Louisiana Braces for Tropical Storm Francine

Current conditions: A year’s worth of rain fell in just two days in southern Morocco • A single dropped Cheetos bag disrupted the delicate ecosystem of a large cave at New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park • It will be about 75 degrees Fahrenheit and clear this evening in Philadelphia, where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will take the stage for the first 2024 presidential debate.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Louisiana braces for Francine

A hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the Louisiana coast as Tropical Storm Francine approaches. The storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane today and make landfall in Louisiana tomorrow. It could bring 10 feet of storm surge and up to 12 inches of rain, triggering flash floods in the state, as well as in Texas and Mississippi. Several towns along the Louisiana coast have issued evacuation orders. Oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico are evacuating their staff from offshore platforms. The storm follows a similar path to that of Hurricane Beryl, which knocked out power to millions of Texans for days. The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which peaks today, has been less active in recent weeks than forecasters had expected despite incredibly warm ocean temperatures. Some meteorologists worry climate change is making it harder to make long-term hurricane predictions.

NOAA

2. Fervo says enhanced geothermal well test showed ‘record-breaking commercial flow rates’

The enhanced geothermal startup Fervo said today that it had “achieved record-breaking commercial flow rates,” a measure of how much water can move through an enhanced geothermal system, at its Utah site, Cape Station. According to Fervo’s announcement, the project generated 10 megawatts over a 30-day test, which substantially outpaces targets set for enhanced geothermal energy as far out as 2035. The Cape Station site is scheduled to have 400 megawatts of capacity by 2028, with power beginning to flow to customers – including Southern California Edison, which this summer contracted with Fervo for 320 megawatts over 15 years – in 2026. Fervo also announced that it had raised $100 million from X-Caliber Rural Capital for the project.

Enhanced geothermal borrows fracking techniques from oil and gas drilling, pumping fluid underground to create or expand fissures in hot rocks, thus creating the hot fluid necessary for geothermal energy production. This process could vastly expand the potential for generating geothermal energy beyond existing pools of underground hot water and steam. In February, the company announced it had reduced its drilling time by 70% in the past year, a key step to making the process more economical.

3. Lawmakers say fossil fuel companies won’t cooperate in Trump ‘quid pro quo’ investigation

A group of Democratic lawmakers said oil and gas companies have not been cooperating with a congressional investigation into an alleged “quid pro quo” offer from former President Donald Trump, according to Bloomberg. The probe is looking into an April meeting at Mar-a-Lago where Trump reportedly offered to roll back environmental rules as a favor to fossil fuel companies in exchange for $1 billion in donations to his 2024 presidential campaign. In letters made public today, leaders of the Senate budget and finance panels and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said companies including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, and others had given “woefully inadequate” responses to inquiries in the investigation.

4. Report finds climate change is disrupting education world wide

Since 2022, more than 400 million students across the globe have missed school because of extreme weather linked to the climate crisis, according to a report from the World Bank. The problem is especially acute in low-income countries, where children miss 18 school days each year on average because of events like drought, floods, and extreme heat. That’s compared to 2.4 days lost each year in wealthier nations. The report points to the link between education and overall awareness of the climate crisis and its causes. It finds that education makes people more climate aware, more adaptive, more likely to engage in pro-climate behavior, and more likely to change mindsets in their communities with conversations around climate change. And of course, it says education is essential for training people in the skills needed for the green transition. The analysis calls for governments to invest in helping schools adapt, and says such efforts could cost as little as $18.51 per student.

5. Cities make their own stormy weather, research suggests

The built-up environments of cities affect the local weather, according to a new study. Specifically, the research found that urban areas receive more rain in a year than surrounding rural landscapes, and this effect is stronger in cities that are hotter, more populated, and more polluted. “Cities can make a storm on steroids,” Dev Niyogi, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the study’s authors, toldBloomberg. About 70% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. The new findings can help inform urban planners as they look for ways to upgrade infrastructure in a changing climate.

THE KICKER

A 10-year-old in 2024 will experience 36 times more heat waves over the span of their life compared to a 10-year-old in 1970.