Climate Change
Rare cyclone batters Brisbane and Australia’s Gold Coast
Over the weekend, residents of Brisbane, Australia, were bracing for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The storm was downgraded to a tropical low, and made landfall on the mainland on Saturday. It was the first storm of its kind in the area in 51 years. The city is further south of where tropical cyclones typically hit, and scientists say climate change is playing a role in increasing extreme weather events around the world.
Worsened by climate change, Morocco’s 7-year drought threatens food stability
Across much of North Africa, a punishing drought is now entering its seventh year. In Morocco, wheat, a staple of people’s diet, is withering. Livestock are dying. Scientists say climate change is making the normally dry region much drier, and that things will worsen as global temperatures continue to rise.
Firefighters test out new tool as Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands burn
Record-setting wildfires are raging in the Pantanal region in Brazil. In a densely vegetated rural area the size of England, it can be hard for firefighters to find and reach the blazes to combat them. That’s why one nonprofit is training local fighters to use drones to pinpoint the exact location and size of fires, and scope out roads to reach them.
‘This is a whale nursery’: The Day of the Right Whale in southern Brazil
In Brazil, it’s the Day of the Baleia Franca, or Right Whale. It’s one of the largest whale species on the planet. They grow to about 60 feet or one and a half times the size of a school bus. It’s also endangered. But conservation efforts are having an impact.