South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces impeachment vote after imposing martial law
Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will face an impeachment vote Saturday, days after briefly imposing martial law.
The country’s dominant opposition party moved on Wednesday to impeach Yoon, submitting a motion a day after his declaration of martial law set off a night of political chaos.
The opposition party, the Democratic Party, had been working Friday to gain enough votes from the ruling party side to pass the motion to impeach, which would then go to the Constitutional Court.
A high-level official in Korea’s spy agency this week also said he had refused a request by the president to arrest several key political figures. He was immediately dismissed with Yoon claiming he did note order arrests of lawmakers.
The head of the ruling People Power Party turned course from Thursday in announcing that the president is unfit to lead the country.
“I think that President Yoon Suk Yeol should be suspended from office as soon as possible,” Han Dong-hoon said during an emergency party meeting on Friday morning.
He was careful to avoid using the word “impeachment” but implied that Yoon should either resign or be forced to step down.
After that about-face statement, South Korea’s political scene went through a roller coaster ride.
Han briefly met with the president at his request in the afternoon.
The president was on his way to the National Assembly but turned back after a group of opposition party lawmakers gathered at the entrance of the Assembly Hall chanting “impeachment,” “treason” and and even calling for the arrest of Yoon.
The speaker of the National Assembly read a stern statement on camera demanding that the president hold off a visit to the National Assembly until security matters are ironed out.
“A second sate of emergency cannot be tolerated,” and “If there is, by any chance, another misjudgment by the President in declaring a state of emergency, we will do everything in our power to prevent it,” Woo Won-shik said.
Yoon declared martial law in a televised speech late Tuesday, saying the measure was necessary due to the actions of the country’s liberal opposition, which he accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.
The move sparked massive protests, and hours after the declaration, the National Assembly voted early Wednesday morning local time demanding that the president lift the martial law order. Yoon lifted the order shortly thereafter.
“This is a serious act of rebellion and perfect grounds for impeachment,” a Democratic Party spokesperson said in a statement after martial law was lifted.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut. The strikes form the backdrop for a fresh diplomatic push by the White House ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
Hamas denies that leaders relocated from Qatar to Turkey
Hamas denied reports in Israeli media that its leadership has relocated from Qatar to Turkey amid a breakdown in Doha-supported cease-fire talks earlier this month.
Hamas dismissed the news reports as “rumors” spread by Israeli authorities in a statement posted to its official website.
Qatar told Israel and Hamas earlier this month it could not continue to mediate cease-fire and hostage release talks “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith.”
Doha is under U.S. pressure to expel Hamas leaders. A senior administration official told ABC News earlier this month that the group’s “continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Shannon K. Kingston and Somayeh Malekian
Gaza death toll nears 44,000, health officials say
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that 43,922 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 104,000 more injured.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 96 people and wounded at least 60 in Gaza through the weekend, officials said. The dead included 72 people in north Gaza and more than 20 from other areas of the strip.
Most of those killed were displaced women and children sheltering in residential buildings in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.
Beit Lahiya is at the heart of the Israel Defense Forces’ recent northern offensive, which has been accompanied with sweeping evacuation orders and spiking civilian casualties.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah positive on US cease-fire proposal, reports say
Hezbollah responded positively to the U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli and Lebanese media reported Monday.
U.S. special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday to discuss the proposal before heading to Israel to speak with leaders there.
The proposal is reportedly based on the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1701 that sought to end the last major cross-border conflict in 2006.
That deal ordered Hezbollah to withdraw all military units and weapons north of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. The resolution also prohibited Israeli ground and air forces from crossing into Lebanese territory.
Israeli leaders have demanded open-ended freedom to act against threats in Lebanon, a stipulation reportedly opposed by Hezbollah and Lebanese leaders.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Khamenei meets with ambassador injured in pager attacks
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, as the latter continues his recovery from injuries sustained during Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in September.
Khamenei’s official X account posted a short video of their interaction on Monday, in which Amani told the Iranian leader he lost around half of the vision in his right eye in the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah media relations chief killed in Israeli strike
Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations chief, was killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed.
The strike on central Beirut partially collapsed a building and injured three others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed Afif’s death. In a statement, the IDF said he joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and went on to become a “central and veteran figure in the organization who greatly influenced Hezbollah’s military activity.”
Citing one particular incident, the statement claimed that he had played a key role in the drone attack on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea in October.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Pope calls for investigation to determine whether Israeli attacks on Gaza are ‘genocide’
Pope Francis, in an upcoming book to be released ahead of his 2025 jubilee, called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to the Vatican.
“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” he wrote in a passage released by the Vatican.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope wrote. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.
The strikes continue despite a cease-fire push fronted by President Joe Biden’s White House as it prepares to hand power to President-elect Donald Trump.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
Lebanon death toll rises ahead of possible cease-fire
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said Tuesday that the death toll from Israel’s military operations in the country had risen to 3,768 people as of Sunday.
Another 15,699 people have been wounded since renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023, the ministry said.
Israel continued airstrikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning even amid reports of an imminent cease-fire deal. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported six people killed in multiple attacks in the southern Nabatieh Governorate.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued fresh evacuation warnings for Beirut’s southern Dahiya area on Tuesday morning ahead of planned airstrikes there.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
Details of Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire deal emerge
A cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah would begin soon after its announcement, with the aim of achieving a permanent cease-fire after 60 days, according to an Israeli source with knowledge of the potential deal.
The U.S. will head a committee, joined by French and Arab partners, to monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire, the source said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss the deal and hold a cabinet vote, Israeli officials said.
There is almost unanimous support in the cabinet for the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, and it is expected to be approved. Far-right leader Ben Gvir is expected to vote against it.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
‘We don’t believe we have an agreement yet’: State Department
The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact “is up to the parties, not to us,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.
“We don’t believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we’re close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope — we hope that we can get there,” Miller said.
Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that “nothing’s final until everything’s final.”
“Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Israeli strikes kill 31, injure at least 62 people in Lebanon
Israeli forces conducted strikes Monday in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and in southern Lebanon as talks of a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued on both sides.
At least 31 people were killed and 62 others injured in the strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire
There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.
Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.
Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right. That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear. A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.
The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
White House says deal is close but nothing is final
A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was close, White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby reiterated in a briefing Tuesday, but he would not give details about the deal or specific timing, saying he had to be careful not to get in the way of the tenuous diplomacy.
“We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction. But again, nothing is done until everything is done. Nothing’s all negotiated till everything is negotiated. And you know, we need to keep at the work to see it through so that we can actually get the ceasefire for which we’ve been working for for so long and so hard,” Kirby said.
Kirby declined to say if any announcement from President Joe Biden and French President Emanuel Macron should be expected over the next few days.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Far-right Israeli minister says Lebanon cease-fire would be a ‘big mistake’
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon would be “a big mistake.”
Ending the war would be a “missed opportunity” to “eradicate Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X.
Ben-Gvir has previously pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any cease-fire deal in Gaza, where fighting continues with Hamas and other militant groups.
“We must continue until the absolute victory,” Ben-Gvir said of both the Gaza and Lebanon fronts.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Khamenei calls for ‘death sentence’ for Netanyahu, Israeli leaders
In an address to thousands of Basij militia members on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were insufficient.
“What [they have] done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime,” Khamenei said.
“Now they have issued arrest warrants for them; this is not enough,” he added of the ICC decision. “A death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.
Netanyahu’s office expressed its “disgust” at the decision and dismissed the ICC warrant as “absurd.”
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Joe Simonetti
Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces said its warplanes “conducted intelligence-based strikes on several Hezbollah command centers” in southern Beirut on Monday.
The strikes again focused on the Dahiya area in the south of the Lebanese capital, which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Monday’s bombings followed an intense day of strikes on Sunday, as diplomats continued to push for a cease-fire agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
1 hour ago
UAE arrests 3 people accused of rabbi’s killing
The United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry said Monday it arrested three Uzbek nationals suspected of the kidnapping and killing of Moldovan-Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan.
Kogan, 28, was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Nov. 21. He managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
The ministry identified the three detained men as Olimpi Tohirovic, 28, Mahmoud John Abdul Rahim, 28, and Azizi Kamilovic, 33. It did not say whether charges had been filed and did not suggest a motive.
Israeli leaders have framed the killing as an antisemitic terror operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his nation would “act by all means” to “bring justice to the murderers and their senders.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
IDF issues new Beirut airstrike warnings
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Monday morning that Israeli warplanes would soon begin new airstrikes in Beirut, following 24 hours of intense bombing of the city’s southern suburbs.
Adraee ordered residents of the Haret Hreik area of the southern Dahiya suburbs — known as a Hezbollah stronghold — to flee their homes and stay at least 500 meters from target buildings identified on an IDF map.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
More strikes on southern Beirut suburbs
There were more strikes Sunday night in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by dozens of Israeli strikes in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday night’s strikes in Dahieh were on “12 Hezbollah command centers.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
29 dead in central Beirut after Saturday’s airstrike
The death toll from an Israeli strike Saturday in central Beirut has risen to 29, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The update on casualties came as emergency workers continued to search collapsed buildings for survivors of the strike, an official said.
At least 67 people were also injured in the Israeli strike, according to the Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Israeli official confirms Netanyahu holding meeting on Lebanon cease-fire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a meeting with security officials on Sunday night regarding ongoing Lebanon cease-fire talks, an Israeli official told ABC News.
The development comes after Netanyahu met last week in Israel with U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and discussed a possible cease-fire in Lebanon. Hochstein also traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss a cease-deal between Hezbollah and Israel.
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heatwaves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
Compost your pumpkin and do a gourd thing for the planet
From carving jack-o-lanterns to baking pies, pumpkins are a staple of fall festivities and Halloween. According to the USDA, American farmers produced more than 1.6 billion pounds of pumpkins last year.
But what happens to all those pumpkins after the trick-or-treating and hayrides are done? The ones that aren’t turned into food end up at a local landfill and decompose into methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is contributing to climate change.
In the U.S., food is the most common material sent to landfills, making up 24% of municipal solid waste. The EPA estimates that food waste, including pumpkins, is responsible for 58% of fugitive methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills.
There are alternatives, however, to throwing out your pumpkins and other organic decorations like hay, cornstalks and leaves. But before you get started, make sure these materials are free of paint, coating and any nonorganic compounds. Those should be discarded in the trash.
Composting is an excellent option if your pumpkin doesn’t have any of those alterations. This can be done in your backyard or at a local community-based composting program. Just make sure you remove the seeds or your compost could turn into a pumpkin patch. To speed up the composting process, you can break your pumpkin into little pieces before spreading it into your garden. Unlike landfills that trap waste, bacteria in your backyard release very little methane when they break down organic material.
If you don’t want to compost it at home, look for local events and nonprofits, like Pumpkins for the People, that collect used pumpkins for farms and community composting. Some zoos and local farms also accept pumpkins and use them to feed their animals.
Besides composting, you can also chop up your pumpkin and leave it out for local wildlife to enjoy. The Nature Conservancy says that many animals, from squirrels to porcupines, enjoy feasting on this fall treat. But you should ask for permission before leaving it at a park or a managed open space like a state or national park, as some discourage this practice.
You could turn your pumpkin into a temporary bird feeder and leave the pumpkin seeds for birds completing their migration journey. You can also plant the pumpkin seeds. According to the National Wildlife Federation, the blooming flowers of the pumpkin plant provide a great source of nectar for certain bee species and insects.
-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck and ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
What caused the extreme flooding in Spain that killed more than 90 people?
The weather phenomenon responsible for the extreme rainfall and flooding in Valencia, Spain, isn’t rare or even uncommon. It was also well forecasted in the days leading up to the storm.
The Mediterranean region, including parts of eastern Spain, is frequently affected by heavy rainfall and significant flash flooding events. This recent disaster saw a year’s worth of rainfall in just eight hours. In September 2019, the same region saw 12 to 18 inches of rain in 48 hours.
What’s responsible for these events is a weather system known as a cut-off low. This happens when a low-pressure area is separated from the primary airflow.
Cut-off lows are common and can happen at any time of the year, anywhere in the world. When there is an extended stretch of cloudy, damp, and dreary weather, this is often related to a cut-off low.
However, the slow-moving nature of a cut-off low can set the stage for devastating extreme rainfall events when it interacts with other favorable factors, like the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea and nearby mountains. Because it is slow-moving, it can quickly pound areas with relentless rounds of heavy rain, resulting in significant flooding.
In Spain, these weather events are often called a “gota fría,” which translates to “cold drop.” But that term doesn’t tell the whole story. What happened in Valencia wasn’t caused by a sudden cold blast sweeping across the region but by the unique characteristics of a cut-off low.
That’s not to say that cold air in the atmosphere doesn’t play a role in enhancing the precipitation. It does bring more frequent rounds of heavy rain. As the system pushes the colder air over the very warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, it helps trigger and enhance areas of heavy rain.
Because the low-pressure system moves very slowly, it keeps sending waves of heavy rain over the same areas for an extended period, bringing extreme rainfall totals and catastrophic flash flooding.
The nearby mountains also likely enhanced the precipitation and impacts. Plus, the infrastructure in the Valencia region, like many municipalities, isn’t built to handle this amount of rainfall. Add in all of those factors, and you get catastrophic flash flooding.
What role, if any, does climate change play in these extreme weather events?
Climate attribution science will look at how much worse the rain was because of human-caused emissions, but we know that human-amplified climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier rainfall and related flood risks. More intense extreme rainfall events increase the frequency and scale of flash flooding as the influx of water is more than the infrastructure of many municipalities was built to handle.
According to the U.S. Government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment, human-amplified climate change is contributing to increases in the frequency and intensity of the heaviest precipitation events. So, in a way, we are all making it rain more.
-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck and ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
Reducing food waste is good for your budget and the planet
We waste a lot of food. According to the U.N., over a billion tons of it are wasted each year globally, most of it from households. Not only does wasting all this food cost the average American family $1,200 a year, but it’s a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA says food waste in the U.S. is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of more than 50 million passenger cars and is responsible for 58% of methane emissions from municipal landfills.
Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas because it traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The U.N. Environment Programme says methane is “responsible for more than 35 percent of the global warming we are experiencing today.”
How does our food waste become methane?
Landfills act like big diaper linings on the ground, so nothing we throw away decomposes into the soil. There’s a barrier preventing it. Our food waste gets sandwiched between all the plastic, metal and non-organic trash, and without oxygen, it mummifies and releases methane. So, every time we throw away leftover food, we create methane and speed up climate change.
There are, however, ways to curb food waste at home. Composting can turn leftovers into fertilizer for your plants and homegrown produce. If you don’t have a garden, you can use a product like the Mill Kitchen Bin to turn your food waste into clean, dry grounds that don’t smell. Those grounds can then be used as part of the composting process at home or given to a local community garden or farm.
The Too Good To Go app is another way of keeping food out of landfills. The service allows people to purchase surprise bags of surplus food from nearby restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores, preventing perfectly edible items from being thrown away. The bags, priced between $5 and $10, are packed with various items that are still good to eat but would have been thrown away.
Understanding food labels can also significantly reduce your waste. The often confusing terms “use by,” “best by,” and “expiration dates” sound similar but mean different things.
A “use by date” is the last date recommended for eating a product while it’s still at its peak quality. After this date, the food might still be safe, but the quality may decline. For perishable items like dairy or meats, it’s often best to follow this date closely, but use your nose and eyes to help determine whether it’s still good.
“Best by” or “best before” dates are about the product’s quality, not safety. It indicates when the food will be at its best flavor or texture. After this date, the food is usually still safe to eat, but it might not taste as good or have the same texture. Often, you won’t even notice a difference.
“Expiration dates” are dates found on products where safety is a concern, like baby formula or certain medications. After this date, the product should not be consumed, as it may not be safe or effective.
-ABC News Chief Climate Correspondent Ginger Zee and ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
Greenhouse gas concentrations reach new record high in 2023
Our planet is facing another unfortunate climate milestone.
According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), carbon dioxide concentrations have increased by more than 11% in just two decades, making 2023 a record for the amount of the greenhouse gas currently in our atmosphere.
The WMO says CO2 is now building up in the atmosphere faster than at any time in human existence. They say massive vegetation fires, which emit greenhouse gases, and El Niño, which can reduce our forests’ ability to absorb CO2 due to drought, contributed to the recent surge. However, the U.N. agency also points out, “The reason behind this decade-long significant increase in CO2 is historically large fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the 2010s and 2020s.”
The WMO began reporting on greenhouse gas emissions in 2006. That year, they found that atmospheric CO2 levels for 2004 were at 377.1 parts per million. Last year, they were recorded at 420 parts per million. That puts CO2 concentrations at 151% above the preindustrial era.
Methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases in terms of global warming, also reached a record level for atmospheric concentrations. It is now 265% higher than preindustrial readings at 1,934 parts per billion.
Because CO2 stays in the atmosphere for 300 to 1,000 years, according to NASA, the WMO is warning that these high levels of greenhouse gases “lock in future temperature increase” even if emissions are cut to net zero.
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
October record heat made more likely because of climate change
It may be fall, but it feels a lot like summer in much of the country. That has some people wondering: Is climate change responsible for these record-high temperatures? With climate attribution science, we can now answer that question and determine when human-amplified climate change is responsible for extreme weather events and the significance of that impact.
Using advanced computer models, climate attribution science takes a real-world weather event, such as a record high-temperature day or a hurricane, and compares it to the world where human-caused, post-industrial greenhouse gas emissions don’t exist. By comparing what is actually happening with what would have happened without human intervention, science can estimate how likely or severe a weather event has become due to climate change.
Climate Central, a nonprofit climate research and communications organization, uses climate attribution science to provide real-time data that shows “how much climate change influences the temperature on a particular day.” The information is displayed on a global interactive map called the Climate Shift Index.
For example, the Index showed that human-amplified climate change made Sunday’s record high in Tucson, Arizona of 98 degrees at least three times more likely. The same was true for Waco, Texas, which broke a record with 92-degree heat, and Mobile, Alabama, which hit a record 90 degrees.
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., with children and adults over 65 being among the most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and death. And the average number of heat waves that major U.S. cities experience each year has doubled since the 1980s, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment.
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser
How crops will fare with 45% of the US experiencing drought
The U.S. is experiencing the driest fall on record, which could potentially impact the quality of upcoming autumn harvests, experts told ABC News.
About 77% of the mainland U.S. is abnormally dry, and almost half of the country is experiencing drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The spatial pattern of the dry conditions varies widely across the continent, Josue Medellin-Azuara, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Merced, told ABC News.
Improvement in the drought is not expected for most of the South, the Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest due to expected La Nina conditions this winter that would further reinforce the dryness, according to forecasts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
However, a lot of the crops in these regions that harvest in the fall had good growing conditions throughout the summer and are in the process of being harvested, meaning overall output should not be heavily impacted, Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told ABC News.
EPA cancels toxic pesticide used in growing produce
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it’s canceling any product containing the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), also known as Dacthal.
According to the EPA, their decision is based on comprehensive scientific studies that indicate potential thyroid toxicity linked to DCPA. The agency says research suggests that exposure to this pesticide during pregnancy can lead to changes in thyroid hormone levels in unborn children. Studies cited by the EPA indicate that these hormonal changes could be associated with various health concerns, including low birth weight, impaired brain development and reduced IQ. That research suggests that these developmental challenges may also have long-term effects on motor skills.
DCPA is used in the industrial farming of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions. While pregnant women working in agriculture are most at risk, pesticides can travel into neighboring communities via the air and runoff, putting non-agricultural workers at risk as well.
In a press release, EPA’s assistant administrator for the office of chemical safety and pollution prevention, Michal Freedhoff, wrote, “With the final cancellation of DCPA, we’re taking a definitive step to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies. The science showing the potential for irreversible harm to unborn babies’ developing brains, in addition to other lifelong consequences from exposure, demands decisive action to remove this dangerous chemical from the marketplace,” Freedhoff added.
