Posted on 2 September 2019 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Hurricane Dorian is a powerful Category 4 hurricane — pummeling the Bahamas and heading “dangerously close” to Florida

A worst-case scenario is playing out the Bahamas. Florida and the Southeast US may be spared the worst. But uncertainties remain.

Hurricane Dorian on September 2. NOAA/NESDIS/STAR

On Monday, Hurricane Dorian slammed into the Abacos Islands in the Bahamas as an incredibly powerful Category 5 hurricane, with howling winds in excess of 185 mph and with gusts up to 220 mph. The storm brought with it a surge — coastal flooding — of 18-to-23 feet above normal tide.

Dorian is estimated to be the second-most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, and ties the record for the most powerful storm to make landfall, according to the National Weather Service. Preliminary reports from the Abacos Islands show extreme devastation.

The storm weakened slightly and was (very slowly) moving through Grand Bahama Island on Monday, with winds gusting over 200 mph and 18 to 23 feet of coastal flooding. Plus, the forward motion of the storm nearly stalled, moving west at just 1 mph. The slower a storm moves, the more time it has to destroy communities in its path. It’s a worst-case scenario for a hurricane.

Hurricane Dorian is a powerful Category 4 hurricane — pummeling the Bahamas and heading "dangerously close" to Florida by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 2, 2019

Click here to access the entire article as posted on Vox. 

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Sun Aug 25, 2019

• Macron: ‘All G7 powers must help Brazil fight raging Amazon fires’ by Angelique Chrisafis & Heather Stewart, World, Observer/Guardian, Aug 24, 2019
• A Month Ahead of Global Climate Strike, Thousands Pledge to Attend Rallies Across Planet to 'Turn Up the Political Heat' and Demand Action by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Aug 20, 2019
• There is no silver lining': why Alaska fires are a glimpse of our climate future by Elizabeth Harball, Cities, Guardian, Aug 23, 2019
• US Set to Blow Other Countries Away With 'Staggering' Scale of New Oil and Gas Production by Andre Germanos,Common Dreams, Aug 21, 2019
• Climate scientists may not be the best communicators of climate threats by Risa Palm & Toby W Bolsen, The Conversation US, Aug 21, 2019
• David Koch Was the Ultimate Climate Change Denier, Opinion by Christopher Leonard, New York Times, Aug 23, 2019
• G7 can’t turn a blind eye to ecocide in the Amazon by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Observer/Guardian, Aug 25, 2019
• EXPLAINER-Why are the Amazon fires sparking a crisis for Brazil - and the world? by Jake Spring, Reuters, Aug 25, 2019

Mon Aug 26, 2019

• It’s not just Brazil’s Amazon rainforest that’s ablaze – Bolivian fires are threatening people and wildlife by Claire FR Wordley, The Conversation UK, Aug 23, 2019
• Photos: major wildfires have ignited across Europe, Asia, and Latin America by Umair Irfan and Kainaz Amaria, Energy & Environment, Vox, Aug 22, 2019
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• Donald Trump's story on skipping the G7 climate meeting makes no sense, Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN, Aug 26, 2019
• G7 to release emergency aid for Amazon forest fire crisis by Crispian Balmer & Marine Pennetier, Reuters, Aug 26, 2019
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• Amazon fires are destructive, but they aren’t depleting Earth’s oxygen supply by Scott Denning, The Conversation US, Aug 26, 2019

Tue Aug 27, 2019

• Climate change is altering winter precipitation across the Northern Hemisphere by David Hosansky, NCAR & UCAR News, Aug 26, 2019
• Interfaith group pledges to use religion’s influence to address climate change, poverty by Eric J Lyman, Religious New Service, Aug 26, 2019
• Brazil officials failed to act after warning of 'fire day’ in Amazon, prosecutors say by Dom Phillips, World, Guardian, Aug 26, 2019
• What Does '12 Years to Act on Climate Change' (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Aug 27, 2019
• Dorian Growing More Organized as it Heads for Puerto Rico by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, Aug 27, 2019
• With New Business Roundtable Statement, Are 200 CEOs Stuck in Yesterday’s Corporate Sustainability? by Kevin Moss & Eliot Metzger, World Resources Institute, Aug 22, 2019
• The Glimmer of a Climate New World Order by David Wallace-Wells, Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Aug 26, 2019

Wed Aug 28, 2019

• Brazil’s Bolsonaro on the Environment, in His Own Words by Mariana Simões, World, New York Times, Aug 27, 2019
• Acid oceans are shrinking plankton, fuelling faster climate change by Katherina Petrou & Daniel Nielsen, The Conversation AU, Aug 27, 2019
• 'If A Kid Says Help, You Help': Adults Urged to Join Upcoming Global Climate Strike by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Aug 27, 2019
• IPCC's land report showed we're entering an era of damage control by Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science, Aug 26, 2019
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• How should we talk about what’s happening to our planet? by Dan Zak, Style, Washington Post, Aug 27, 2019
• Why the Amazon doesn’t really produce 20% of the world’s oxygen by Katarina Zimmer, Environment, National Graphic, Aug 28, 2019

Thu Aug 29, 2019

• Why the Arctic is smouldering by Zoe Cormier, Future, BBC News, Aug 27, 2019
• New Elevation Measure Shows Climate Change Could Quickly Swamp the Mekong Delta by Charles Schmidt, Scientific American, Aug 28, 2019
• Greta Thunberg 'wants a concrete plan, not just nice words' to fight climate crisis by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Aug 29, 2019
• Hurricane Dorian forecast to reach Florida as a Category 4 storm on Labor Day by Jason Hanna, Madeline Holcombe & Paul P. Murphy, CNN, Aug 29, 2019
• The Misogyny of Climate Deniers by Martin Gelin, The New Republic, Aug 28, 2019
• Welcome to the US, Greta. With your help we can save the planet and ourselves, Opinion by Rebecca Solnit, Comment is Free, Guardian, Aug 29, 2019
• Climate crisis: Rising sea levels and catastrophic storm surges could displace 280m people, UN warns by Harry Cockburn, Environment, Independent, Aug 29, 2019
• The Amazon, Siberia, Indonesia: A World of Fire by Kendra Pierre-Louis, New York Times, Aug 28, 2019

Fri Aug 30, 2019

• Fracking may be a bigger climate problem than we thought by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Aug 29, 2019
• Why it's premature to declare coal dead by Karen Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Aug 28, 2019
• Hurricane Dorian could hit during King Tide, and Miami is preparing to flood by Alex Harris & Joey Flechas, Weather, Miami Herald, Aug 30, 2019
• Hurricane Dorian could impact the 'entirety of Florida' when it makes landfall as a monster storm by Madeline Holcombe, Rosa Flores & Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, Aug 30, 2019
• China CO2 emission targets at risk from U.S. trade war - official by Muyu Xu & David Stanway, Reuters, Aug 30, 2019
• Hundreds of young people join Greta Thunberg in climate protest outside UN by Miranda Bryant, Environment, Guardian, Aug 30, 2019
• Worst of wildfires still to come’ despite Brazil claiming crisis is under control by Tom Phillips, World, Guardian, Aug 28, 2019
• A teachable moment: educators must join students in demanding climate justice, Opinion by Jonathan Isham & Lee Smithey, Comment is Free, Guardian, Aug 30, 2019

Sat Aug 31, 2019

[On Vacation]