© Keito Newman/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
Climate experts warn that US Kalshi and Polymarket users are ‘gamifying disasters’ as they bet on events like heatwaves and daily temperatures
Online prediction markets, saturated by money staked on sport, crypto and politics, have now set their sights on a promising new area of growth: betting on the future livability of the planet itself.
The rise of gamified predictions on the unfolding climate crisis, and shorter-term weather forecasts, has been underscored by a new deal that allows Kalshi, a leading online financial exchange, to access data from the Weather Company, owner of the Weather Channel, to verify weather-related betting outcomes.
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© Photograph: Richard Levine/Alamy
© Photograph: Richard Levine/Alamy
© Photograph: Richard Levine/Alamy
US energy department warns of potential for outages in PJM Interconnection, serving 67 million from DC to Chicago
The risk of power outages is expected to escalate across a broad swath of the United States on Wednesday as intense heat will test the capacity of electricity supplies serving millions of homes and businesses from the midwest through the mid-Atlantic.
The US Department of Energy warned of the potential for heightened blackout risks in the PJM Interconnection, the largest US electric grid, which serves 67 million people in a territory stretching from Washington DC to Chicago.
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© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP
© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP
© Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP
Nearly 80 people have been rescued, and two people confirmed dead, after flood hit national park
A US border patrol technical search team is expected to deploy in the Grand Canyon, as authorities continue the search for at least one missing person after a fatal flash flood washed through the national park over the weekend.
Authorities are rushing to scour the area as more heavy rain and thunderstorms in weather forecasts threaten additional debris flows, flash floods or rock falls.
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© Photograph: Ian Maule/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ian Maule/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ian Maule/AFP/Getty Images
First big storm of season could reach hurricane force and is expected to bring potentially heavy rains and flooding
Tropical Storm Edouard headed toward the US Gulf coast early on Tuesday and was expected to strengthen significantly – possibly reaching hurricane force – before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana.
The storm was upgraded on Monday night from a tropical depression, and forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expect it will make landfall in Texas later on Tuesday.
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© Photograph: NOAA/AP
© Photograph: NOAA/AP
© Photograph: NOAA/AP
The deluge capped a summer of extreme climate events, from deadly heatwaves to wildfires. We must take action now
For millennia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were held together by an invisible, frozen cement – permafrost and glacial ice that bound ancient rock into seemingly unshakable fortresses. But as the planet continues to warm, this alpine glue is liquefying.
The glacial collapse and deluge in Nepal and Tibet was not a freak weather event; it was the structural failure of a mountain itself, nature’s latest commentary on the deadly consequences of human-caused planetary warming. And it was the exclamation point on a summer of extremes, illustrating with a sole unnatural disaster the apocalyptic future that lies in store if we fail to take dramatic climate action.
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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
Flash flooding in Arizona tourist destination was likely triggered by compounding climate factors, such as drought and warming in Pacific Ocean
A deadly flash flood in the Grand Canyon over the weekend was likely driven by a confluence of climate factors, including drought, wildfire scarring and warming temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that can supercharge storms.
At least two people have died, nearly 80 people were rescued and one remained unaccounted for after a surge of water and debris swept through the immensely popular tourist destination on Saturday, fueled by torrents of rain that hit the national park’s Bright Angel Creek area.
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© Photograph: Jonathan Bailey via NPS
© Photograph: Jonathan Bailey via NPS
© Photograph: Jonathan Bailey via NPS
Phantom Ranch, set up by Teddy Roosevelt, has welcomed exhausted hikers to its famed cabins for over a century
Phantom Ranch has been a solitary refuge visited by some of the most famous names of history. More typically, it’s been a beacon for the half-collapsed, exhausted and overheated hikers trudging down the Grand Canyon for more than a century.
The sole lodge at the very bottom of the Grand Canyon, the cabins long had a near mythical reputation. Located along the Bright Angel Creek, which tumbles into the mighty Colorado River at the base of the canyon, they served as a reminder of the long history of one of America’s most spectacular but savage environments.
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© Photograph: NPS/Alamy
© Photograph: NPS/Alamy
© Photograph: NPS/Alamy
Officials say one person still unaccounted for as forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms threaten further flooding
A second death was confirmed by National Park Service officials on Monday after a flash flood sent a surge of water and debris through an area of the Grand Canyon over the weekend.
Dozens of visitors had to be evacuated by helicopter during the deluge, which consumed trails and infrastructure. Nearly 80 people were rescued and one person is still unaccounted for, as more heavy rain and thunderstorms in the forecasts threaten additional debris flows, flash floods or rock falls, the NPS said in a statement.
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© Photograph: J Thompson,handout/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: J Thompson,handout/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: J Thompson,handout/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images
Kameron Glasgow of Florida honors wife Kenya and daughter Kennedi at local vigil after last week’s tragedy
A Florida man whose wife and toddler daughter were killed by a lightning strike while he was near them recently has implored people to “hold … tight” to their loved ones.
Kameron Glasgow made that arresting remark to local media at a weekend gathering honoring the memories of his wife, Kenya, and two-year-old daughter Kennedi after they died on 23 August from an exceedingly rare cause.
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© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy
© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy
© Photograph: Dawna Moore/Alamy
Dozens evacuated after flash-flood event near Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch, officials say
One person died and about 15 people were missing or unaccounted for after a major flash flood swept through the Grand Canyon national park in Arizona on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Park Service.
The flash-flood event occurred in the area of Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch, where park staff and the Arizona department of public safety had evacuated more than 60 people as of Sunday morning.
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© Photograph: Parth Desai/AP
© Photograph: Parth Desai/AP
© Photograph: Parth Desai/AP
Jack Klein takes heat readings, gives fans to overheated passengers and lugs big jugs of water into the stations
On a recent August day in the subterranean furnace of New York City’s subway, one bearded, curly haired man was studying his phone for different reasons than the other wilting passengers – to track the soaring temperatures and ponder how underground train stations can cool down in an era of climate crisis.
Jack Klein, a 31-year-old construction site manager, has in the past two years taken it upon himself to become a sort of guerrilla subway heat operative, sticking teardrop-shaped thermometers to steel beams in seven of the hottest Manhattan stations and posting social media videos of the hades-like summer temperatures that commuters have to endure.
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© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
As wildfires rage and intense heat builds across the region, daytime highs of 110-11F (43-46C) are forecast
Surging temperatures are expected to broil more than 45 million people as a heat dome settles in across the south-western US through the end of August and into early September, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
As wildfires rage in some parts and intense heat builds across the region, daytime highs of 110-115F (43-46C) are forecast, with limited cooling relief in the evenings and overnight. Experts predict that some record highs could be tied or broken this month and the weather agency warned of the scorching late summer heat as a potential health hazard.
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© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP
© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP
© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP
Gary mayor says 12 days is ‘too long’ for residents to go without power after storm downed trees on to power lines
The mayor of Gary, Indiana, has said it is “unacceptable” that thousands of residents in the city are still without power nearly two weeks after an 11 August storm known as a derecho brought 90 mph, straight-line winds, downing trees on to power lines.
“We’re at day 12, and 12 days is too long for families to be without power,” Eddie Melton, Gary’s mayor, said in a video address on Sunday, adding that he is continuing to pressure the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco) to restore the city’s power before the end of Tuesday.
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© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
Tens of thousands are still under evacuation orders or warnings amid ‘human-caused’, wind-driven blaze
The Hawk fire is about 27% contained, authorities said on Monday afternoon, two days after the fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire sparked near Reno, Nevada.
Authorities added that 23,000 people are under a “go-now” order and 40,000 people are under a “get-set” warning, an improvement from the 90,000 Nevadans under evacuation orders or warnings on Monday morning.
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© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images
© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images
© Photograph: Trevor Bexon/Getty Images
The Democratic and the Republican candidate each blame the other for the bungled recovery effort after storm struck region
Two years after North Carolina suffered the worst natural disaster in its history when Hurricane Helene struck the state’s western half, life in the hardest-hit areas appears back to normal. Downtowns are lively, blocked roads have been reopened and rivers are flowing below their banks.
But the telltale evidence of the disaster’s expensive impacts can still be seen – from “for rent” signs in storefronts whose businesses never came back to debris from the storm still lurking in some waterways. And in the race for North Carolina’s US Senate seat, it’s almost as if the hurricane never left.
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© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Human-caused Hawk fire covers more than 15,000 acres as blaze approaches University of Nevada campus in Reno
A fast-moving Nevada wildfire exploded to more than 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) on Sunday, pushing from the Sierra foothills toward the center of Reno and urging nearly 90,000 residents to evacuate as flames threatened neighborhoods and reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus.
The Hawk fire’s “GO NOW” evacuation zone had expanded to the edge of the university campus as strong, gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation fueled the blaze, according to Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue in Reno. Of those urged to evacuate, 42,000 were under strict orders. An additional 45,000 people were in the evacuation warning zone, and encouraged to leave now and be prepared to stay away for several days to clear the roads for first-responders.
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© Photograph: Simon Jowitt/Reuters
© Photograph: Simon Jowitt/Reuters
© Photograph: Simon Jowitt/Reuters
Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spice
Happy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!
Just kidding, no, it’s not.
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© Illustration: Fortunate Joaquin/The Guardian
© Illustration: Fortunate Joaquin/The Guardian
© Illustration: Fortunate Joaquin/The Guardian
Weather service warns of flooding and mudslides, particularly in areas strongly affected by previous storm
Tropical Storm Moke is poised to slam into the south of Hawaii’s islands, with forecasters predicting heavy rains and strong winds on Saturday evening, just days after the region was hit by Hurricane Lala.
As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island is expected to bear the brunt of Moke’s rain and heavy winds as it passes south of a direct hit late on Saturday and into Sunday.
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© Photograph: Aina Akamu/AP
© Photograph: Aina Akamu/AP
© Photograph: Aina Akamu/AP
33,124 residents still in the dark as utility company says it is working to restore power in north-west of state
Thousands of residents of north-west Indiana on Saturday were headed for their 11th day without electric power after storms swept through the state, toppling trees and power lines, earlier in August.
The powerless conditions have led to food lines, closed businesses, dead phones, no schools, spoiled food, dirty clothes, dry gas pumps and a multitude of other deleterious effects on life without energy.
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© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
© Photograph: Octavio Jones/Reuters
First responders also rescued flood-stranded people after storms unleashed heavy rains in the US north-east
Residents in Delaware’s capital and on Long Island, New York, were picking up the pieces on Friday after tornadoes touched down during sudden storms that battered the north-eastern US with heavy rains and left dozens of people stranded in their cars during flash flooding.
In Atlantic Beach on Long Island, the long peninsula that stretches out into the ocean to the east of New York City, images posted on social media showed a large funnel cloud over the water and small buildings torn apart at a beach club.
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© Photograph: @docdondon/Instagram/Reuters
© Photograph: @docdondon/Instagram/Reuters
© Photograph: @docdondon/Instagram/Reuters
© Miroslav Lelas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Gemma Miralda/Associated Press
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