Hurricane Helene’s Storm Surge Will Be ‘Unsurvivable’

Current conditions: Torrential rain in Mumbai brought flooding that killed at least four people • Tornado warnings are in effect for parts of Florida as Hurricane Helene nears • Tropical Storm John is expected to become a hurricane again and slam into Mexico for a second time.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Hurricane Helene to bring ‘unsurvivable’ storm surge

Hurricane Helene is strengthening into a major storm as it moves toward Florida’s Big Bend region and is expected to strike this evening, bringing catastrophic winds up to 156 miles per hour and “unsurvivable” storm surge. “You cannot survive 20 feet or even 15 feet of storm surge,” said Tampa Bay meteorologist Jeff Berardelli. “If you’re near the water and you know you’re going to flood, especially if you're in a mobile home, too. You’ve got to go. You cannot take your chances. This is not survivable.”

NOAA/NWS

The storm will likely weaken after it makes landfall but will continue to bring strong winds and heavy rain to southeastern states. Some areas could see up to 18 inches. “This rainfall will likely result in catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding, along with significant river flooding,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Numerous landslides are expected in steep terrain across the southern Appalachians.” The storm is being fed by exceptionally warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

2. Biden launches Environmental Justice Climate Corps

The Biden administration yesterday announced the creation of an Environmental Justice Climate Corps, which “aims to recruit participants from communities disproportionately impacted by environmental justice challenges and seeks to recruit individuals with an interest in environmental justice careers.” The corps is a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps’ anti-poverty program. Corps members will receive a living allowance and expenses reimbursement equivalent to earning $25 per hour. The program will recruit 250 members over three years, and applications will open early next year.

“Low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the most severe harms of climate change – whether that’s air pollution, extreme temperatures, or flooding,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps. “Through this groundbreaking partnership with EPA, we will target resources to underserved communities where they are needed most, while putting hundreds of young people from those communities on a path to environmental justice careers.”

3. Azerbaijan’s ‘insufficient’ climate progress scrutinized ahead of COP

The host country of this year’s COP29 climate summit, Azerbaijan, will pay for negotiators from small island nations to attend in November, according to Reuters. A senior COP29 official told the outlet that Baku will foot the bill for four delegates from every small island developing state (SIDS), including travel and hotel fees. Roughly 40 SIDS are expected to participate in the negotiations. Reuters reported that some delegates have complained in recent years about exorbitant accomodation costs around COPs.

Meanwhile, the independent scientific group Climate Action Tracker said Azerbaijan’s own climate progress remains “critically insufficient.” The country is an oil and gas producer and was among a handful of nations that weakened emissions targets last year. “Azerbaijan’s emissions are projected to continue rising by about 20% through to 2030, and it has no commitment to a net zero target,” the CAT report said. The group recommended that Azerbaijan set stronger targets, prioritize renewables over emissions mitigation from oil and gas, and develop a plan for ditching fossil fuels.

4. Carbon capture and storage vault to be inaugurated in Norway

A major carbon capture and storage project will be inaugurated today in Norway. The Northern Lights Project, a joint venture between oil giants Equinor Shell, and TotalEnergies will take liquified CO2 that has been captured from European industrial activities and store it “in geological layers buried at approximately 2,600 meters below the seabed in the Northern North Sea.” The goal is to store 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year starting in 2024, scaling up to 10 million tons by 2030. The International Energy Agency estimates global CCS operations would need to scale up to 1 billion metric tons by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Current capacity sits at about 50 million metric tons.

5. Study suggests forests in Northeast may be more resilient to climate change than previously thought

The results of a new study may provide some good news for forests across America’s Northeast. The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, suggests the trees’ carbon storage capabilities remain stable even while temperatures are rising and the soil becomes more acidic due to nitrogen enrichment from burning fossil fuels. Previous studies have indicated that carbon storage declines in these conditions. But what makes this research different is that it looked at the effects of both conditions together, rather than separately. “What is most exciting about this study is that it’s one of the longest-running experiments to look at two global change pressures instead of just focusing on one,” said Melissa Knorr, a lab research supervisor in the University of New Hampshire’s College of Life Sciences and Agriculture and one of the study’s authors. The researchers say that these combined conditions seem to increase root turnover for the trees, helping maintain soil carbon levels. “The study offers insights that could inform conservation strategies to enhance carbon sequestration and preserve forest health across the Northeast,” Knorr said.

THE KICKER

It can take as little as three seconds for playground equipment heated in direct sunlight on a hot day to burn a child’s skin.