CLIMATE CHANGE

 Axios - Climate change strengthened the maximum wind speeds of Atlantic hurricanes by an average of 18 mph during the past five years, a new study published today shows....

A hurricane that reaches high-end Category 2 intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, would have a damage potential that is 21 times greater than that of a 75 mph Category 1 storm, according to NOAA.

Meteorologist Kerry Emanuel, who invented the metric of maximum potential intensity and has studied it intensively, told Axios he would be more cautious about attributing so much of the temperature increase in the North Atlantic Basin to human-driven climate change. He noted, as does the study, that other factors at work on a regional level — such as declining air pollution from North America — may be partly or largely to blame for the trends found.In an email to Axios, he cautioned against pinning most of the explanation on increasing greenhouse gases, saying they "may have played a minor role."  More

Guardian - Eight times as many children around the world will be exposed to extreme heatwaves in the 2050s, and three times as many will face river floods compared with the 2000s if current trends continue, according to the UN.Nearly twice as many children are also expected to face wildfires, with many more living through droughts and tropical cyclones, according to the annual state of the world’s children report.Globally, greater numbers of children will live through extreme climate and environmental crises in the 2050s, but with significant regional variation. The greatest increases in children experiencing extreme heatwaves are expected in east and south Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, and north, west and central Africa. River floods are expected to affect children in the same areas, as well as east Africa and the Pacific.