Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
USA TODAY
Climate Point: Cicadas and wild weather are here
By Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY,
12 days ago
Billions of cicadas are beginning to swarm in parts of the eastern half of the United States, while wild, stormy weather over the past few weeks has caused more than 500 tornadoes since April 1. Meanwhile, record snowfall in some locations brings good news for the water year and for ecosystems.
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to news about climate, energy and the environment. I'm Dinah Voyles Pulver, on USA TODAY's national climate and environment team.
Cicadas only emerge when soil surface temperatures reach 64 degrees, writes USA TODAY's Elizabeth Weise. Broods of cicadas arrive at different intervals every 13 and 17 years, and this year sees a rare dual-emergence of two gigantic cicada broods, Brood XIX and Brood XIII, which arrive at different intervals.
“They're sort of goofy. They’re not super great flyers and they’re kind of awkward when they land," said Floyd Shockley, co-lead of the entomology department at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. "They don’t bite, they’re not poisonous. If your pet eats one it’s not going to harm them. They’re totally harmless to humans and domestic animals."
The chorales of cicadas come from the males , whose almost completely hollow abdomens allow sound waves from their exoskeleton's to bounce around and boom in loud mating calls to females, writes Emily DeLetter with USA TODAY. Likewise, females make clicking sounds with their wings to attract males, but they're not as loud.
Wild weather
Tornado sirens screamed into cities this week, as a storm system slammed states from Texas to Michigan, with high winds, flooding rainfall, hail as big as baseballs and more than 100 reported tornadoes over a stretch of four days. Exhausted weather forecasters are working to muster up staff to sort out where the damages are and what magnitude the tornadoes were, while victims of the storms begin sorting their next steps.
Nationwide, 381 tornadoes were reported , according to preliminary storm reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center. That's roughly twice the long-term average number of tornadoes for the month. By the ninth, another 150 tornadoes had been reported in May, more than half the monthly average over 24 years.
All the right ingredients have been in place to boost that tornado activity, said Harold Brooks, an expert in tornadoes at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Severe Storms Laboratory.
The tornado outbreak also prompted conversations about one of this summer's most anticipated movies , Twisters, a follow up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Judging by the trailer, the action in the new movie might be almost as loud as the cicadas.
A late boost to the snowpack and water year
The same storms that helped spawn all the tornadoes delivered some big snowfall totals. The snow on May 4th at Lake Tahoe, was the most snow they’ve seen in 24 hours during the current water year, reports Ramon Padilla, a graphics journalist at USA TODAY. Water years in California are measured from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Last year at this time, Trinity Lake was less than 40% full , and getting down to the water for boating or fishing meant walking or driving a half-a-mile in some places to get to the water, but not this year, said resident Raine Harrison. Last week the lake was 85% full, in what residents hope is a good omen for the tourist season to come.
An improvement in drought conditions also has been reported in Colorado, where the snowpack is at about 90% of median, as of April 3, writes Ignacio Calderon at the Coloradoan.
Cleaning up decades of soil contamination
In Montana, important work begins this week to start cleaning up lead and arsenic in yards in the Black Eagle community, writes David Murray at the Great Falls Tribune. The contaminants in the soils built up over 80 years of smelting activities at the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Crews plan to work through the summer “and clean as many yards as possible,” Murray reports.
The ACM Smelter and Refinery Superfund site is on the eastern end of Black Eagle, a community that has a history of ore smelting and refining dating back to 1893.
The governor’s signature on the bill prompted an outcry from organizations that support outdoor workers, wrote Kate Cimini, with the USA TODAY Network in Florida.
The law targeted Miami-Dade County, the only local jurisdiction with the rule setting regulations for employers.
Last year, the heat index in Miami exceeded 100 degrees on at least 46 days, according to Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami.
"Florida House Bill 433 states that cities or towns don’t have a right to require employers to provide heat or shade breaks that the state or federal government doesn’t already require. Absent a state department of worker safety, Florida falls under federal OSHA jurisdiction, which covers most private-sector workers in the state," Cimini writes. "However, neither the federal government nor Florida has a heat standard that requires breaks at certain temperatures or sun exposure; advocates say the language is frustratingly vague."
“These pro-heat stress bills are really about making sure no one is held accountable if something bad happens to workers…if they get sick or die in extreme heat,” said Helene O’Brien, a district director for a Miami-based custodial workers' union.
Read on for more, including a 200-pound alligator snapping turtle and new cost estimates on the Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas. So me of the stories below may require a subscription. Sign up and get access to all eNewspapers in the USA TODAY Network. If someone forwarded you this email and you'd like to receive Climate Point in your inbox for free once a week, sign up here .
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0