<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=storms&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/storms/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:59:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Storms</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/storms/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>In coastal Japan, one project is planting forests to stand against tsunamis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 06:23:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jonathan Vit]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31170238/tsunami-forests-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325096</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Solutions, Storms, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MINAMISOMA, Japan — Kazuo Monma stepped out onto the small stage and looked at the large crowd with a sense of relief. The weather report had called for rain all weekend, and the mayor of Minamisoma, a coastal city in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, worried that few would show for what had become an annual event for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MINAMISOMA, Japan — Kazuo Monma stepped out onto the small stage and looked at the large crowd with a sense of relief. The weather report had called for rain all weekend, and the mayor of Minamisoma, a coastal city in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, worried that few would show for what had become an annual event for volunteers from across the Tohoku region. Instead, Monma stood in front of more than 1,000 people. The assembled crowd, some from as far away as Kanagawa prefecture, more than 300 kilometers (about 200 miles) to the south, were there to plant more than 12,000 trees along the steep dunes that line Minamisoma’s sandy beaches. “I really do think we should be proud of this moment,” Monma said to the crowd. “This is a place where thousands of people have kept this up for so long.” Minamisoma, like more than a dozen other coastal communities across Japan, is the site of an innovative experiment in disaster resilience. While seawalls have become the dominant way of mitigating the impacts of tsunamis and typhoons, one organization is touting a mix of seawalls and a wall of trees — following a specific species and planting choice — could do a better job at protecting at-risk communities. Fifteen years ago, in March 2011, the northeastern Tohoku region was the site of one of the 21st century’s worst natural disasters. A magnitude 9 earthquake struck 72 km (45 mi) off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. What followed was a tsunami of monumental scale, a devastating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-coastal-japan-one-project-is-planting-forests-to-stand-against-tsunamis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325096</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extreme weather dampens breeding success for marine predators in Tasmania: study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-weather-dampens-breeding-success-for-marine-predators-in-tasmania-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-weather-dampens-breeding-success-for-marine-predators-in-tasmania-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 12:11:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madeline Shaw]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/27062833/h.-BANNER-52065723988_5bb208650e_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324558</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Global, Oceania, and Tasmania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Disasters, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pollution, Predators, Research, Science, Seabirds, Storms, Temperatures, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the rocky shores of Tasmania, seals and seabirds can’t shelter indoors during a storm or turn on the AC during a hot spell. When extreme weather strikes, they’re exposed to the elements, especially when they’re tied to a clumsy pup or a nest of newly hatched chicks. The effects can be deadly. A study [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the rocky shores of Tasmania, seals and seabirds can’t shelter indoors during a storm or turn on the AC during a hot spell. When extreme weather strikes, they’re exposed to the elements, especially when they’re tied to a clumsy pup or a nest of newly hatched chicks. The effects can be deadly. A study published in Science Advances in June found that extreme weather events like storms, heat waves and floods can interfere with the breeding success of important marine predators like seals, shearwaters and albatross that raise their young along the coasts. As these events become both more frequent and increasingly intense due to climate change, the study authors stress the need to monitor predator populations to better protect them from the effects, especially during vulnerable times in the breeding season. “Extreme weather events are becoming a new normal,” study lead author Milan Sojitra, a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania, told Mongabay. “It is having an effect on ecosystems and species.” Marine ecosystems around the world are under stress from the effects of human-caused climate change, including heatwaves and warming ocean temperatures that can cause coral bleaching and mass die-offs of marine species. Tasmania, an island and Australian state 240 kilometers (149 miles) south of the mainland, is a climate change hotspot, with surface waters off its eastern coast warming three to four times faster than the global average, according to a 2018 study. The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall and heat on the island&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-weather-dampens-breeding-success-for-marine-predators-in-tasmania-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/extreme-weather-dampens-breeding-success-for-marine-predators-in-tasmania-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324558</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How saline drinking water raises preeclampsia risks in coastal Bangladesh (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 16:59:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashik Rubaiyat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/23164359/Water-collection-from-pond-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324396</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Drinking Water, Ecology, Fisheries, Storms, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hypertensive or high blood pressure disorders are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in low-income countries. A pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder, is listed among the top five causes of maternal deaths in Bangladesh. For expectant women with preeclampsia, timely treatment is required; otherwise, it can lead to issues such as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hypertensive or high blood pressure disorders are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in low-income countries. A pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder, is listed among the top five causes of maternal deaths in Bangladesh. For expectant women with preeclampsia, timely treatment is required; otherwise, it can lead to issues such as elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome, hepatic failure, coma or loss of life.The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the U.N. set an ambitious target to reduce the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by the end of 2030. While many developed nations have already achieved the U.N. target, low- and middle-income countries are yet to achieve these goals. In Bangladesh, the maternal mortality rate is 196 per 100,000 live births and rates remain significantly higher in the neighboring countries . A recent study reported an association between hypertension, preeclampsia and high-salinity drinking water. The same study argues that, in Bangladesh, preeclampsia is associated with high-salt drinking water. Epidemiological evidence links high salt intake to hypertension in both adults and children. The scarcity of safe drinking water has become a serious global issue due to agricultural expansion, sea level rise caused by global warming and population growth. The IPCC, in its sixth Assessment Report (AR6), stated that climate change affects water availability and water quality. Globally, around 4 billion people face water scarcity for at least one month each year. Storm surges and rising sea levels make it easier for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324396</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Three years after Cyclone Freddy, farms remain under water in Malawi’s Elephant Marsh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-years-after-cyclone-freddy-farms-remain-under-water-in-malawis-elephant-marsh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-years-after-cyclone-freddy-farms-remain-under-water-in-malawis-elephant-marsh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 10:39:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25170622/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321815</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Community Development, Conservation, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Fishing, Flooding, Freshwater, Storms, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NSANJE DISTRICT, Malawi — From his canoe, floating in a shallow channel in a corner of southern Malawi’s Elephant Marsh, Fred Nsema points at two palm trees standing knee-deep in a sprawling cover of water lilies and water hyacinth. Nsema used to shelter from the heat under them, sipping a traditional fermented drink prepared from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NSANJE DISTRICT, Malawi — From his canoe, floating in a shallow channel in a corner of southern Malawi’s Elephant Marsh, Fred Nsema points at two palm trees standing knee-deep in a sprawling cover of water lilies and water hyacinth. Nsema used to shelter from the heat under them, sipping a traditional fermented drink prepared from millet by his wife. But along with more than a 1,000 other families here in the Lower Shire Valley, home to Elephant Marsh, he and his wife lost their farmland to floods caused by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. “That field was our lifeline,” Nsema says as he uses a long bamboo pole to stop the canoe before it’s drawn into a channel of water rushing past the submerged site of his former farm. “We would harvest half a ton of cabbages there. Beans too, and rice and sweet potatoes. Twice a year for some of the crops. That farm was everything to us.” Fred Nsema’s (left) farm was flooded by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. The waters have still not receded. Image by Charles Mpaka for Mongabay. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Lower Shire Valley rely on the wetland for their livelihoods. According to the 2018 census, the population of the two districts that Elephant Marsh spreads across is 860,000 — a startling five-fold increase from the population figure recorded 10 years earlier. “It’s a vital resource for many people here; but that is also why it is under severe strain, because farming has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-years-after-cyclone-freddy-farms-remain-under-water-in-malawis-elephant-marsh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/three-years-after-cyclone-freddy-farms-remain-under-water-in-malawis-elephant-marsh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321815</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh’s lightning death toll persists as years of gov’t safeguards fail</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladeshs-lightning-death-toll-persists-as-years-of-govt-safeguards-fail/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladeshs-lightning-death-toll-persists-as-years-of-govt-safeguards-fail/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 07:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/23072444/Paddy_Harvest_02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Disasters, Earth Science, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Governance, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The distance between farmer Sudhin Chandra Das’s home and his 150-decimal (0.6-hectare, or 1.5-acre) paddy field in Bangladesh’s northeastern region of Sylhet is more than half a kilometer (0.3 miles). During the boro rice harvesting season, usually mid-April, when thunderstorms are common, he cannot afford to stay at home, he said: He has to go [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The distance between farmer Sudhin Chandra Das’s home and his 150-decimal (0.6-hectare, or 1.5-acre) paddy field in Bangladesh’s northeastern region of Sylhet is more than half a kilometer (0.3 miles). During the boro rice harvesting season, usually mid-April, when thunderstorms are common, he cannot afford to stay at home, he said: He has to go to the vast open field to harvest the ripe crop, even though there is no shelter when lightnings strike. “It’s scary. I don’t know how to protect myself, and I fear I could be killed by a strike at any moment,” Sudhin told Mongabay. Sudhin lives in the Shalla subdistrict, Sunamganj district, in the Sylhet region, one of South Asia’s most lightning-prone zones. According to lightning data for the decade of 2016-25, Bangladesh’s northeastern zone witnesses 64 to 96 fatal lightning events per square kilometer (about 0.4 square miles) annually. Sudhin said he considers himself fortunate to be alive. But he recalled news reports on people in Sunamganj being killed by lightning strikes this year and in previous years. On April 18 this year, at least 13 people, including five in Sunamganj, died by lightning strikes across Bangladesh. An average of 300 people die from lightning strikes every year in the country, with the highest number of fatalities reported in the northeastern districts. According to Meherunnesa, a coordinator at the Disaster Forum, a Dhaka-based national disaster preparedness network, Bangladesh witnessed the deaths of at least 218 people by lightning strikes between January and mid-June this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladeshs-lightning-death-toll-persists-as-years-of-govt-safeguards-fail/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladeshs-lightning-death-toll-persists-as-years-of-govt-safeguards-fail/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From the wreckage of Super Typhoon Sinlaku, Pacific Islanders slowly recover</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 17:02:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anita Hofschneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://news.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/55238351703_d74c4a52fe_o-e1780506566735-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320547</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Extreme Weather, Indigenous Peoples, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Katelynn Delos Reyes thought she knew what to expect when Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into Saipan in April. As a lifelong resident of the island, Delos Reyes had survived frequent storms, including Super Typhoon Yutu, the second-strongest in U.S. history. Eight years ago, Yutu’s 274-kmph (about 170-mph) winds devastated her village in the southern end of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Katelynn Delos Reyes thought she knew what to expect when Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into Saipan in April. As a lifelong resident of the island, Delos Reyes had survived frequent storms, including Super Typhoon Yutu, the second-strongest in U.S. history. Eight years ago, Yutu’s 274-kmph (about 170-mph) winds devastated her village in the southern end of Saipan. Just three years before that, she survived Typhoon Soudelor. But Sinlaku was different. “At the beginning, it was OK. But later on it wasn’t,” said Delos Reyes, who is Chamorro, Indigenous to the Mariana Islands. A few days before it hit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI, on April 14, Sinlaku had tropical-storm winds. That made it what is known in the Marianas as a “banana typhoon” because such storms level banana trees but leave others standing. Then over the weekend, the typhoon rapidly intensified by 120 kmph (75 mph) in just 24 hours before becoming a 298-kmph (about 185-mph) monstrosity and the strongest storm on Earth so far this year. Delos Reyes and her family had done what they could to prepare. They boarded up the windows. They bought gallons of drinking water and filled plastic drums to use in the shower and toilet. Then the storm hit, and Delos Reyes grew scared. The winds, which had weakened to 240 kmph (about 150 mph), ripped the wood from a window. Rainwater gushed through the ceiling and soaked their belongings, including Delos Reyes’ mattress. She and her partner, her mother, her&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/from-the-wreckage-of-super-typhoon-sinlaku-pacific-islanders-slowly-recover/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320547</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>If Florida reefs aren’t protected, storms will increase flooding &#038; costs: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/if-florida-reefs-arent-protected-storms-will-increase-flooding-costs-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/if-florida-reefs-arent-protected-storms-will-increase-flooding-costs-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Mar 2026 15:54:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/12050147/b-FKNMS_-_Reef_34136062951-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315628</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Florida, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Marine, Marine Conservation, Microplastics, Oceans, Pollution, Storms, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Healthy reefs aren’t just about colorful fish — they also shield shorelines from intense tropical storms. If Florida’s reefs keep degrading, flooding during tropical storms could get much worse, increasing risks to people and costing nearly a billion dollars a year in damage to buildings and economic disruption annually, a new Earth’s Future study finds. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Healthy reefs aren’t just about colorful fish — they also shield shorelines from intense tropical storms. If Florida’s reefs keep degrading, flooding during tropical storms could get much worse, increasing risks to people and costing nearly a billion dollars a year in damage to buildings and economic disruption annually, a new Earth’s Future study finds. Coral reefs act as natural breakwaters, absorbing up to 97% percent of an incoming wave’s energy, with the top of the reef taking the bulk of the impact. Globally, around 200 million people benefit from this kind of natural flood protection, according to a 2014 Nature Communications study. But around the world, coral reefs are in trouble. The most recent bleaching event, driven by record temperatures, hit more than 80% of reefs. Reefs are also battling coral diseases, pollution, microplastics, physical damage and other threats. In the Florida Keys, live coral cover has declined by about 90%, over the last 40 years, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Degraded reefs aren’t as strong, and crumbling coral means they aren’t as able to cushion the impact of waves. As waves become more forceful, they erode sediment, deepening the seafloor closer to shore. “Waves break relative to their water depth. &#8230; Now, all of a sudden, you make that water deeper, that means a bigger wave can come in closer to shore,&#8221; says Curt Storlazzi, a researcher at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the study’s first author. In a previous study,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/if-florida-reefs-arent-protected-storms-will-increase-flooding-costs-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/if-florida-reefs-arent-protected-storms-will-increase-flooding-costs-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315628</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sumatra officials stress environment checks continue in wake of deadly cyclone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 14:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jaka Hendra Baittri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19081613/Nelayan-Pantai-Patenggangan-Kota-Padang-yang-terdampak-secara-ekonomi-karena-galodoh-dari-Hulu_Foto-Jaka-HB_P1200196-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Flooding, Governance, Industry, Mining, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent spot inspections on the slopes of Mount Sariak, a short distance from the provincial capital, Padang, as well as new signage displaying public information to report allegations of misconduct. “Should there be any further suspected cases of violations, please make an official report,” Tasliatul said. At least 267 people were killed in West Sumatra late last year — with 70 people still missing at the time of writing — after Cyclone Senyar made landfall over the north of Sumatra Island on Nov. 26 and 27. The Sariak area is located on the outskirts of Padang, where 11 people were killed following the cyclone. At least 197 people were killed in the district of Agam, several hours west of the city. Conducting comprehensive field checks on land-use change and environmental compliance in West Sumatra requires traveling long distances on a poor road network through a mountainous province larger than Switzerland. Many areas take at least a day to reach. The flash floods unleashed by the cyclone, for many the worst in memory, also killed hundreds in the neighboring provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, the latter a semiautonomous region and Indonesia’s westernmost point. In the aftermath,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315507</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vanuatu communities move to protect taro, an ancestral climate-resilient crop (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/vanuatu-communities-move-to-protect-taro-an-ancestral-climate-resilient-crop-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/vanuatu-communities-move-to-protect-taro-an-ancestral-climate-resilient-crop-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2026 18:50:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Kidd]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/26182316/Richard-Rojo3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313365</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, and Vanuatu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroecology, Analysis, Climate Change, Commentary, Disasters, Food, food security, Islands, Plants, Storms, Subsistence Agriculture, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The packed-earth trail winds through the dense and tangled forest of Vanuatu, the ocean crashing just meters to our right. Richard Rojo’s feet don’t mind the stones and stumps, and he carries a bush knife and a repurposed rice sack. It’s a path well-trodden for Rojo, who’s lived here in the village of Tasmate on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The packed-earth trail winds through the dense and tangled forest of Vanuatu, the ocean crashing just meters to our right. Richard Rojo’s feet don’t mind the stones and stumps, and he carries a bush knife and a repurposed rice sack. It’s a path well-trodden for Rojo, who’s lived here in the village of Tasmate on Vanuatu’s remote west coast of Espiritu Santo Island as a subsistence farmer and fisher all his 40-ish years. I walk-jog to keep up with him as he talks to me over his shoulder, idly whacking at an occasional vine with his knife. We’ve been traveling together a few days now in his open boat up and down this coast, on a reporting trip with the Sunset Santo Environmental Network (SSEN) team so I can see for myself the way villages here are threatened by climate change. We walk for about 10 minutes as I pepper Rojo with questions. We pass towering trees covered with epiphytic plants and wade across a river before popping out into a clearing the size of a few soccer pitches. Coconut palms edge the far side and, in front of us, earthen berms enclose a shallow rectangular pool maybe 5 by 50 meters (roughly 16 by 164 feet). Inside are rows and rows of chest-high plants with heart-shaped leaves: Colocasia esculenta, or water taro. Rojo sets down his knife and bag and wades into the pool. “I will go replace some that are dying like this one,” he says, finding his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/vanuatu-communities-move-to-protect-taro-an-ancestral-climate-resilient-crop-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/vanuatu-communities-move-to-protect-taro-an-ancestral-climate-resilient-crop-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313365</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka set to apply for ‘loss and damage’ funding</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ravaged-sri-lanka-set-to-apply-for-loss-and-damage-funding/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ravaged-sri-lanka-set-to-apply-for-loss-and-damage-funding/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 02:20:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31015845/4-Infrasture-impacted-c--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Justice, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Impact Of Climate Change, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Veteran environmental activist Hemantha Withanage of Sri Lankan NGO the Center for Environmental Justice has been a regular presence at United Nations climate conferences for years, repeatedly calling for compensation for countries in the Global South severely impacted by climate change-related disasters. At each of these conferences of the parties, or COPs, Withanage [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Veteran environmental activist Hemantha Withanage of Sri Lankan NGO the Center for Environmental Justice has been a regular presence at United Nations climate conferences for years, repeatedly calling for compensation for countries in the Global South severely impacted by climate change-related disasters. At each of these conferences of the parties, or COPs, Withanage and like-minded activists have pressed wealthy, high-emitting nations to accept responsibility for the damage caused by human-induced climate change to establish a fund to cover what’s known as loss and damage. These long-standing demands turned deeply personal this year. Sri Lanka is now preparing to become one of the first countries to seek assistance from the newly established Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah in late November. The cyclone killed at least 650 people, left around 200 missing, and triggered widespread destruction across the island. “I never imagined that my own country would be among the first applicants to the fund,” Withanage said. Climate activists who long campaigned for the creation of a loss and damage fund are pushing for increased financial contributions to support countries facing the impacts of climate change. Image courtesy of Asian Peoples&#8217; Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD). Assessment on physical damage A report by the World Bank Group’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) puts the direct physical damages from the cyclone at $4.1 billion, equivalent to about 4% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. According to the report, infrastructure including roads,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ravaged-sri-lanka-set-to-apply-for-loss-and-damage-funding/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ravaged-sri-lanka-set-to-apply-for-loss-and-damage-funding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beyond human loss, floods from Cyclone Ditwah devastate Sri Lanka’s wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/beyond-human-loss-floods-from-cyclone-ditwah-devastate-sri-lankas-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/beyond-human-loss-floods-from-cyclone-ditwah-devastate-sri-lankas-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 04:15:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/29025642/1-Elephant-stranded-in-Dagaba-c-Amitha-Sri-Nalaka-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312130</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Storms, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka continues to grapple with the human toll of Cyclone Ditwah, which triggered devastating floods and landslides killing 650 people and leaving another 200 missing. In the wake of the human disaster, however, a different tragedy has unfolded largely unnoticed. Across floodplains, protected areas and farmlands, thousands of animals have also fallen [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka continues to grapple with the human toll of Cyclone Ditwah, which triggered devastating floods and landslides killing 650 people and leaving another 200 missing. In the wake of the human disaster, however, a different tragedy has unfolded largely unnoticed. Across floodplains, protected areas and farmlands, thousands of animals have also fallen victim to one of the worst flooding events the Indian Ocean island has experienced in decades. Unlike the human casualties, however, the true scale of wildlife deaths may never be known. In Somawathiya National Park, one of Sri Lanka’s most important dry-zone wildlife refuges, wildlife officers have reported extensive mortality among wild animals as well as livestock. The park, which lies within the Mahaweli River Basin, is naturally adapted to seasonal flooding. But the sheer intensity and duration of Ditwah-induced floods appear to have overwhelmed even these flood-tolerant ecosystems. Carcasses of spotted deer, left, and wild boar, right, were discovered after floodwaters receded inside Somawathiya National Park. There were several instances of dead wildlife being found, underscoring the heavy toll on animals. Image courtesy of Amitha Sri Nalaka. Dozens of dead deer in single location According to Amitha Sri Nalaka, a local wildlife officer stationed at Somawathiya, large numbers of sambar (Rusa unicolor) and spotted deer (Axis axis) were found dead across the park after the floodwaters began receding. “Cattle herders who entered the park searching for their lost livestock reported seeing dozens of dead spotted deer at single locations in several places,” Nalaka told&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/beyond-human-loss-floods-from-cyclone-ditwah-devastate-sri-lankas-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/beyond-human-loss-floods-from-cyclone-ditwah-devastate-sri-lankas-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312130</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka looks to build disaster-resilient housing after devastating cyclone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/sri-lanka-looks-to-build-disaster-resilient-housing-after-devastating-cyclone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/sri-lanka-looks-to-build-disaster-resilient-housing-after-devastating-cyclone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Dec 2025 04:41:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/27041803/House-damaged-following-a-landslide-in-Kandapola-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Buffer Zones, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Disasters, Environment, Governance, Mountains, Population, Regulations, Research, Storms, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ARANAYAKA, Sri Lanka — Bandara Jayaratne from Beraliya, a village in the Aranayaka region in Sri Lanka, is among the fortunate individuals who escaped a landslide on Nov. 28 that occurred right behind his house. Landslides aren’t a new phenomenon in this part of the country. In 2016, at least a 100 people died when [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ARANAYAKA, Sri Lanka — Bandara Jayaratne from Beraliya, a village in the Aranayaka region in Sri Lanka, is among the fortunate individuals who escaped a landslide on Nov. 28 that occurred right behind his house. Landslides aren’t a new phenomenon in this part of the country. In 2016, at least a 100 people died when a massive landslide occurred in the same area. It also displaced more than 2,000 families and affected some 350,000 people. Due to the vulnerability of this location, many families were evacuated in 2016, but most returned to their homes once the weather conditions improved. Today, though, after the landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah at the end of November, many residents say they’re reluctant to return home, and are instead awaiting assistance from the government for relocation to safer sites. “I managed to take my parents to a relative’s house near the town as a temporary measure,” Jayaratne, who is temporarily displaced, tells Mongabay. “Right now, I’m unable to go to my house as the roads are still blocked and my house is no longer safe to be inhabited.” Features of a disaster-resilient house suitable for slopes according to Sri Lanka’s newly formulated hazard-resilient construction manual. Image courtesy of NBRO. Cyclone Ditwah affected thousands of people like Jayaratne, who saw their homes damaged or outright destroyed by landslides. The recent most report from Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) says 6,228 houses were fully damaged, and more than 100,000 partially damaged. A landslide hazard zonation mapping&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/sri-lanka-looks-to-build-disaster-resilient-housing-after-devastating-cyclone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/sri-lanka-looks-to-build-disaster-resilient-housing-after-devastating-cyclone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyclone Ditwah exposes climate risks to nature-based tourism in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-exposes-climate-risks-to-nature-based-tourism-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-exposes-climate-risks-to-nature-based-tourism-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Dec 2025 16:22:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/24154243/1-18-bends-road-Kehenpathdoruwa-Yahangala-mountain-ranges-c-Kasun-de-Silva-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312019</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Disasters, Ecology, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Landscape Restoration, Mountains, National Parks, Storms, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s misty hill country, a hub for nature-based tourism, is currently grappling with the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. Landslides, flash floods and damaged infrastructure have disrupted the peak tourist season and raised questions about the resilience of these ecosystems in a changing climate. Stretching across the Central Highlands, the region is famed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s misty hill country, a hub for nature-based tourism, is currently grappling with the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. Landslides, flash floods and damaged infrastructure have disrupted the peak tourist season and raised questions about the resilience of these ecosystems in a changing climate. Stretching across the Central Highlands, the region is famed for its scenic mountains, waterfalls, cloud forests and wildlife-rich protected areas. UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Knuckles Conservation Forest, Horton Plains National Park, Peak Wilderness and dozens of breathtaking waterfalls form the backbone of Sri Lanka’s nature tourism, attracting visitors from across the globe and generating substantial local income. A landslide-hit sections of a trail leading to the famous Adam’s Peak, a route frequented by thousands of pilgrims and hikers forming a part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Peak Wilderness. Image by Shaminda Ranshan. Peak season interrupted December to March is traditionally the busiest tourism season for Sri Lanka. In Ella, one of the island’s most popular scenic towns, hotels and homestays reported mass cancellations after access roads were damaged and landslide fears escalated following days of relentless rain. “For many small operators, the peak tourist season supports livelihoods for an entire year,” said Mithila Bandara, spokesperson for the Hill Country Tourism Bureau. “There were many cancellations in early December, but we are hopeful of conditions improving soon.” Local communities dependent on tourism for a living are facing a double blow — from direct landslide damage and the resulting loss of income. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-exposes-climate-risks-to-nature-based-tourism-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-exposes-climate-risks-to-nature-based-tourism-in-sri-lanka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312019</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Cyclone Ditwah battered land, Sri Lanka’s oceans absorbed a silent shock</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-cyclone-ditwah-battered-land-sri-lankas-oceans-absorbed-a-silent-shock/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-cyclone-ditwah-battered-land-sri-lankas-oceans-absorbed-a-silent-shock/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 17:59:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/23172739/Ditwa-Department-of-Metorology-Sri-Lanka-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311974</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Oceans, Research, Sedimentation, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Cyclone Ditwah, which claimed around 650 lives and left at least 200 people missing, cast a heavy pall of gloom over Sri Lanka from the moment it entered the island’s skies Nov. 28. By Dec. 2, the storm had finally moved on, leaving behind silence, debris and grief — but also, in some [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Cyclone Ditwah, which claimed around 650 lives and left at least 200 people missing, cast a heavy pall of gloom over Sri Lanka from the moment it entered the island’s skies Nov. 28. By Dec. 2, the storm had finally moved on, leaving behind silence, debris and grief — but also, in some places, an unexpected calm. Along stretches of the Jaffna coast in northern Sri Lanka, the returning sunshine revealed a strange and startling sight. Thick patches of snow-like white foam had gathered along the shoreline, astonishing residents who said they had never seen anything like it before. For children, especially, the sight felt surreal. Amid a nation still mourning its losses, they ran barefoot along the beach, laughing and playing with the foam, as if it were snow. The fleeting scene offered a gentle contrast to the scale of devastation elsewhere, but it also raised questions about how the ocean responds to land-based disasters. In the aftermath of the floods, fears spread that polluted waters sweeping through industrial zones and sewage systems had contaminated the sea, and the foam was visible evidence of that pollution. Scientists, however, say the phenomenon was natural. “Such sea foam can form naturally after powerful storms and strong winds, like those experienced in Jaffna during the northeast monsoon,” said Ganapathypillai Arulananthan, former director-general of the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA). “Rough seas churn microscopic algae and plankton, releasing organic compounds that act like natural surfactants. When waves trap&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-cyclone-ditwah-battered-land-sri-lankas-oceans-absorbed-a-silent-shock/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-cyclone-ditwah-battered-land-sri-lankas-oceans-absorbed-a-silent-shock/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311974</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tsunami veteran rescue elephants mobilized for Indonesia cyclone disaster relief</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tsunami-veteran-rescue-elephants-mobilized-for-indonesia-cyclone-disaster-relief/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tsunami-veteran-rescue-elephants-mobilized-for-indonesia-cyclone-disaster-relief/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2025 04:56:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/18164055/Gajah-bantu-banjir4-2400x890-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311660</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Intelligence, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Flooding, Orangutans, Rainforests, Storms, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PIDIE JAYA, Indonesia — A group of specialist Sumatran elephants have joined recovery operations in Aceh following the catastrophic landfall of Cyclone Senyar in late November — two decades after the veteran responders supported rescuers after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. “They’re guided by mahouts who know very well the characteristics of the elephants,” said [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PIDIE JAYA, Indonesia — A group of specialist Sumatran elephants have joined recovery operations in Aceh following the catastrophic landfall of Cyclone Senyar in late November — two decades after the veteran responders supported rescuers after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. “They’re guided by mahouts who know very well the characteristics of the elephants,” said Ujang Wisnu Barata, head of the Aceh conservation agency, the BKSDA. Rescuers in Indonesia’s westernmost region seconded the experienced squad of four to clear heavy debris in the coastal district of Pidie Jaya in semiautonomous Aceh, as recovery operations continued for a third week across much of the north and west of Sumatra Island. Many affected villages remain cut off due to extensive debris and landslides. Cyclone Senyar arrived over northern Sumatra in the early hours of Nov. 26 with 3-hour precipitation accumulation exceeding 130 millimeters (5 inches), meteorology data showed, which is more rain in three hours than the U.K. usually receives through its wettest month of the year. The number of people killed here in Pidie Jaya district stood at 29 on Dec. 18, with the total death toll rising to 1,059 people across three provinces (Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra) amid the worst disaster to hit Indonesia in years. Male elephants Abu, Ajis and Midok, working together with Noni, a female Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), received the assignment in Pidie Jaya district from their base at the Saree Elephant Training Center, which is located in nearby Aceh Besar district. A&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tsunami-veteran-rescue-elephants-mobilized-for-indonesia-cyclone-disaster-relief/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/tsunami-veteran-rescue-elephants-mobilized-for-indonesia-cyclone-disaster-relief/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311660</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As storms surge &#038; the sea rises, Belgium builds dunes for protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2025 19:57:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/18122651/a.-BANNER-Charlotte-Taelman-Raversijde-lange-wortel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Belgium, Europe, and European Union]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Extreme Weather, Nature-based climate solutions, Sea Levels, Solutions, Storms, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OSTEND, Belgium — In late October, Storm Benjamin blew across Belgium and other parts of Western Europe, bringing strong winds and rain that knocked down trees and damaged homes. Powerful waves pummeled Belgium’s shoreline, eroding some parts. Jagged, cliff-like formations appeared on certain beaches. Eventually, contractors reshaped the sand to prevent further erosion and to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OSTEND, Belgium — In late October, Storm Benjamin blew across Belgium and other parts of Western Europe, bringing strong winds and rain that knocked down trees and damaged homes. Powerful waves pummeled Belgium’s shoreline, eroding some parts. Jagged, cliff-like formations appeared on certain beaches. Eventually, contractors reshaped the sand to prevent further erosion and to keep the public safe. Yet some stretches of the Belgian coast fared far better. Among these was a 750-meter (2,460-foot) strip of beach in Raversijde, a neighborhood in the coastal city of Ostend, where a series of constructed dunes stand seaward of a promenade that doubles as a dike. I drove to Raversijde on a rainy afternoon in late November to visit these dunes, which are part of a “dune-by-dike” system. The dunes and dike are meant to work in tandem to create a double buffer between the sea and the coastline: The dunes form a soft barrier that dissipates wave energy, while the preexisting dikes play back-up as a hard barrier, should the dunes succumb to a storm. This particular site is a project of a Flemish government initiative called Living Labs. Nieuwpoort, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, October 25th, 2025, rough waves crashing onto shoreline under heavy storm clouds. Image courtesy of Bjorn B/stock.adobe.com After parking along the sand-swept road, I crossed the tram tracks that run along the coast to reach the promenade. There, I met Toon Verwaest, a coastal engineer at the governmental agency Flanders Hydraulics Research, who helps coordinate the Raversijde dune-by-dike project.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyclone Ditwah takes heavy toll on Sri Lanka’s biodiversity-rich Central Highlands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-takes-heavy-toll-on-sri-lankas-biodiversity-rich-central-highlands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-takes-heavy-toll-on-sri-lankas-biodiversity-rich-central-highlands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 09:01:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/13104517/1.-Damage-at-knuckles-Yahangala-c-Jayantha-Wijesingha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311285</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Disasters, Ecology, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Forests, Governance, Mountains, Protected Areas, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Two weeks after Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka, the actual environmental cost of the disaster remains largely unknown, as immediate priorities were human safety, relief and recovery. The worst impact of the cyclone’s downfall is borne by the country’s Central Highlands, recording at least 640  deaths — the highest number of deaths due [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Two weeks after Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka, the actual environmental cost of the disaster remains largely unknown, as immediate priorities were human safety, relief and recovery. The worst impact of the cyclone’s downfall is borne by the country’s Central Highlands, recording at least 640  deaths — the highest number of deaths due to the cyclone — with another 221 persons still missing, according to the island’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC). Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands are the elevated mountainous region located in the central part of the island. This region is among the country’s most ecologically, hydrologically and culturally significant landscapes and includes some of the highest peaks, rich forests and important wildlife habitats boasting of high endemism. Early field observations by forest officers, wildlife staff and community monitors indicate the damage across these biodiversity-rich landscapes to be extensive. According to Pradeep Samarawickrama, an independent researcher and environmentalist, the Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-listed biodiversity hotspot, experienced some of the worst ecological impacts, with several major landslips reported. “Access roads to the remote areas are still blocked, so we have yet to conduct a full assessment of the situation. But the devastation is evident,” Samarawickrama tells Mongabay. Vegetation surrounding Glenfall waterfall. Picturesque water cascades in the Central district of Nuwara Eliya, which was impacted by intense rainfall during Cyclone Ditwah, with the topsoil washed away leaving slopes fully exposed — conditions that could seriously hinder natural forest regeneration. Image courtesy of Jinapriya Gallage. Fragile ecosystems under threat One&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-takes-heavy-toll-on-sri-lankas-biodiversity-rich-central-highlands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/cyclone-ditwah-takes-heavy-toll-on-sri-lankas-biodiversity-rich-central-highlands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311285</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Death toll rises in Sumatra flood catastrophe as gov’t moves to protect Batang Toru forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/death-toll-rises-in-sumatra-flood-catastrophe-as-govt-moves-to-protect-batang-toru-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/death-toll-rises-in-sumatra-flood-catastrophe-as-govt-moves-to-protect-batang-toru-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 07:13:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Achmad Rizki MuazamAyat S. KarokaroTaufik Wijaya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/09070114/flash-flood-in-Batang-Toru-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310837</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Storms, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NORTH SUMATRA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s environment ministry on Dec. 6 suspended private sector activity in a crucial high conservation value rainforest as rescuers continued working through three Sumatran provinces following a highly unusual and catastrophic tropical cyclone. “We’ve identified at least three main sources exacerbating the flooding: industrial forestry plantations, massive hydropower development and gold [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NORTH SUMATRA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s environment ministry on Dec. 6 suspended private sector activity in a crucial high conservation value rainforest as rescuers continued working through three Sumatran provinces following a highly unusual and catastrophic tropical cyclone. “We’ve identified at least three main sources exacerbating the flooding: industrial forestry plantations, massive hydropower development and gold mining activities in the Batang Toru watershed,” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said Dec. 6. “All of these have contributed significantly to the pressure on the environment.” Batang Toru is an old-growth Sumatran rainforest home to the Tapanauli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), the world’s most endangered species of ape. The minister said the operating permits for three companies would be suspended pending a review following an aerial survey of Batang Toru, one of the areas of Sumatra worst affected by a rare tropical cyclone. Glenn Hurowitz, the chief executive of Mighty Earth, a nonprofit that has campaigned for protection of the Batang Toru ecosystem, said Minister Hanif “deserves thanks from around the world for taking decisive action to protect the Batang Toru ecosystem and local communities… Suspending the operations of companies driving deforestation is a vital step to avoid a repeat of this catastrophe.” Hanif was joined over the weekend on a helicopter flyover by the environment ministry’s deputy director of the law enforcement division, which has powers to conduct criminal investigations. “We’ll assess the damage, assess the legal aspects, and we won’t rule out the possibility of criminal proceedings if violations are found that worsened&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/death-toll-rises-in-sumatra-flood-catastrophe-as-govt-moves-to-protect-batang-toru-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/death-toll-rises-in-sumatra-flood-catastrophe-as-govt-moves-to-protect-batang-toru-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310837</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippine mangroves survived a typhoon, but now confront a human-made challenge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/philippine-mangroves-survived-a-typhoon-but-now-confront-a-human-made-challenge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/philippine-mangroves-survived-a-typhoon-but-now-confront-a-human-made-challenge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Dec 2025 15:56:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/04131402/d.-Paraiso_Mangrove_Eco_Learning_Park_boardwalk_floating_cottage_Tacloban_Leyte__09-09-2022-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310611</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Forestry, Forests, Infrastructure, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves in the Philippine city of Tacloban, the area hit hardest by one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, have recovered and even expanded beyond their pre-disaster extent, thanks largely to community-led reforestation. But scientists caution that ongoing coastal development could threaten the recovering forests. In a recently published study, Hiroshi Takagi, a professor [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mangroves in the Philippine city of Tacloban, the area hit hardest by one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, have recovered and even expanded beyond their pre-disaster extent, thanks largely to community-led reforestation. But scientists caution that ongoing coastal development could threaten the recovering forests. In a recently published study, Hiroshi Takagi, a professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, examined mangrove recovery in the Paraiso neighborhood in the innermost part of Tacloban’s Cancabato Bay. He used satellite imagery to track the decline and rebound of mangrove canopy following the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda) in November 2013. He also applied wind, wave and storm surge modeling to assess the extent of typhoon-induced impacts on the forest. His modeling showed that Haiyan generated storm surges of 4.7 meters (15.4 feet), waves up to 1.3 meters (4.3 feet), and wind gusts of around 148 kilometers per hour (92 miles per hour) — strong enough to flatten the area’s mature Rhizophora apiculata mangrove trees. Satellite images also revealed a sharp drop in vegetation after the storm and minimal coastal recovery in the following three years. Growth began accelerating around 2018, and by 2023, the mangrove area had expanded even beyond pre-Haiyan levels, reaching an estimated 3.6 hectares (8.9 acres) compared to about 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) before the storm. This rebound corresponded with reforestation efforts carried out between 2015 and 2018, when residents, assisted by NGOs and the Philippine and Japanese governments, planted some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/philippine-mangroves-survived-a-typhoon-but-now-confront-a-human-made-challenge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/philippine-mangroves-survived-a-typhoon-but-now-confront-a-human-made-challenge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310611</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In wake of Cyclone Ditwah, Sri Lanka faces continuing disaster risks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-wake-of-cyclone-ditwah-sri-lanka-faces-continuing-disaster-risks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-wake-of-cyclone-ditwah-sri-lanka-faces-continuing-disaster-risks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Dec 2025 10:14:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/04090147/UN-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310582</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Governance, Human Rights, Research, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOLONNAWA, Sri Lanka — When Denuwarage Kusumalatha (54) saw flood water reach her doorstep in the wee hours of Nov. 29, it was already too late. A resident of Kolonnawa, a town situated within Sri Lanka’s commercial district of Colombo, she rushed out of her home, with her most important belongings and family members to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOLONNAWA, Sri Lanka — When Denuwarage Kusumalatha (54) saw flood water reach her doorstep in the wee hours of Nov. 29, it was already too late. A resident of Kolonnawa, a town situated within Sri Lanka’s commercial district of Colombo, she rushed out of her home, with her most important belongings and family members to seek shelter at a nearby school. The relief center housed dozens of people from his neighborhood who had evacuated hours before Cyclone Ditwah hit the Indian Ocean island with alarming force, causing the mighty Kelani River to overflow and flood the plains. The official death toll due to the cyclone stands at 474 at present. Unlike Kusumalatha, many others failed to reach safety on time, leaving nearly 1.6 million displaced and 356 reported missing. In 2016, flash and river floods claimed many lives in Sri Lanka and displaced many others. Kusumalatha’s hometown was identified as a severely flood-affected administrative area in Colombo. The reason is clear: Kolonnawa lies nearly 70% below sea level and saw more than 100,00 people forced out of their low-lying  homes as the Kelani River overflowed in Ditwah’s aftermath. “Our houses were flooded in 2016, and in 2017. But never like this,” she says. Flooded streets of Gampaha, the second-most-populous district in Western Province. Image courtesy of Kushan Pathiraja. A 2021 study conducted by Indunil Ranwella and Nishan Sakalasooriya on adaptation strategies for flood victims in major river basins upheld Megoda-Kolonnawa area’s highly vulnerable status. The study, conducted in the aftermath of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-wake-of-cyclone-ditwah-sri-lanka-faces-continuing-disaster-risks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-wake-of-cyclone-ditwah-sri-lanka-faces-continuing-disaster-risks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310582</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How science links extreme weather disasters to climate change: Interview with WWA’s Clair Barnes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-science-links-extreme-weather-disasters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-science-links-extreme-weather-disasters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2025 11:53:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kristine Sabillo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/25105456/AP25201283121710-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304875</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Earth Science, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Governance, Green, Heatwave, Landslides, Oceans, Politics, Research, Science, Storms, Weather, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Human activities have been the major driver of climate change since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s. As greenhouse gas levels, primarily carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels, have increased in the atmosphere, Earth’s air and oceans have warmed in response — and scientists have warned this warming is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Human activities have been the major driver of climate change since the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s. As greenhouse gas levels, primarily carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels, have increased in the atmosphere, Earth’s air and oceans have warmed in response — and scientists have warned this warming is shifting weather patterns and can make extreme weather like heat, drought and floods worse. But scientifically attributing extreme weather events to climate change versus other natural processes or human activities has been tricky. Since 2014, the World Weather Attribution, an initiative of researchers from around the world, has pioneered methods that allow them to understand if human-induced climate change had a role to play in current extreme weather events. Mongabay has reported on several such WWA rapid attribution studies, from the deadly 2025 rainfall in the U.S. to the 2023 Amazon drought. Recently, Mongabay’s Kristine Sabillo sat down with WWA researcher and environmental statistician Clair Barnes, from Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute–Climate Change and the Environment, to learn more about the WWA’s rapid analyses. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: Can you explain how WWA started and what kind of extreme weather events trigger a rapid attribution study? Clair Barnes: Attribution studies have been done for a long time, but they would typically go through the peer-review process, which takes a very long time. So by the time the studies would come out, everyone had forgotten about the event.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-science-links-extreme-weather-disasters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-science-links-extreme-weather-disasters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304875</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global warming is altering storms lightning, impacting tropical forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/global-warming-is-altering-storms-lightning-impacting-tropical-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/global-warming-is-altering-storms-lightning-impacting-tropical-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2025 14:37:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23144404/Adobe-Express-file-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303045</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, South America, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Disasters, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Soil Carbon, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A climate change-induced surge in brief but intense thunderstorms poses a growing but underrecognized threat to trees in tropical forests, a finding that could have major implications for carbon storage and tropical biodiversity under future global warming scenarios. That’s according to a recently published paper, which determines that short-lived but powerful convective storms — combining [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A climate change-induced surge in brief but intense thunderstorms poses a growing but underrecognized threat to trees in tropical forests, a finding that could have major implications for carbon storage and tropical biodiversity under future global warming scenarios. That’s according to a recently published paper, which determines that short-lived but powerful convective storms — combining high winds with lightning — have become a major driver of tree mortality in Panama and elsewhere in the tropics. Researchers estimate storm activity may already cause 30 to 60% of tree mortality in tropical forests globally. Concerningly, that percentage is likely to rise, with data showing tropical storm activity increasing 5-25% every decade, according to study lead author Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. “If storms are [already] this major driver of mortality as a baseline, and storm activity is [also] increasing, then that would suggest that storms are killing a lot more trees,” Gora says. But, as the paper notes, there are still limited data from around the tropics with most work on storm impacts concentrated in Panama, Brazil and Borneo. Yet for Gora, his team’s findings coincide with observations that tree mortality has been increasing over the past several decades in the Amazon and Australia, suggesting storms may be playing a role. Research suggests that tree mortality due to lightning may be lower in Central African forests compared with other tropical regions, says Bianca Zoletto. There are still high levels of uncertainty as to how intensifying&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/global-warming-is-altering-storms-lightning-impacting-tropical-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/global-warming-is-altering-storms-lightning-impacting-tropical-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303045</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study links surge in lightning disasters in Bangladesh to transboundary air pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/study-links-surge-in-lightning-disasters-in-bangladesh-to-transboundary-air-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/study-links-surge-in-lightning-disasters-in-bangladesh-to-transboundary-air-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2025 10:17:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahadi Al Hasnat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/11100919/3726654252_99130ccd4f_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302232</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Air Pollution, Climate Change, Climate Science, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Storms, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, is witnessing a troubling rise in lightning-related deaths. Scientists point to a strong link between increased lightning activity and worsening air pollution, much of which is carried in from across its borders. A new study, which analyzed six years of lightning and air quality data (2015-20), has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, is witnessing a troubling rise in lightning-related deaths. Scientists point to a strong link between increased lightning activity and worsening air pollution, much of which is carried in from across its borders. A new study, which analyzed six years of lightning and air quality data (2015-20), has found a strong correlation between lightning frequency and elevated concentrations of airborne dust and sulfate particles. These pollutants peak during the pre-monsoon months, particularly April and May — also the time when lightning strikes are most frequent. “We identified two major pollutants — dust and sulfate — that help create the right conditions for more lightning during Bangladesh’s pre-monsoon season,” says Ashraf Dewan, co-author of the study and an associate professor at Australia’s Curtin University. He explains that these pollutants act alongside atmospheric factors like Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), altering how clouds form and making it easier for electrical charges to build up inside storm clouds, ultimately leading to more lightning. The lightnings strike over Bangladesh, but these pollutant particles are not all homegrown. The study links the uptick in lightnings to the transport of large volumes of dust and sulfate aerosols from agricultural burning and industrial emissions in northern and western India, carried into Bangladesh by upper-level westerlies. The study found that, during peak lightning season, dust levels were 88% higher and sulfate levels 51% higher than during the secondary peak in August-September. However, Dewan stresses, this isn’t a simple “more pollution equals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/study-links-surge-in-lightning-disasters-in-bangladesh-to-transboundary-air-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/study-links-surge-in-lightning-disasters-in-bangladesh-to-transboundary-air-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One-two punch for mangroves as seas rise and cyclones intensify</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/one-two-punch-for-mangroves-as-seas-rise-and-cyclones-intensify/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/one-two-punch-for-mangroves-as-seas-rise-and-cyclones-intensify/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2025 15:03:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/06150939/mangrove-portal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300320</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Sea Levels, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than half of all mangrove areas worldwide may face “severe and widespread risk” from climate change-intensified tropical cyclones and rising sea levels by 2100, according to newly published research. The study uses a first-of-its-kind, open-source risk index tool to predict risk for mangroves, according to warming estimates for three different scenarios of greenhouse gas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than half of all mangrove areas worldwide may face “severe and widespread risk” from climate change-intensified tropical cyclones and rising sea levels by 2100, according to newly published research. The study uses a first-of-its-kind, open-source risk index tool to predict risk for mangroves, according to warming estimates for three different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions (intermediate, high, and very high) projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2021. “Almost all regions will see a non-negligible increase in risk,” study lead researcher Sarah Hülsen, from ETH Zürich’s Institute for Environmental Decisions, told Mongabay. But Southeast Asia is likely to be worst affected, with more tropical cyclones and higher wind speeds than at present, according to the study. “Even at the lowest emission pathway [scenario] … Central America, Southeast Africa, East Asia, and Oceania, will become newly affected by very high intensity tropical cyclone winds,” the study says. The tool predicts that the eastern Philippines may experience 254% more tropical cyclones than the historical maximum, regardless of the emissions scenario. This means 50- year storms could now occur up to four times per half-century, potentially becoming once-a-dozen-year storms. Permeable structures in front of Indonesia&#8217;s Demak coast. Image courtesy of Building with Nature Indonesia. Far-reaching impacts Mangrove loss to superstorms isn&#8217;t just an ecological concern — it has major economic and human implications. The estimated annual worth of flood protection from mangroves globally is more than $65 billion, while more than 775 million people are thought to be “highly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/one-two-punch-for-mangroves-as-seas-rise-and-cyclones-intensify/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/one-two-punch-for-mangroves-as-seas-rise-and-cyclones-intensify/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300320</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Honduras pays the climate cost as its forests disappear and storms rise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/honduras-pays-the-climate-cost-as-its-forests-disappear-and-storms-rise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/honduras-pays-the-climate-cost-as-its-forests-disappear-and-storms-rise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2025 14:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mie Hoejris Dahl]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/09135124/Pico-Bonito-National-Park-floods4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297273</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Extreme Weather, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Solutions, Storms, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TOCOA, Honduras &#8211; On a rainy November day in 2024, Storm Sara, a slow-moving tropical cyclone, struck Honduras, claiming at least six lives and displacing more than 6,000 people. Along the country’s northern coast, trees were bent or broken, roads turned into brown rivers, and houses were torn apart and swept away. Sara was one of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TOCOA, Honduras &#8211; On a rainy November day in 2024, Storm Sara, a slow-moving tropical cyclone, struck Honduras, claiming at least six lives and displacing more than 6,000 people. Along the country’s northern coast, trees were bent or broken, roads turned into brown rivers, and houses were torn apart and swept away. Sara was one of 18 storms to batter Honduras last year.  Storms like Sara have been wreaking havoc across Honduras in part because the country continues to lose its forests, considered one of its best defenses against climate change-related events, experts have warned. Deforestation rates in the country continue to be among the highest in the Americas, driven primarily by cattle ranching, logging, mining and illegal drug trafficking. The loss of vegetation cover has rendered the land unable to absorb excess water, worsening the impacts of floods that destroy homes, crops and entire communities.  Amid the current climate crisis, forests may hold the key to mitigating climate risks, according to Josué León, coordinator of the forest unit at the Department of Environment and Development at Zamorano University in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Sources consulted by Mongabay say the Honduran government has started acknowledging the crucial role of forests in mitigating mounting climate risks, but its focus remains on emergency response, leaving most climate mitigation efforts to international actors or neglecting them altogether. Efforts to address deforestation are also lagging, they say. A red dirt road cuts through expansive oil palm plantations. Commodity-driven agriculture is responsible for 25% of Honduras&#8217; forest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/honduras-pays-the-climate-cost-as-its-forests-disappear-and-storms-rise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/honduras-pays-the-climate-cost-as-its-forests-disappear-and-storms-rise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297273</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Acapulco’s mangroves disappear, Mexico takes strides to protect its coastal forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/as-acapulcos-mangroves-disappear-mexico-takes-strides-to-protect-its-coastal-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/as-acapulcos-mangroves-disappear-mexico-takes-strides-to-protect-its-coastal-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2025 17:04:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gonzalo Ortuño López]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/06192448/manglares-acapulco-mexico-huracanes-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Forest Loss, Green, Habitat Loss, Herps, Mangroves, Oceans, Restoration, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Mexican port city of Acapulco, in southwestern Guerrero state, human activities have put so much pressure on the most important lagoons that the mangrove areas in this city have been severely damaged by urbanization and made more vulnerable to damage from hurricanes. Some mangroves are even on the path to disappearing, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Mexican port city of Acapulco, in southwestern Guerrero state, human activities have put so much pressure on the most important lagoons that the mangrove areas in this city have been severely damaged by urbanization and made more vulnerable to damage from hurricanes. Some mangroves are even on the path to disappearing, according to a 2024 study published in the journal Comunicación Científica. The study analyzed the various impacts that have brought the main lagoons in Acapulco to a critical state beyond the damage left by Hurricane Otis in 2023, which was the strongest to make landfall in the Mexican Pacific in 40 years. Low tide at a damaged Acapulco mangrove. Image courtesy of Benjamín Castillo Elías. The study found the mangroves of Laguna Negra in Puerto Marqués, Acapulco, diminished by about 60% between 1970 and 2020. After Hurricane Otis, the mangrove areas almost completely disappeared, according to the study. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch suggest mangrove loss continued in 2024. The study’s results indicate the disappearance of the Laguna Negra mangrove is due to population growth and the expansion of agriculture. Farther south, Laguna Tres Palos is the largest lagoon in Acapulco. Although the impact of hurricanes on the lagoon has been comparatively minor, it still lost 30% of its mangrove areas between 1970 and 2020 due primarily to agricultural expansion, according to the study. Study co-author Benjamín Castillo Elías, who specializes in the management and conservation of mangroves, told Mongabay Latam that Acapulco’s mangrove loss is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/as-acapulcos-mangroves-disappear-mexico-takes-strides-to-protect-its-coastal-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/as-acapulcos-mangroves-disappear-mexico-takes-strides-to-protect-its-coastal-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297118</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A tale of two cities: What drove 2024’s Valencia and Porto Alegre floods?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-tale-of-two-cities-what-drove-2024s-valencia-and-porto-alegre-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-tale-of-two-cities-what-drove-2024s-valencia-and-porto-alegre-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Mar 2025 22:32:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerry McGovernSue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/12124136/6-The-army-joined-rescue-efforts-in-the-worst-flash-floods-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295673</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Deforestation, Disasters, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Politics, Social Justice, Storms, Temperatures, Water, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Neither Porto Alegre, Brazil, nor Valencia, Spain, are in the news this week. But they have been before, and almost certainly will be again, as bouts of extreme drought, followed by deluge, become more frequent and fierce. The media cameras are gone from 2024’s inundations, but in Valencia 100,000 wrecked cars remain to be disposed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Neither Porto Alegre, Brazil, nor Valencia, Spain, are in the news this week. But they have been before, and almost certainly will be again, as bouts of extreme drought, followed by deluge, become more frequent and fierce. The media cameras are gone from 2024’s inundations, but in Valencia 100,000 wrecked cars remain to be disposed of, and in both cities there’s a visceral trauma felt each time rain starts falling. And there’s the daily grind, as residents pick up the pieces in communities where year by year extreme weather makes it harder to live. The people ask why it’s happening, and scientists try to provide answers. Perhaps surprisingly, researchers are finding similar patterns of causation in these cities on two widely separated continents — patterns serving as a warning to the world. What residents know in their very bones is that repeated massive flooding sweeps away historical and cultural diversity, homes, livelihoods, financial and family well-being. When last year waves of torrential rain fell on both communities — Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil and Valencia on the Mediterranean coast of eastern Spain — they ended up looking much the same, drowned in mud and misery. When the water receded, many causes were pointed to involving dynamic Earth systems, though causation and solutions are proving more complex and daunting than expected. Aftermath of the 2024 flood in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Image by CarolSiBa via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Twin deluges Porto Alegre was the first hit in 2024.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-tale-of-two-cities-what-drove-2024s-valencia-and-porto-alegre-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-tale-of-two-cities-what-drove-2024s-valencia-and-porto-alegre-floods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295673</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil has seen a 460% increase in climate-related disasters since the 1990s</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/brazil-has-seen-a-460-increase-in-climate-related-disasters-since-the-1990s/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/brazil-has-seen-a-460-increase-in-climate-related-disasters-since-the-1990s/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2025 09:36:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Letícia Klein]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/11092939/96756c96-8752-41d5-9f53-fa600d01f45e-e1737644731362-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294220</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Disasters, Drought, Environment, Environmental Policy, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Warming, Storms, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s a proven fact: the relationship between rising global temperatures and the number of climate-related disasters is directly proportional. From 1991 through 2023, each rise of 0.1°C in the average global air temperature led to 360 new records of climate-related disasters in Brazil, including severe droughts, flooding and storms. The consequential rise in the ocean’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s a proven fact: the relationship between rising global temperatures and the number of climate-related disasters is directly proportional. From 1991 through 2023, each rise of 0.1°C in the average global air temperature led to 360 new records of climate-related disasters in Brazil, including severe droughts, flooding and storms. The consequential rise in the ocean’s surface temperature led to 584 new cases. There was an average increase of 100 new extreme events per year in Brazil over the period and subsequent economic losses amounting to some R$ 5.6 billion ($970 million) for each 0.1°C rise in average global temperature. The process has accelerated this decade, with 4,077 disasters recorded per year on average. During the 1990s, this number was a mere 725, meaning there has been a 460% increase since then. These unprecedented data are from the study entitled “2024 – The Hottest Year in History,” carried out by the Brazilian Ocean Literacy Alliance, a group of multiple organizations focused on work related to the Ocean Decade. The project is coordinated by the Sea of Science Program at Brazil’s São Paulo Federal University (UNIFESP), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and by UNESCO. It is funded by the Boticário Group Foundation and other NGOs. The study is the first volume in the series entitled “Brazil in Transformation: The impact of the Climate Crisis.” The collection offers visual and educational information on a complex and often misunderstood topic. “When you talk about climate change, it seems like a far-off or&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/brazil-has-seen-a-460-increase-in-climate-related-disasters-since-the-1990s/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/brazil-has-seen-a-460-increase-in-climate-related-disasters-since-the-1990s/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294220</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of ‘irreversible climate disaster’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/as-25-earth-vital-signs-worsen-scientists-warn-of-irreversible-climate-disaster/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/as-25-earth-vital-signs-worsen-scientists-warn-of-irreversible-climate-disaster/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2024 14:09:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/15111850/Hurricane-Milton-Photo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288713</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Disasters, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Politics, Research, Science, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earth’s climate system continues to rapidly deteriorate, with global temperatures on track to far overshoot 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century — a mere 75 years from now. That warning comes from an international group of eminent climate researchers and Earth System scientists who reviewed the planet’s vital signs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earth’s climate system continues to rapidly deteriorate, with global temperatures on track to far overshoot 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century — a mere 75 years from now. That warning comes from an international group of eminent climate researchers and Earth System scientists who reviewed the planet’s vital signs in the journal BioScience. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled,” the authors write. “The global failure to support a rapid and socially just fossil fuel phasedown has led to rapidly escalating climate-related impacts.” The researchers evaluated 35 planetary vital signs. and found 25 are at record levels, driving a series of increasingly severe climate-linked disasters over the past year. These extreme events affected millions of people across the globe and included devastating floods in East Africa, rampant wildfires in the Amazon and Pantanal ecosystem, and heatwaves across Europe and Asia. Back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the U.S. Southeast — two more examples of supercharged storm systems. “It’s very likely that climate change is making powerful hurricanes like Helene and Milton more common and devastating,” study author William Ripple, distinguished professor at Oregon State University and director of the Alliance of World Scientists, told Mongabay in an email. “The climate crisis is becoming increasingly severe, and we are now faced with many climate-related disasters along with catastrophic risks in the longer term.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/as-25-earth-vital-signs-worsen-scientists-warn-of-irreversible-climate-disaster/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/as-25-earth-vital-signs-worsen-scientists-warn-of-irreversible-climate-disaster/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288713</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Faced with an extreme future, one Colombian island struggles to rebuild</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/faced-with-an-extreme-future-one-colombian-island-struggles-to-rebuild/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/faced-with-an-extreme-future-one-colombian-island-struggles-to-rebuild/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2024 13:49:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Pablo Pérez Burgos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/15100823/Providencia-Pictures-10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280936</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Change, Community Development, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Environment, Extreme Weather, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Islands, Oceans, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[No one on the Colombian island of Providencia was prepared for what happened on the night of Nov. 16, 2020. Not even Josefina Huffington, who had survived four hurricanes. That evening, as she waited for the storm to pass by playing parchisi with her son, a tree, lifted by winds as fast as 305 kilometers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[No one on the Colombian island of Providencia was prepared for what happened on the night of Nov. 16, 2020. Not even Josefina Huffington, who had survived four hurricanes. That evening, as she waited for the storm to pass by playing parchisi with her son, a tree, lifted by winds as fast as 305 kilometers per hour (190 miles per hour), smashed against her window. &#8220;This is it,&#8221; she recalls telling him as she saw the roof fly away. They survived the storm, but their 1,700-hectare (4,200-acre) island, part of the San Andrés Archipelago, was turned into rubble. “The color of everything changed, everything was black, ” Huffington says. “The entire island looked as if it was set on fire.” Hurricane Iota destroyed around 2,000 homes in Providencia, which has a population of roughly 4,600. Hospitals, schools and churches were flattened by the category 4 hurricane. Nothing was left. This might not be a singular event; research has shown that climate change could bring more intense extreme weather in the region. As some scientists fear a change in hurricane behavior, communities across the more than 700 islands in the Caribbean Sea are increasingly vulnerable to their impacts. Before the hurricane, houses in Providencia differed in size and color. Now, they all look alike: blue, yellow, green, or purple walls and white roofs. Image courtesy of Juan Pablo Pérez Burgos. After the disaster, Colombian authorities sent help to Providencia; by the end of 2022, two years after Iota, almost every house&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/faced-with-an-extreme-future-one-colombian-island-struggles-to-rebuild/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/faced-with-an-extreme-future-one-colombian-island-struggles-to-rebuild/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280936</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As lightning strike fatalities increase, Bangladesh still has no reliable preventive measures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/as-lightning-strike-fatalities-increase-bangladesh-still-has-no-reliable-preventive-measures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/as-lightning-strike-fatalities-increase-bangladesh-still-has-no-reliable-preventive-measures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Mar 2024 05:31:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/29171439/rain-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279341</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Science, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Storms, Technology, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over several decades, Bangladesh has seen an increase in the frequency of lightnings and, consequently, an increase in fatalities resulting from lightning strikes. Researchers have linked the increased frequency of lightning with climate change. As for the increased death toll, they blame the country&#8217;s inadequate early warning systems and big tree coverage. According to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over several decades, Bangladesh has seen an increase in the frequency of lightnings and, consequently, an increase in fatalities resulting from lightning strikes. Researchers have linked the increased frequency of lightning with climate change. As for the increased death toll, they blame the country&#8217;s inadequate early warning systems and big tree coverage. According to the Department of Disaster Management in Bangladesh, between 2011 and 2020, lightning strikes claimed the lives of 2,164 people, or nearly four people every week. However, data from a Bangladeshi NGO, Foundation for Disaster Forum, shows at least 3,273 individuals died due to lightning strikes between 2010 and 2021, with 2021 seeing the highest number — 363 deaths. Many more casualties remain unreported, according to the Foundation of Disaster Forum, which works on disaster management in the country. The people most at risk from lightning strikes work in monsoon-related income-generating activities, such as fishing and farming in open agricultural fields, like growing rice. In recent years, as the occurrence of lightnings has increased, they have become a major cause of death during the months of March, April and May, which is the kalbaishakhi season, a pre-monsoon storm that develops in the Bangladeshi region. Bangladesh has seen an increase in the frequency of lightnings and, consequently, an increase in fatalities resulting from lightning strikes. Image by Topu Saha via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Lightning related death toll has been increasing in Bangladesh due to a lack of awareness among people with such occupations, said Gawher Nayeem&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/as-lightning-strike-fatalities-increase-bangladesh-still-has-no-reliable-preventive-measures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/as-lightning-strike-fatalities-increase-bangladesh-still-has-no-reliable-preventive-measures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279341</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Causeway threatens mangroves that Philippine fishers planted as typhoon shield</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/causeway-threatens-mangroves-that-philippine-fishers-planted-as-typhoon-shield/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/causeway-threatens-mangroves-that-philippine-fishers-planted-as-typhoon-shield/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2023 17:42:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Beltran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/21114712/Roque-Regis-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276899</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fish, Fishing, food security, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Infrastructure, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Solutions, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TACLOBAN, Philippines — “I can’t walk but I can fish,” says 68-year old Rodolfo Deliva, a lifelong fisherman. For nearly two decades he’s relied on his crutches to get around because of a bad case of gout. Thankfully for him, making fishing nets and going out on a boat for his daily catch don’t require [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TACLOBAN, Philippines — “I can’t walk but I can fish,” says 68-year old Rodolfo Deliva, a lifelong fisherman. For nearly two decades he’s relied on his crutches to get around because of a bad case of gout. Thankfully for him, making fishing nets and going out on a boat for his daily catch don’t require much standing. Deliva lives in the village of Paraiso (“Paradise”) along the coast of Cancabato Bay in the central Philippines. Due to its marine biodiversity and sprawling mangrove forests, the bay was in 2003 declared a protected area by the Tacoloban city government, in whose jurisdiction it lies. However, ongoing construction of a 2.56-kilometer (1.59-mile) road embankment and reclamation project, the Tacloban City Causeway, threatens to rip the forest apart and dump concrete into the bay’s waters. Experts and local fishers say the project will compromise the bay’s fishing grounds and natural protection from typhoons. It also means the authorities will have greater impetus to enforce the eviction of the coastal dwellings that have been deemed illegal because of their proximity to possible storm surges. Deliva and his neighbors will be forced to leave of that happens. The only option for many is government resettlement housing, hours away from the coast. Deliva speaks to Mongabay on the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan, the second-strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall. He pours himself a glass of tuba, the local coconut wine, while recalling the tsunami-like waves that crashed into Paraiso, leaving their makeshift homes a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/causeway-threatens-mangroves-that-philippine-fishers-planted-as-typhoon-shield/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/causeway-threatens-mangroves-that-philippine-fishers-planted-as-typhoon-shield/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276899</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>