While the Pacific Ocean continues to churn out tropical systems, keeping the Hawaiian Islands on alert and creating humid conditions in southern California, a trio of factors have limited storm development in the Atlantic Ocean basin. How long could that last?
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to stories about climate change, energy and the environment. I’m Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent with USA TODAY covering these topics and more.
El Niño is really showing its influence across entire ocean basins on either side of the country. Scientists have learned a lot about the powerful climate phenomenon over the last 40 years, but they’d really like to learn more. They’ve deployed a fleet of Saildrones in the Pacific to help answer some of their questions.
The tropical system drought in the Atlantic set a new record, while the plethora of systems in the Pacific is close to setting a new hurricane season record for Hawaii. Some wonder if the Atlantic could actually go hurricane free.
Summer is coming to an end but the exceptionally hot temperatures and heat indices earned headlines across the country as summer weather records are revealed. One new study concluded dangerous summer conditions are lasting longer. “We found that over more than half of global land areas, extreme heat seasons are expanding significantly,” Casey (Catherine) Ivanovich, a climate scientist at Columbia University and lead author of the new study, told USA TODAY.
In Florida, the National Weather Service concluded 12 counties recorded their hottest August of all time. The state of California also saw its hottest August on record, as did Ventura County, where the overall average temperature was 75.2 degrees, more than six degrees above normal. Officials said the increasing temperatures can affect people’s health, the energy supply and wildfires.
Federal agencies flex rule rollbacks
The Trump administration announced two big steps this week to remove what it has called cumbersome restrictions for business and industry. In Houston, sometimes called the energy capital of the world, the administration announced it would roll back rules restricting greenhouse gas emissions at power plants.
A group of environmental health organizations quickly filed suit. The pollution standards had been projected to save up to $370 billion in climate and public health costs over two decades, and avoid thousands of deaths and asthma attacks, according to the Climate Power advocacy group.
While the American Lung Association and many other environmental groups warned of the dangers to the health of Americans, the administration released comments from a long list of Republican governors and industry leaders who lauded the decision.
The second move drew strong criticism from wildlife advocates across the nation. An internal memo signed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Brian Nesvik offered a reinterpretation of a provision in the Endangered Species Act that governs the “taking” of endangered species.
The memo advances a “sweeping and dangerous reinterpretation” of the Act, the Endangered Species Coalition stated in a news release.
Disease, habitat and other wildlife challenges
A virus outbreak has spurred a “horrendous” deer die-off in Michigan. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, has been seen in Michigan’s wild deer population sporadically in recent years, reports the Detroit Free Press. It’s transmitted through the bite of an infected midge, or biting fly.
A minke whale caught up in entangling fishing gear was rescued off Eastham, Massachusetts. It was the fourth whale rescue offshore this summer, reported the Cape Cod Times. “This majestic minke was weighed down by fishing gear for days before rescuers disentangled the animal,” said Ben Grundy, oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Too many other New England whales have suffered the same torture.”
In North Carolina, a federal proposal that could change protections for North Atlantic right whales and turtles is causing concerns for some. The Trump administration has described the layers of bureaucracy for commercial fishermen as unwieldy and economic drags. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed limitations to some of the rules and regulations fishermen must follow to protect endangered species.
Arizona explores water strategies
Water shortages along the Colorado River basin have pushed government and tribes toward conservation and long-term strategies to resolve the issues and ensure water security.
In Arizona, officials are asking if desalination could be a part of the answer. One place the state could look is a Mexican desalination plant. The state will spend $4.9 million to study the prospect of building a seawater desalination plant in Mexico’s Gulf of California, the state’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority decided.
In yet another strategy move aimed at stretching the water supply, the Colorado River Indian Tribes and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District finalized an agreement on Sept. 11 for the tribes to deliver 9,009 acre-feet of water to the Central Arizona Project.
Energy policies debated
Several key headlines marked energy-related news this week.
At the Revolution Wind project on Rhode Island Sound, construction crews recently installed the final turbine on a $5 billion offshore wind farm. The project had drawn national attention after the Trump administration tried but failed to shut it down. Ørsted, the Danish wind company partnering on the 704-megawatt project with Skyborn Renewables, confirmed that all 65 turbines are now in place at the project, nearing completion about 15 miles south of Little Compton, the Providence Journal reported.
In New Jersey, where a wind power company had backed away from plans to build a wind facility, groups are seeking to renew interest in developing offshore wind. On Martha’s Vineyard, a legal dispute over an 806-megawatt wind project south of Martha’s Vineyard was resolved after a $300-million-plus settlement.
Diesel spill adds fuel to data center debate
After thousands of gallons of diesel fuel spilled into a creek, New Jersey activists reiterated their push for a statewide moratorium on data centers. More than 90 towns across the state have imposed bans on data centers in recent months, according to the Gothamist.
Elsewhere, local governments continued to make key decisions involving the future of data centers. A Florida county approved zoning change to allow data centers. In Georgia, Augusta set rules for data center standards, while in Iowa, a group alleged the true cost of adding data centers is being hidden.
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