6 northern European nations sign a deal to protect North Sea infrastructure from hostile actors
Six northern Europe countries bordering the North Sea have signed an agreement to work together to protect underwater infrastructure in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean from an increased risk of sabotage.
Ocean system that moves heat gets closer to collapse, which could cause weather chaos, study says
An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic Ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a โcliff-likeโ tipping point looming in the future.
A Spanish official says spotter planes are helping curtail the number of West African migrant boats
A senior Spanish official says the deployment of two Spanish surveillance planes to watch for migrant boats heading on the treacherous route from West Africa to Spainโs Canary Islands has enabled authorities to stop 59 canoes from Senegal and Gambia.
Drought vs deluge: Florida's unusual rainfall totals either too little or too much on each coast
In Florida, this year has been a tale of two states as far as rainfall totals, with the southeast coast deluged by sometimes-record rainfall and much of the Gulf coast facing a major precipitation deficit.
Environmental groups reject deep-sea mining as key UN meeting looms
Environmental groups are urging a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of an international meeting in Jamaica where an obscure U.N. body will debate the issue amid fears it could soon authorize the worldโs first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor.
Here comes El Nino: It's early, likely to be big, sloppy and add even more heat to a warming world
After months of gradually warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, NOAA officially issued an El Nino advisory Thursday and stated that this one might be different than the others.
China blasts US over response to Chinese balloon incursion
The foreign affairs committee of China's ceremonial parliament is accusing American lawmakers of trampling on the sovereignty of other nations after the United States passed a measure condemning a suspected Chinese spy balloon's intrusion into U.S. airspace.
Canary Islands: More than 400 migrants rescued in Atlantic
Spanish rescuers have saved and disembarked more than 400 migrants and asylum seekers to the Canary Islands in the past two days as they attempted to reach the Atlantic Ocean archipelago from West Africa on overcrowded and often unsafe boats.
Tropical storm Elsa, 5th named storm, threatens Caribbean
Officials in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are warning people to plan for possible evacuations as the tiny islands hit recently by massive volcanic eruptions prepares for potential flooding and landslides from Tropical Storm Elsa, which was whirling toward the eastern Caribbean.
Spain's foreign minister visits Senegal to discuss migration
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)DAKAR โ Spainโs foreign minister met Sunday with Senegal's president in the West African countryโs capital Sunday to discuss the sudden increase of Senegalese migrants attempting to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzรกlez Laya met with President Macky Sall in Dakar to discuss migration and border cooperation between Spain, the European Union and Senegal. Human rights groups have been warning about the reopening of the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands since late 2019, when arrivals began increasing slowly. He participated in the meeting between Spain's foreign minister and Senegalese counterpart Aรฏssata Tall Sall. Sarr said they would work with Spain to increase legal ways for Senegalese to work in Europe, including circular migration programs.
Spain in diplomatic push over migrant flow to Canary Islands
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)MADRID โ The Spanish government is ratcheting up its response to the steady build-up of migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands from Africa, including a fresh diplomatic offensive. Moroccans have been the most numerous among recent migrant arrivals to the Spanish archipelago, whose nearest islands lie around 70 miles (110 kms) west of the north African nation. Around half of those arrivals โand most of the deathsโ have been in the past 30 days, a spike that has strained resources on the Canary Islands. Spanish Transport Minister Josรฉ Luis รbalos, also on the island, pledged more resources to the stretched maritime rescue services. The IOM's Spain envoy, Marรญa Jesรบs Herrera, who was on a field visit in the islands this week, described the situation as โcritical."
Spain opens 2nd migrant camp on overrun Gran Canaria island
The establishment of a second temporary migrant processing center on the island of Gran Canaria comes amid increasing criticism from local authorities and human rights groups. A pier on the quiet southwest coast of Gran Canaria has become the center of Spainโs ongoing humanitarian crisis. The new camp opening Wednesday will be able to hold 800 people in tents, according to the Interior Ministry. โThe Canary Islands are a powder keg. With at least 493 deaths recorded so far this year, the route to the Canary Islands has seen proportionally more deaths per every arrival than the Central Mediterranean journey from Libya to Italy or Malta.
Migrant arrivals putting pressure on Spain's Canary Islands
African migrants after arriving at the coast of Gran Canaria island, Spain on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean sailing on a wooden boat, a group of 44 migrants arrived at Maspalomas beach. More than half of the 16,000 migrants who arrived this year in the Spanish islands off northwest Africa did so in the last four weeks, a sharp influx worrying international and non-profit organizations. Thatโs compared to around 1,500 arrivals recorded last year in the archipelago, better known for its vacation resorts popular among northern Europeans. The new migrant focus on the perilous Canary Islands route, first seen in 2006, has come as authorities crack down on previously popular passages across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to European Union countries.
Hurricanes stay stronger longer after landfall than in past
(Alexander Gerst/ESA/NASA via AP)Hurricanes are keeping their staying power longer once they make landfall, spreading more inland destruction, according to a new study. Warmer ocean waters from climate change are likely making hurricanes lose power more slowly after landfall, because they act as a reserve fuel tank for moisture, the study found. It found that in the 1960s, hurricanes declined two-thirds in wind strength within 17 hours of landfall. Thereโs less study of what hurricanes do once they make landfall than out at sea, so Chakraborty said he was surprised when he saw a noticeable trend in decay taking longer. But hurricanes arenโt running out of gas as much, especially in the last 25 years when the trend accelerated, Chakraborty said.
New storm Zeta a hurricane threat to Mexico, US Gulf Coast
MIAMI โ Newly formed Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened Sunday in the western Caribbean and will probably become a hurricane before hitting Mexico's resort-dotted Yucatan Peninsula and the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming days. Zeta was the earliest named 27th Atlantic storm recorded in an already historic hurricane season. The system was centered about 300 miles (480 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel island in Mexico at midafternoon, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The government is still handing out aid, including sheet roofing, to Yucatan residents hit by Hurricane Delta and Tropical Storm Gamma earlier this month. The hurricane center said it could make landfall anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
Weakened Hurricane Epsilon moves north over Atlantic Ocean
MIAMI โ A weakened Hurricane Epsilon moved northward Friday over the Atlantic Ocean, a day after after skirting well east of Bermuda. Epsilon's top sustained winds fell Thursday to 85 mph (140 kph), dropping it from a Category 2 to a Category 1 storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. But large ocean swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada during the next couple of days, the hurricane center warned. Earlier in the week, Epsilon had gained 50 mph (80 kph) in wind speed in just 24 hours to become a major hurricane on Wednesday. This year's season has had so many storms that the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names.
Weakened Hurricane Epsilon skirting well east of Bermuda
MIAMI โ A weakened Hurricane Epsilon skirted well east of Bermuda on Thursday night, prompting officials to lift a tropical storm warning for the Atlantic island. The Miami-based center said Epsilon was about 190 miles (300 kilometers) east of Bermuda at 11 p.m as it moved north-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). Forecasters said the storm would track over the Atlantic Ocean well east of the island in coming hours. Earlier in the week, Epsilon had gained 50 mph (80 kph) in wind speed in just 24 hours to become a major hurricane on Wednesday. This year's season has had so many storms that the hurricane center has turned to the Greek alphabet after running out of official names.
Spanish islands struggle with migration surge amid pandemic
While Mediterranean crossings are down this year, arrivals on the Canary islands across a treacherous part of the Atlantic Ocean are up nearly 700% on the year. Beefed-up security in the Mediterranean has reduced migration from Africa to the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands in 2020, with 30% fewer arrivals between January and mid-October compared to a year earlier. But the surge in traffic to the Canary Islands comes at a high cost in human lives. Arguing that they lack enough resources, local and regional officials in the Canary Islands have asked the Spanish government for more help, including the use of two military facilities to process the migrants. Prime Minister Sรกnchez told parliament Wednesday that โwe have to do much moreโ in the Canaries.
US challenges planned expedition to retrieve Titanic's radio
NORFOLK, Va. NORFOLK, Va.The U.S. government will try to stop a company's planned salvage mission to retrieve the Titanics wireless telegraph machine, arguing the expedition would break federal law and a pact with Britain to leave the iconic shipwreck undisturbed. U.S. attorneys filed a legal challenge before a federal judge in Norfolk, Virginia, late Monday. The Atlanta-based salvage firm RMS Titanic Inc., plans to recover the radio equipment from a deck house near the ship's grand staircase. The salvage firm disagrees, arguing that hundreds of years of maritime law firmly puts the wreck into the hands of admiralty court in Norfolk. NOAA seeks to jettison the law of the sea, developed over centuries, the firm argued in legal documents filed earlier this year.
Hurricane season outlook 2020: Not good news - what to know
So it is with a great deal of concern that I share with you this years Atlantic hurricane outlook, and its bad news. Broken down into simple statistics, the NHC outlook calls for a 60% chance for an above average season, a 30% chance for an average season, and only a 10% chance for a below average season. If this outlook pans out, then the 2020 hurricane season will set a record as our fifth consecutive season with above-average hurricane activity. More specifically, the 2020 outlook suggests:13-19 names storms (average is 12)6-10 hurricanes (average is 6)3-6 major hurricanes (average is 3)It is important to emphasize that the outlook only predicts actual storms, and not WHERE they will go. Since wind shear is detrimental to tropical cyclones, neutral or La Nina conditions favor Atlantic hurricane development.
Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes off coast of Puerto Rico
ISABELA, Puerto Rico - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Puerto Rico Monday night, striking off the coast of the island in the Atlantic Ocean. The quake hit about 49 miles north-northwest of Isabela, Puerto Rico, around 11:23 p.m. At least three aftershocks have followed the quake including a magnitude 4.7, USGS said. Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vzquez Garced said in a tweet that there was no damage. There is no threat of tsunami from the quake, according to a tweet from The National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Humberto strengthens to Category 1 hurricane
Humberto reaches hurricane strength as it churns eastward across the Atlantic. FREEPORT, Bahamas - Humberto has been upgraded to a hurricane as it moves further east into the Atlantic Ocean and away from land. The Bahamas dodged the brunt of Humberto as it passed by Saturday with sustained winds around 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm picked up speed as it moved away from the islands and strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of 75 mph, Sunday night, the center said. Hurricane Humberto is about 785 miles west of Bermuda and moving northeast at 3 mph, the hurricane center said late Sunday.
Hurricane Dorian heads to Canada
NOAA's forecast for Hurricane Dorian's path, as of September 6 at 5 a.m. (CNN) - Hurricane Dorian made one final US stop in southeastern Massachusetts on Saturday as it races through the Atlantic Ocean and toward the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Before hurriedly crossing the border, the Category 1 storm is unloading rain and tropical storm force winds in Massachusetts over the weekend followed by hurricane conditions in parts of Nova Scotia. Since Thursday, Dorian has flooded parts of the Carolinas and spawned a number of tornadoes, as well as lashed Virginia with winds and rain. Between 10 and 15 inches of rain fell in parts of North and South Carolina this week, the National Weather Service said.
Hurricane Dorian: What dictates a hurricane's strength?
Another factor the determines a tropical cyclone's strength is wind shear, which is a change in the wind speed (or direction) with height. Tropical systems develop in areas of low wind shear, because this allows those intense thunderstorms near its center to develop vertically. One good way to see if a tropical storm or hurricane is experiencing wind shear is simply to look at the satellite images. But the wind environment in proximity to a hurricane is a key part of the strength forecast. As you can see, there is a LOT that we meteorologists need to consider when discussing with you the anticipated strength of an approaching hurricane.
Teen Activist Greta Thunberg Sets Sail in Zero-Carbon Atlantic Voyage
Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg has set sail from Britain on a trans-Atlantic voyage aboard a solar-powered racing yacht. She was asked if she would meet Trump after she arrives in New York for the Climate Action Summit in September. She answered that she had no faith she could change the president's mind on climate change. Thunberg is taking a year off from school to travel the world warning of the ecological dangers of climate change. RELATED STORIESTeen's Death Inspires Global Pay It Forward MovementPolar Bear Camera Shows Everyday Struggle to Survive Climate ChangeThousands Cheer For Pope Francis as He Addresses Immigration and Climate Change at the White House
On this day: September 2
1998: Swissair Flight 111 from New York City to Geneva, Switzerland, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. All 229 people on board were killed. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's official report stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the crew, resulting in the loss of control and crash of the aircraft. Here the aircraft involved in the accident is seen at Zurich Airport in July 1998. Hide Caption