Storm Florence death toll climbs to 33 amidst toxic waste leak

Storm Florence has battered North and South Carolina since last Thursday and claimed 33 lives so far. The city of Wilmington was entirely cut off following heavy flooding and more than 340,000 people are without power in N. Carolina.

The storm has also released toxic pig urine and feces into the floodwaters, as well as more than 2000 cubic yards of coal ash – that contains mercury, lead and arsenic.

Study finds climate change markers all over storm Florence

Scientists tracking hurricanes have published the first-ever pre-event attribution study, using a climate model to produce near real-time experimental forecasts of storm Florence, initially categorized as a hurricane, concluding it will have “50% heavier rainfall and will be approximately 80km in diameter larger at landfall because of the human interference in the climate system.”

Mega-storms like Mangkhut, Florence will be a norm, warn scientists

On the other side of the world, South East Asia’s typhoon Mangkhut, which has so far killed over 100 people, including 33 miners in Philippines, and left Hong Kong in tatters, is now entering south China. As ocean temperatures rise because of global warming, scientists warn such mega-storms will become the norm.

With extreme storms becoming more common, campaigners are collecting more evidence with an aim to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for the destructive climate.

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