6 northern European nations sign a deal to protect North Sea infrastructure from hostile actors
Six northern Europe countries bordering the North Sea have signed an agreement to work together to protect underwater infrastructure in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean from an increased risk of sabotage.
Ocean system that moves heat gets closer to collapse, which could cause weather chaos, study says
An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic Ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a โcliff-likeโ tipping point looming in the future.
A Spanish official says spotter planes are helping curtail the number of West African migrant boats
A senior Spanish official says the deployment of two Spanish surveillance planes to watch for migrant boats heading on the treacherous route from West Africa to Spainโs Canary Islands has enabled authorities to stop 59 canoes from Senegal and Gambia.
Drought vs deluge: Florida's unusual rainfall totals either too little or too much on each coast
In Florida, this year has been a tale of two states as far as rainfall totals, with the southeast coast deluged by sometimes-record rainfall and much of the Gulf coast facing a major precipitation deficit.
Environmental groups reject deep-sea mining as key UN meeting looms
Environmental groups are urging a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of an international meeting in Jamaica where an obscure U.N. body will debate the issue amid fears it could soon authorize the worldโs first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor.
Here comes El Nino: It's early, likely to be big, sloppy and add even more heat to a warming world
After months of gradually warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, NOAA officially issued an El Nino advisory Thursday and stated that this one might be different than the others.
China blasts US over response to Chinese balloon incursion
The foreign affairs committee of China's ceremonial parliament is accusing American lawmakers of trampling on the sovereignty of other nations after the United States passed a measure condemning a suspected Chinese spy balloon's intrusion into U.S. airspace.
Hurricane center highlights first tropical wave in nearly a month
For the first time since July 13, the National Hurricane Center is highlighting a tropical wave for possible development. The area of disturbed weather is currently over Africa, but is expected to emerge into the Atlantic over the weekend.
Canary Islands: More than 400 migrants rescued in Atlantic
Spanish rescuers have saved and disembarked more than 400 migrants and asylum seekers to the Canary Islands in the past two days as they attempted to reach the Atlantic Ocean archipelago from West Africa on overcrowded and often unsafe boats.
Distant Hurricane Sam continues to bring dangerous rip currents, swells to Florida beaches
Hurricane Sam continues to be a powerful hurricane as it moves north through the Atlantic Ocean. Even as Sam is more than 1,000 northeast of Florida, the storms indirect impacts are being felt across the Atlantic.
WATCH: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit
The early morning launch marked the 21st dedicated to delivering Starlink satellites, but SpaceX has also sent up its own spacecraft on other ride-sharing rockets. The last Starlink launch happened March 4 and SpaceX is targeting another launch a few days after the current liftoff. In the past month, Elon Muskโs company has begun expanding the internet service provided with the global satellite network and is accepting orders in Central Florida for the dishes required to get the sought after WiFi. During the last Starlink launch, SpaceX engineers said they now have more than 10,000 customers, a number that will need to grow substantially if SpaceX wants to make ends meet with this internet service venture and fund its other endeavors, including the Starship spaceship under development in Texas. AdFalcon 9โs first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/fI2VvU3kWO โ SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 11, 2021Deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed pic.twitter.com/vltm8NijZC โ SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 11, 2021Use the form below to sign up for the ClickOrlando.com space newsletter, sent every Wednesday afternoon.
Super Sunday: Pleasant weather returns
ORLANDO, Fla. โ Behind the loud and gusty storms of Sunday morning, skies will dry out for the rest of Sunday afternoon. Breaks in the clouds will help temperatures climb into the upper 70s. Clouds build back in Monday with a wind direction off of the Atlantic Ocean. Temperature trendBeyond Monday, a big warming trend arrives. The 80s stick around through the middle of the week before cooler air arrives Valentineโs weekend.
Spain's foreign minister visits Senegal to discuss migration
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)DAKAR โ Spainโs foreign minister met Sunday with Senegal's president in the West African countryโs capital Sunday to discuss the sudden increase of Senegalese migrants attempting to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzรกlez Laya met with President Macky Sall in Dakar to discuss migration and border cooperation between Spain, the European Union and Senegal. Human rights groups have been warning about the reopening of the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands since late 2019, when arrivals began increasing slowly. He participated in the meeting between Spain's foreign minister and Senegalese counterpart Aรฏssata Tall Sall. Sarr said they would work with Spain to increase legal ways for Senegalese to work in Europe, including circular migration programs.
Spain in diplomatic push over migrant flow to Canary Islands
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)MADRID โ The Spanish government is ratcheting up its response to the steady build-up of migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands from Africa, including a fresh diplomatic offensive. Moroccans have been the most numerous among recent migrant arrivals to the Spanish archipelago, whose nearest islands lie around 70 miles (110 kms) west of the north African nation. Around half of those arrivals โand most of the deathsโ have been in the past 30 days, a spike that has strained resources on the Canary Islands. Spanish Transport Minister Josรฉ Luis รbalos, also on the island, pledged more resources to the stretched maritime rescue services. The IOM's Spain envoy, Marรญa Jesรบs Herrera, who was on a field visit in the islands this week, described the situation as โcritical."
Spain opens 2nd migrant camp on overrun Gran Canaria island
The establishment of a second temporary migrant processing center on the island of Gran Canaria comes amid increasing criticism from local authorities and human rights groups. A pier on the quiet southwest coast of Gran Canaria has become the center of Spainโs ongoing humanitarian crisis. The new camp opening Wednesday will be able to hold 800 people in tents, according to the Interior Ministry. โThe Canary Islands are a powder keg. With at least 493 deaths recorded so far this year, the route to the Canary Islands has seen proportionally more deaths per every arrival than the Central Mediterranean journey from Libya to Italy or Malta.
Migrant arrivals putting pressure on Spain's Canary Islands
African migrants after arriving at the coast of Gran Canaria island, Spain on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean sailing on a wooden boat, a group of 44 migrants arrived at Maspalomas beach. More than half of the 16,000 migrants who arrived this year in the Spanish islands off northwest Africa did so in the last four weeks, a sharp influx worrying international and non-profit organizations. Thatโs compared to around 1,500 arrivals recorded last year in the archipelago, better known for its vacation resorts popular among northern Europeans. The new migrant focus on the perilous Canary Islands route, first seen in 2006, has come as authorities crack down on previously popular passages across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to European Union countries.
Hurricanes stay stronger longer after landfall than in past
(Alexander Gerst/ESA/NASA via AP)Hurricanes are keeping their staying power longer once they make landfall, spreading more inland destruction, according to a new study. Warmer ocean waters from climate change are likely making hurricanes lose power more slowly after landfall, because they act as a reserve fuel tank for moisture, the study found. It found that in the 1960s, hurricanes declined two-thirds in wind strength within 17 hours of landfall. Thereโs less study of what hurricanes do once they make landfall than out at sea, so Chakraborty said he was surprised when he saw a noticeable trend in decay taking longer. But hurricanes arenโt running out of gas as much, especially in the last 25 years when the trend accelerated, Chakraborty said.
LIVE TRACK: Tropical Storm Zeta posed to be a hurricane threat to US Gulf Coast
MIAMI โ Newly formed Tropical Storm Zeta stalled Sunday in the western Caribbean, but forecasters said it posed the risk of a rain-heavy hurricane for Mexicoโs resort-dotted Yucatan Peninsula and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Zeta was the earliest named 27th Atlantic storm recorded in an already historic hurricane season. The system was centered about 255 miles (410 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel island in Mexico Sunday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Atlantic storms that made landfall moved 2.9 mph (4.7 kph) slower than 60 years ago, the study found. The hurricane center said it could make landfall anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.