Climate And Environment

Maui County says the number of confirmed deaths from the wildfires on the island has risen to 96. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says he expects the number of victims to rise. In a video update released Sunday, Green says there were 2,700 structures destroyed in Lahaina with an estimated loss of $5.6 billion in the wildfires. Green says FEMA is overseeing the federal response in Hawaii with 416 personnel including FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. He says President Joe Biden has “authorized the full force of the federal government in support of us.”

Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds have burned multiple structures, forced evacuations and caused power outages in several communities. Firefighters have struggled to reach some areas cut off by downed trees and power lines. Some homes have been evacuated on Maui and the Big Island and Hawaii's acting governor has issued an emergency proclamation. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Dora passing to the south of the island chain is partly to blame for strong gusts that toppled power lines and grounded fire-fighting helicopters. Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes Tuesday concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region.

Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving young people have given Pope Francis a raucous welcome to the World Youth Day festival in Portugal’s capital. In a display of enthusiasm not seen since the early years of Francis’ decade-old papacy, teenagers and young adults thronged a downtown Lisbon park for the opening ceremony of the Catholic jamboree. Pilgrims ran alongside as his popemobile made languid loops through the crowd and a smiling Francis basked in their cheers. Organizers estimated some 500,000 pilgrims attended the World Youth Day opening ceremony on Thursday. Earlier in the day, he urged university students to use the privilege of their educations to protect the environment and fight economic injustice. Francis encouraged the students t

Firefighters aided by rain have made progress fighting a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and is threatening the region’s famous spiky Joshua trees. Fire officials say a brief, heavy downpour Tuesday afternoon helped limit the spread of the York Fire. As of Wednesday morning, it was 34% contained after roaring through California's massive Mojave National Preserve and crossing into Nevada. It's California's largest fire this year. However, some Joshua trees have burned. Experts say the trees — which grow only in the Mojave Desert — are unlikely to regrow if they are scorched. Firefighters are working to contain the fire without disrupting the fragile ecosystem.

China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days as remnants of Typhoon Doksuri deluged the region, turning streets into canals where emergency crews used rubber boats to rescue stranded residents. The city recorded 29.3 inches of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning. Chinese authorities say the torrential rains around Beijing destroyed roads, knocked out power and left at least 21 people dead and 26 missing. Thousands were evacuated to shelters in schools and other public buildings in suburban Beijing and in nearby cities. It’s unknown how many people are trapped in flood-stricken areas in the city and surrounding villages.

Floriana Peroni’s vintage clothing store had to close for a week during Europe’s heat wave last month. A truck of rented generators blocked her door as they fed power to the central Roman neighborhood hit by a blackout as temperatures surged. The main culprit was air conditioning. Peroni does not have AC either in her home or in her shop. She is like many Romans. The Italian capital once could count on a Mediterranean breeze to bring down nighttime temperatures. But that has become an intermittent relief at best. Peroni says Europeans tend to tolerate the heat and shun air conditioning. But that is starting to change.

A record 31-day streak in Phoenix of daily highs of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit has ended as the dangerous heat wave that suffocated the Southwest throughout July starts abating with cooling monsoon rains. The historic heat began blasting the lower Southwest in June, and stretched from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. The large desert city of Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more and longer than most of the region, with several records including longest string of consecutive days with highs at or above 110 degrees. That streak was finally broken Monday, when the high topped out at 108 at 3:10 p.m.

Parts of the U.S. are continuing to sizzle as July creeps toward setting a record for the hottest month ever recorded. Phoenix led the way Sunday, hitting its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or 43.3 Celsius. The National Weather Service says the temperature climbed to a high of 111 Fahrenheit before the day was through. Some slight relief may be on the way as seasonal thunderstorms could drop temperatures in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile in California, a massive wildfire burning out of control in the Mojave National Preserve spread rapidly amid erratic winds. Firefighters to the south reported progress against another major blaze that prompted evacuations.

A massive wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave National Preserve is spreading rapidly amid erratic winds. Meanwhile, firefighters reported progress Sunday against another major blaze to the southwest that prompted evacuations. The York Fire that erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the preserve was sending up a huge plume of smoke visible across the state line in Nevada. Flames have charred more than 110 square miles of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland. To the southwest, the Bonny Fire was holding steady at about 3.4 square miles in rugged hills of Riverside County. More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate Saturday.

Nearly 200 million people in the United States, or 60% of the U.S. population, are under a heat advisory or flood warning or watch and have been since Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Dangerous heat is forecast to “engulf” much of the eastern half of the United States Friday as extreme temperatures spread from the Midwest into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic where some residents will see their hottest temperatures of the year.

With heat waves spreading across the United States, President Joe Biden has announced new steps to protect workers, improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible. These actions come as as nearly 40% of the U.S. population faces heat advisories. High temperatures have already scorched the Southwest this month, and more heat is expected in the Midwest and the Northeast in the coming days. Biden directed the Labor Department to increase inspections of potentially dangerous workplaces such as farms and construction sites and called for heightened enforcement of heat safety violations. The department will issue a hazard alert notifying employers and employees about ways to stay protected from extreme heat.

Major fires raging in Greece and other European countries have advanced. The flames have caused additional deaths, destroying homes and threatening nature reserves during a third successive wave of extreme temperatures. The summer wildfires have struck countries across the region. The European Union to expand its support, sending two Spanish firefighting planes to Tunisia after wildfires in neighboring Algeria left at least 34 people dead in recent days.

Longtime Phoenix residents know that sweltering Julys are to be expected, but no one could have predicted the brutal heat wave that has enveloped the country’s fifth largest city this summer. Phoenix this month shattered its record for consecutive days in which the temperature reached at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit, standing at 26 days and counting as of Tuesday, when the forecast called for a high of 118. The record was likely to grow Wednesday, with a high of 119 degrees expected. A bit of relief might be on the horizon, though. The National Weather Service says Phoenix is expected to have its first high below 110 degrees on Monday along with some monsoon rains.

A third successive heat wave in Greece pushed temperatures back above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of the country following more nighttime evacuations from fires that have raged out of control for days. The latest evacuations orders were issued on the islands of Corfu and Evia. A blaze on the island of Rhodes continued to move inland on Tuesday. The flames torched mountainous forest areas including part of a nature reserve. European Union officials blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires across the European continent. They noted that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017.

A 2019 study suggested planting trees to suck up heat-trapping carbon dioxide could be an effective way to fight climate change.