El Niño News

July’s Droughts, Wildfires, Floods Caused Billions in Global Economic Losses: Aon

Many countries across the globe saw worsening in drought-related and wildfire conditions during July, which have led to hundreds of deaths and created a significant financial impact – particularly in the agriculture, forestry, water management and fisheries industries. This was …

NOAA Expects Sea Level Rise to Produce Record Coastal Flooding This Year

Break out the galoshes. The projected increase in high tide flooding in 2018 may be as much as 60 percent higher across U.S. coastlines compared to typical flooding about 20 years ago, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and …

La Niña Has 55% Chance of Waning During March-May, Says National Weather Service

The current La Niña phase of the climate cycle will most likely transition during the March-May season to ENSO-neutral conditions, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday, a development that brings equatorial Pacific Ocean temperatures, rainfall patterns and winds …

Scientists Blame Extreme Weather, Heat on Man-Made Climate Change

Some of last year’s crazy weather — including extreme heat around the world to unusually warm waters in the Bering Sea — can be blamed on man-made climate change, according to a report from a group of weather researchers. Scientists …

Catastrophes Cost Insurers $22B in 1H 2017; Economic Losses Totaled $53B: Aon

Global insured losses from natural disasters during the first half of 2017 are estimated at US$22 billion with 76 percent of these losses generated by U.S. events, according to a report issued by Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development …

Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Looms – as Odds Drop of El Niño Formation

Forecasters again lowered the odds of El Niño forming by year’s end, a scenario that may mean more Atlantic hurricanes at a time when federal agencies charged with predicting and responding to natural disasters lack top administrators. The updated forecast, …

U.S. Weather Remains Biggest Driver of Global Insurance Losses in 2017: Aon

Severe weather in the U.S. remains the largest contributor to global insurance losses in 2017 after April continued the trend with multi-billion dollar losses for public and private insurers, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team. “Much …

Rising Sea Temperatures Could Kill 90% of Coral Reefs by 2050: Scientists

There were startling colors here just a year ago, a dazzling array of life beneath the waves. Now this Maldivian reef is dead, killed by the stress of rising ocean temperatures. What’s left is a haunting expanse of gray, a …

Global Temperatures Hit Record High for 3rd Year in Row in 2016

World temperatures hit a record high for the third year in a row in 2016, creeping closer to a ceiling set by the Paris climate change deal, with extremes including unprecedented heat in India and ice melt in the Arctic, …

Global Natural Catastrophes Cost Insurers $50B in 2016: Munich Re

Insurers paid out around $50 billion for natural disaster claims last year, almost double 2015’s payout of $27 billion, reinsurer Munich Re said in its annual natural catastrophe review on Wednesday. Earthquakes in Japan and devastating floods in China – …