Noaa to 'be broken up and downsized', claiming the agency is a driver of the 'climate change alarm industry'. Trump and his billionaire donor Elon Musk are also trying to dismantle AmeriCorps, the federal volunteer service that plays an important role in disaster recovery, as well as expelling immigrants who make up the majority of the disaster workforce. The cuts to Fema, Noaa, the NWS and other agencies involved in disaster prevention make little economic sense. For every dollar the federal government spends on mitigation, it saves at least $6 of taxpayer money in response and recovery. 'The National Weather Service and emergency management are really clear examples of where you need the government to function because it just isn't something that the private sector is going to be interested in and can't profit off,' said Montano. Most disaster mitigation or prevention happens behind the scenes, a complex process involving testing, standards, expertise and enforcement, which rarely generates scrutiny unless something goes wrong. 'The reason I feel so sure that we're going to see increasing death tolls from storms and other disasters is because the public – and many in this administration – perhaps do not understand the complexity of risk mitigation happening across federal agencies, which prevents these bigger disasters from happening,' said Montano. For instance, the 1972 Clean Water Act represents a massive ongoing mitigation project, according to Montano, which, along with other key environmental protection laws, is now under assault: 'With the erosion of those regulations, risks will go unmitigated and have the potential to turn into disaster. We are setting ourselves up for more water-related health crises, more Flints.' Related: Trump signs order to shift disaster preparations from Fema to state and local governments The impact of federal cuts will depend in part on to what extent state and local governments fill federal funding gaps. Historically, investment in emergency management to prevent future potential disasters has rarely been a political priority. 'Community organizing is going to be really critical here, to make sure there is pressure from local and state officials to pick up some of the slack. But, some of these are outside of the bounds of what a single state can do on their own, which is why we have federal regulations to begin with,' Montano said. Montano also believes Trump could still be forced to roll back some of his rollbacks, if there is pushback from the courts and voters. She said: 'I don't think they're done dismantling Fema, but the biggest wild card here is what and where disasters happen over the next several months – and the politics of that. The climate crisis is here, and these disasters are not stopping.' Fema was created by Jimmy Carter in 1979, and it is in need of reform amid increasingly destructive climate-fueled disasters, an overcomplicated applications process, and growing calls for improved state and local emergency management capacity. 'Our emergency management system was good in many ways, but major changes were needed. Now, we need to be focusing on creating a better system that is more effective, efficient and equitable, so that we're ready when some kind of reasonable sanity returns,' Montano said.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
US faces another summer of extreme heat as fears rise over Trump cuts
This year's summer months promise to be among the hottest on record across the United States, continuing a worsening trend of extreme weather, and amid concern over the impacts of Trump administration cuts to key agencies. The extreme heat could be widespread and unrelenting: only far northern Alaska may escape unusually warm temperatures from June through August, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Indeed, summer-like weather has already begun for many parts of the country. Related: Trump pick for workplace safety agency sparks fears heat protections will be derailed In International Falls, Minnesota – the self-proclaimed 'icebox of the nation' – temperatures in the 90s arrived in early May, more than a month before the earliest previously known occurrence. A hundred miles south, the hot and dry weather helped fanned early-season wildfires burn out of control, forcing Governor Tim Walz to call in the national guard. Across the western US, the latest Noaa update reports that a lack of springtime precipitation and very warm temperatures means this winter's ample snowpack is rapidly melting – raising the threat of summertime drought and wildfires. Drier than normal weather has also intensified ongoing drought in Florida and the mid-Atlantic states. Meanwhile, experts fear widespread cuts to staff and reduced funding for federal science, forecasting resources, and disaster response agencies will hamper efforts to keep people safe. In Texas, where Donald Trump's 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) cuts have left the Houston office of the National Weather Service critically understaffed and without any permanent leadership, a record-setting heat continues to intensify and another busy hurricane season is looming. A mid-May heatwave in the Rio Grande Valley briefly made the region hotter than Death Valley. Federal science agencies such as Noaa are now operating at reduced capacity despite the outsized weather threats. Hundreds of meteorologists have left the National Weather Service in recent months, and several offices, including Houston, have had to scale back the services they provide. Related: Texas swelters as record-breaking heatwave sweeps across state That's left state and local officials, university staff and non-profits to try to take charge of public outreach on heat and other extreme weather. Climate scientist Sylvia Dee and her colleagues at Rice University in Houston describe excessive heat as a kind of 'slow violence' that compounds other public health threats, like air pollution and preexisting health conditions. 'There's just so many things that center around heat stress.' 'Extreme heat can hijack our brain's ability to think clearly,' said Adrienne Heinz, a clinical research psychologist at Stanford University. 'Those executive functions like decision-making and inhibition and sequencing tasks, they all become harder. It becomes like walking through mud. It affects your ability to learn if you're a student or your ability to perform if you're an employee. It doesn't leave anything untouched, really.' According to Noaa, excessive heat is already the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, and getting worse. A 2024 study found that the number of heat-related deaths in the US have risen 117% since 1999. For vulnerable populations, such as migrants, prisoners or schoolchildren in under-cooled buildings, the burden of rising temperatures is compounded. 'I feel like Houston is ground zero for climate change,' said Dee. 'I think there's some level of frustration amongst us because, you know, we have been living through these conditions for many years.' The oppressive summer forecast continues a worrying trend fueled by global warming: across the country extreme weather has increasingly become a life-threatening emergency. We're going to have more people in harm's way. We're very overwhelmed and trying desperately to sound the alarm Sylvia Dee, climate scientist 'We're going to have more people in harm's way. The exposure of Houstonians to weather and climate disasters will only increase,' said Dee. 'We're very overwhelmed and trying desperately to sound the alarm.' Indeed, extreme heat can have 'cascading impacts' throughout society, said Heinz. 'These prolonged heat waves affect sleep, the cornerstone of our mental health,' said Heinz. 'Our ability to weather adversity and emotionally regulate is compromised when we're not getting good sleep.' This year's added political uncertainty brings questions on the ability of federal staff to predict, prepare, and respond to heat emergencies and other extreme weather, though for now, weather forecasts continue to be issued. 'It's pretty scary. Summers are only getting hotter, and wildfire seasons have been getting longer and more intense for years,' said a climate scientist with the Department of Energy who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. 'These disruptions to federal science infrastructure and emergency response capacity come at the worst possible time.' After years of lobbying from frontline groups, the Biden administration instituted a first-ever set of national guidelines to protect vulnerable workers from the rising threat of extreme heat. Related: 'A ruthless agenda': charting 100 days of Trump's onslaught on the environment However, there are concerns Trump's pick to lead workplace safety could undo that progress. That means efforts to prepare and plan for this year's weather and climate extremes will likely fall on local leaders. Over the past year, several heat-prone cities such as Tucson, Arizona, and states including California and Nevada have passed local regulations and ordinances designed to boost planning efforts to combat extreme heat. 'With the health, safety, and economic impacts of extreme weather increasing, mayors know that inaction is not an option,' said Mandy Ikert, the head of climate resilience with C40, an international group of cities working together on climate issues. 'Cities are taking a broad range of approaches to help their residents stay safe during heat season, including investing in cooling centers, increased communication to residents, and new policies to make buildings and the people inside them safer.' Even forward-thinking cities have struggled to keep up with the weather: an internal report from the city of Austin, Texas, showed that local efforts to adapt to higher temperatures have been persistently underfunded.
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
US faces another summer of extreme heat as fears rise over Trump cuts
This year's summer months promise to be among the hottest on record across the United States, continuing a worsening trend of extreme weather, and amid concern over the impacts of Trump administration cuts to key agencies. The extreme heat could be widespread and unrelenting: only far northern Alaska may escape unusually warm temperatures from June through August, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Indeed, summer-like weather has already begun for many parts of the country. In International Falls, Minnesota – the self-proclaimed 'icebox of the nation' – temperatures in the 90s arrived in early May, more than a month before the earliest previously known occurrence. A hundred miles south, the hot and dry weather helped fanned early-season wildfires burn out of control, forcing Governor Tim Walz to call in the national guard. Across the western US, the latest Noaa update reports that a lack of springtime precipitation and very warm temperatures means this winter's ample snowpack is rapidly melting – raising the threat of summertime drought and wildfires. Drier than normal weather has also intensified ongoing drought in Florida and the mid-Atlantic states. Meanwhile, experts fear widespread cuts to staff and reduced funding for federal science, forecasting resources, and disaster response agencies will hamper efforts to keep people safe. In Texas, where Donald Trump's 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) cuts have left the Houston office of the National Weather Service critically understaffed and without any permanent leadership, a record-setting heat continues to intensify and another busy hurricane season is looming. A mid-May heatwave in the Rio Grande Valley briefly made the region hotter than Death Valley. Federal science agencies such as Noaa are now operating at reduced capacity despite the outsized weather threats. Hundreds of meteorologists have left the National Weather Service in recent months, and several offices, including Houston, have had to scale back the services they provide. That's left state and local officials, university staff and non-profits to try to take charge of public outreach on heat and other extreme weather. Climate scientist Sylvia Dee and her colleagues at Rice University in Houston describe excessive heat as a kind of 'slow violence' that compounds other public health threats, like air pollution and preexisting health conditions. 'There's just so many things that center around heat stress.' 'Extreme heat can hijack our brain's ability to think clearly,' said Adrienne Heinz, a clinical research psychologist at Stanford University. 'Those executive functions like decision-making and inhibition and sequencing tasks, they all become harder. It becomes like walking through mud. It affects your ability to learn if you're a student or your ability to perform if you're an employee. It doesn't leave anything untouched, really.' According to Noaa, excessive heat is already the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, and getting worse. A 2024 study found that the number of heat-related deaths in the US have risen 117% since 1999. For vulnerable populations, such as migrants, prisoners or schoolchildren in under-cooled buildings, the burden of rising temperatures is compounded. 'I feel like Houston is ground zero for climate change,' said Dee. 'I think there's some level of frustration amongst us because, you know, we have been living through these conditions for many years.' The oppressive summer forecast continues a worrying trend fueled by global warming: across the country extreme weather has increasingly become a life-threatening emergency. 'We're going to have more people in harm's way. The exposure of Houstonians to weather and climate disasters will only increase,' said Dee. 'We're very overwhelmed and trying desperately to sound the alarm.' Indeed, extreme heat can have 'cascading impacts' throughout society, said Heinz. 'These prolonged heat waves affect sleep, the cornerstone of our mental health,' said Heinz. 'Our ability to weather adversity and emotionally regulate is compromised when we're not getting good sleep.' This year's added political uncertainty brings questions on the ability of federal staff to predict, prepare, and respond to heat emergencies and other extreme weather, though for now, weather forecasts continue to be issued. 'It's pretty scary. Summers are only getting hotter, and wildfire seasons have been getting longer and more intense for years,' said a climate scientist with the Department of Energy who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. 'These disruptions to federal science infrastructure and emergency response capacity come at the worst possible time.' After years of lobbying from frontline groups, the Biden administration instituted a first-ever set of national guidelines to protect vulnerable workers from the rising threat of extreme heat. However, there are concerns Trump's pick to lead workplace safety could undo that progress. That means efforts to prepare and plan for this year's weather and climate extremes will likely fall on local leaders. Over the past year, several heat-prone cities such as Tucson, Arizona, and states including California and Nevada have passed local regulations and ordinances designed to boost planning efforts to combat extreme heat. 'With the health, safety, and economic impacts of extreme weather increasing, mayors know that inaction is not an option,' said Mandy Ikert, the head of climate resilience with C40, an international group of cities working together on climate issues. 'Cities are taking a broad range of approaches to help their residents stay safe during heat season, including investing in cooling centers, increased communication to residents, and new policies to make buildings and the people inside them safer.' Even forward-thinking cities have struggled to keep up with the weather: an internal report from the city of Austin, Texas, showed that local efforts to adapt to higher temperatures have been persistently underfunded.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Florida's annual Lionfish Challenge offers rewards for removal of invasive species
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 10th annual lionfish challenge kicks off this week - an event that aims to encourage and reward recreational and commercial divers to remove lionfish from Florida waters. According to the Noaa, lionfish are invasive species that threaten the well-being of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. Lionfish are native to coral reefs in the tropical waters of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The free-to-enter event has caught over one million lionfish since starting in 2014, says the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The summer-long event starts Saturday and runs through Sept. 14. Organizers hope a tiered prize system, depending on how many fish you catch or their combined weight, will encourage continued harvest throughout the summer. 'Harvest Lionfish, Win Prizes:' Florida's Lionfish Challenge Is On For Amateurs And Pros Tier 1- Harvest 25 lionfish (recreational category) or 50 lbs. of lionfish (commercial category): Dryfit tournament shirt and 2025 challenge coin. Tier 2- Harvest 75 lionfish (recreational category) or 150 lbs. of lionfish (commercial category): Neritic pole spear, gloves, and T-shirt. Tier 3- Harvest 150 lionfish (recreational category) or 300 lbs. of lionfish (commercial category): Zookeeper lionfish containment unit, Zookeeper heat pack, and dive knife. Tier 4- Harvest 300 lionfish (recreational category) or 600 lbs. of lionfish (commercial category): Akona Georgian dive bag. Tier 5- Harvest 600 lionfish (recreational category) or 900 lbs. of lionfish (commercial category): Cressi Leonardo dive computer. According to the FWC, those who reach tier one will also receive a challenge coin, which allows the harvester to keep one extra spiny lobster each day during the 2025 Sport Season (July 30 and 31). Coins from the previous year are invalid. Divers Remove 31,773 Venomous Fish From Florida's Reefs In Record-breaking Challenge The NOAA says that lionfish spines produce a venomous sting that can last for days and cause extreme pain, sweating, respiratory distress, and even paralysis. Once stripped of its venomous spines and cleaned and filleted like any other fish, the lionfish can make a delicious article source: Florida's annual Lionfish Challenge offers rewards for removal of invasive species
