Extreme weather
Updated
USA
Hawaiian island wildfire death toll jumps and will probably keep rising, says governor
The search of the wildfire wreckage on Maui revealed a wasteland of burned out homes as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 53 lives.
- by Audrey Mcavoy, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Nick Perry
Latest
‘Downslope winds’: How the Hawaii fires spread so quickly
As the arid winds swept over the West Maui Mountains, they forced air to accelerate down the west side of the mountains - with tragic results.
- by Dan Stillman
Updated
Hawaii
Hawaii ‘like an apocalypse’ as historic town destroyed by hurricane-fanned fires
The death toll from the inferno has reached 36. Some people had to flee into the ocean to escape fire and smoke.
- by Marco Garcia
Extreme global weather prompts fears about the hot summer to come
How best to manage extreme heat is becoming a problem for cities around the world. In parts of the northern hemisphere, the body can’t function properly.
- by Laura Chung
‘They tried to protect Beijing, so they sacrificed Zhuozhou’
To avoid flooding China’s prized technology firms, the government chose to devastate communities elsewhere. Residents can barely contain their frustration.
- by Eryk Bagshaw and Daniel Ceng
Residents awoken by 5.6-magnitude earthquake south of Perth
The Bureau of Meteorology says there is no tsunami threat to Australia.
- by Alex Condon
Unexpected rains around Chinese capital leave dozens dead, missing
The severity of the flooding took the capital by surprise. Beijing usually has dry summers and had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year.
Antarctica is missing sea ice and scientists don’t know why
CSIRO Fellow and Research Team Leader Dr Steve Rintoul said while there is some annual variation in ice coverage, this year’s records are the lowest in the 40 years since records started.
- by Laura Chung
While a bear jumps into a Jacuzzi, the poorest Americans are desperate for respite
As climate change fans hotter and longer heatwaves, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defences. Airconditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
- by Jesse Bedayn
Like ‘soup’: Amid heatwave, Florida water becomes too hot to cool swimmers
In summer, millions grab their swimsuits for a day at the beach and a chance to cool off in the water. But when water temperatures get too high, the appeal is quickly lost.
- by Michael Phillis, Beatrice Dupuy and Rebecca Blackwell
Global boiling: Sydney hasn’t done enough to prepare for lethal heat
It’s possible that without emission cuts and as climate change worsens, summer temperatures could rise from 26.4 to 29 degrees by 2100, a climate similar to PNG’s.
- by Laura Chung