catastrophes
Theta Is 29th Named Storm in 2020, Breaking 2005 Record
With the naming of Subtropical Storm Theta this week, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season surpassed 2005 as the busiest season ever recorded. Theta is the 29th named storm of hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. There were 28 named storms in 2005: 21-named from an official alphabetical list used by the …
Venezuela’s Food Chain Is Breaking, and Millions Go Hungry
Ana Nuñez, a 62-year-old retired municipal worker in western Venezuela, says her meals often consist of just a few corn-flour pancakes, known as arepas. Even when she has money to buy groceries in the city of Maracaibo’s teeming flea market, she said that “instead of quality food they sell garbage, like animal hides and rotten …
California Wildfires Rage Despite Break in Heat Wave
VACAVILLE, Calif.—Firefighters took advantage of a break in extreme heat wave conditions to gain more control over numerous wildfires that have prompted evacuations and blanketed wide swaths of the state in smoke. Still, many of the major fires in and around the San Francisco Bay Area are no more than 7% contained, according to the …
Scientists Discover New Evidence of the Asteroid That Killed Off the Dinosaurs
Drilling into the seafloor off Mexico, scientists have extracted a unique geologic record of the single worst day in the history of life on Earth, when a city-sized asteroid smashed into the planet 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and three-quarters of all other life. Their analysis of these new rock samples from …
Europe’s Winemakers Break With Tradition as Temperatures Rise
PARIS—Volatile summer weather in Europe, including the record-breaking heat waves that recently scorched the continent, is wreaking havoc on wine country. Temperatures rose to an unprecedented high of 115 degrees in parts of France, causing grapes to ripen before their acidity fully developed, a crucial part of any wine’s flavor profile. This summer’s drought followed …
