Eric Holthaus
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Articles by Eric Holthaus
Forecasters warn of record-breaking US summer heat amid intense El Niño
Meteorologists are anticipating a tumultuous summer that could rank as one of the US's hottest ever. New data released on Tuesday showed the first six months of the year were the hottest ever measured for parts of eight western states. That data arrives as a potentially record-breaking heatwave is underway in the east.
Why an immense marine heatwave off the US west coast has alarmed scientists
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Why an immense marine heatwave off the US west coast has alarmed scientists
The sun rises behind mountains at dawn in Mexico City on 28 April 2026.Photograph: Yuri Cortéz/AFP/Getty Images (Photograph: Yuri Cortéz/AFP/Getty Images) An enormous marine heatwave off the US west coast is ringing alarm bells among ocean and atmospheric scientists as new data shows its ecological and environmental effects are intensifying.
How Google’s DeepMind tool is ‘more quickly’ forecasting hurricane behavior
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How Google’s DeepMind tool is ‘more quickly’ forecasting hurricane behavior
When then Tropical Storm Melissa was churning south of Haiti, Philippe Papin, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologist, had confidence it was about to grow into a monster hurricane. As the lead forecaster on duty, he predicted that in just 24 hours the storm would become a category 4 hurricane and begin a turn towards the coast of Jamaica. No NHC forecaster had ever issued such a bold forecast for rapid strengthening.
Trump cuts likely hindered warning process for Alaska storm that displaced hundreds, experts say
Flooding from the remnant storms of Typhoon Halong that devastated Kipnuk, Alaska, on 12 October 2025.Photograph: Jacqui Lang/AP A faltering federal response to one of the worst storms in Alaska’s history, which caused hundreds of people to become homeless, is drawing further scrutiny over the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal weather and climate protections.
Climate crisis will increase frequency of lightning-sparked wildfires, study finds
The climate crisis will continue making lightning-sparked wildfires more frequent for decades to come, which could produce cascading effects and worsen public safety and public health, experts and new research suggest. Lightning-caused fires tend to burn in more remote areas and therefore usually grow into larger fires than human-caused fires.
Climate crisis will increase frequency of lightning-sparked wildfires, study finds
The climate crisis will continue making lightning-sparked wildfires more frequent for decades to come, which could produce cascading effects and worsen public safety and public health, experts and new research suggest. Lightning-caused fires tend to burn in more remote areas and therefore usually grow into larger fires than human-caused fires.
Scientists breathe new life into climate website after shutdown under Trump
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Scientists breathe new life into climate website after shutdown under Trump
The swollen Los Angeles River after a powerful storm in February 2024.Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images Earlier this summer, access to climate.gov – one of the most widely used portals of climate information on the internet – was thwarted by the Trump administration, and its production team was fired in the process. The website offered years’ worth of accessibly written material on climate science.
Hurricane Erin intensified at a near-record rate. Is Florida ready for the next big storm?
Erin’s intensification rate was not perfectly captured by the National Hurricane Center in advance, nor by any of the computer models it uses.Photograph: NOAA/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock This season’s first hurricane – and the first of the Trump administration’s new era of meteorological austerity – has been making its closest pass to the US this week.
How climate crisis makes rainstorms that flooded New York more common
Monday night’s downpour was one of the most intense rainstorms in New York City history, the kind of storm that’s now happening much more often due to climate warming. More than 2in of rain fell in New York City’s Central Park in the 7pm hour on Monday evening, part of a regional downpour that filled the city’s highways and subway tunnels and prompted several water rescues. Rains were even more intense elsewhere in the region.
Texas floods reveal limitations of disaster forecasting under climate crisis
The ongoing challenges of forecasting extreme weather during the era of the climate crisis have been brought to the fore again amid catastrophic flash flooding in the “hill country” region of Texas. As of early Sunday, hundreds of rescuers are searching for at least 12 people still missing as rains taper off outside of San Antonio and Austin.
Severe weather hits the US hard as key forecast offices reel from Trump cuts
A brutal stretch of severe weather has taxed communities on the eastern fringes of tornado alley this spring and early summer, while harsh staffing cuts and budget restrictions have forced federal meteorologists to attempt to forecast the carnage with less data. As of 30 June, there have already been more than 1,200 tornadoes nationwide.
Sudden loss of key US satellite data could send hurricane forecasting back ‘decades’
The Department of Defense will halt a critical atmospheric data collection program at the end of June and has given weather forecasters just days to prepare, according to a public notice sent this week. Scientists that the Guardian spoke with say the change could set hurricane forecasting back “decades”, just as this year’s season ramps up.
Sudden Loss of Key US Satellite Data Could Send Hurricane Forecasting Back ‘Decades’
Scientists left scrambling amid hurricane season after irreplaceable program is slotted to be shuttered A critical US atmospheric data collection program will be halted by Monday, giving weather forecasters just days to prepare, according to a public notice sent this week. Scientists that the Guardian spoke with say the change could set hurricane forecasting back “decades”, just as this year’s season ramps up.
The US’s June heatwave is a dangerous start to summer and about to get hotter
The US’s June heatwave is a dangerous start to summer and about to get hotter A rare June heatwave is bringing a stifling, dangerous, start to summer across much of the eastern US this week, with forecasts for temperatures to get even hotter on Tuesday. On Monday, just the second day of summer, the National Weather Service placed extreme heat warnings in effect from the Carolinas to Maine, advising against any outdoor activities under the conditions.
Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired
A major US government website supporting public education on climate science looks likely to be shuttered after almost all of its staff were fired, the Guardian has learned. Climate.gov, the gateway website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa)’s Climate Program Office, will imminently no longer publish new content, according to multiple former staff responsible for the site’s content whose contracts were recently terminated.
Rapid snowmelt and Trump cuts compound wildfire fears in US west
Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season. The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region.
Recent Canadian wildfires are record-breaking - and will threaten US air quality for days
Enormous early-season wildfires have erupted across the prairie provinces of Canada this week, taxing local emergency response and threatening a long stretch of dangerous air quality across eastern North America. The country’s largest fires – the Bird River fire and the Border fire – remain completely uncontained in northern Manitoba. In Manitoba alone, wildfires have burned about 200,000 hectares already this year – already about three times the recent full-year average for the province.
US faces another summer of extreme heat as fears rise over Trump cuts
This year’s summer months promise to be among the hottest on record across the United States, continuing a worsening trend of extreme weather, and amid concern over the impacts of Trump administration cuts to key agencies. The extreme heat could be widespread and unrelenting: only far northern Alaska may escape unusually warm temperatures from June through August, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).
Flooding in Tennessee and central U.S. hits levels rarely seen in the last 200 years
An outbreak of extreme weather has roiled the country with deadly dust storms in the plains and hundreds of tornadoes across the eastern U.S. over the past few weeks. Now, heavy rainfall across parts of the South and Midwest is prompting comparisons with some of the worst flooding on record for the region. Very moist air from the record-warm Gulf of Mexico is being drawn northward into a stalled frontal system creating a perfect recipe for torrential rains.
tktk flooding
An outbreak of extreme weather has roiled the country with deadly dust storms in the plains and hundreds of tornadoes across the eastern U.S. over the past few weeks. Now, heavy rainfall across parts of the South and Midwest is prompting comparisons with some of the worst flooding on record for the region. Very moist air from the record-warm Gulf of Mexico is being drawn northward into a stalled frontal system creating a perfect recipe for torrential rains.
‘Potentially historic’ flooding threat looms after almost 100 tornadoes hit US
A prolific tornado outbreak will give way to a rare and widespread flooding threat across the midwest and southern US this week, stressing the nation’s short-staffed weather forecasting and disaster response efforts. At least four people have reportedly died so far as nearly 100 tornadoes struck on Wednesday. A critically short-staffed National Weather Service (NWS) appeared to issue a near-record number of tornado warnings for a single day.
The 1930s Dust Bowl is infamous in American history-and we could be heading for another one
A series of enormous dust storms swept the plains states last week, triggering massive highway pileups, a spike in emergency room visits, and “dirty rain” a thousand miles away. The storms were driven by winds in excess of 70 mph across a vast stretch of dry fields and prairie from New Mexico and western Texas. In Kansas, more than 70 vehicles crashed in extremely low visibility conditions that left eight people dead.
Destructive dust and Trump cuts: five things to know about latest US storms and tornadoes
Over the weekend, more than 120 tornadoes ransacked across at least 11 states in a three-day severe weather outbreak that killed more than 40 people. In addition to the tornadoes, the storm system brought extremely strong winds to drought-stricken parts of the plains states, kicking up dust storms and wildfires from Texas to Kansas. The combined impact has now become one of the deadliest non-hurricane weather disasters in decades in the US.
Trump layoffs have hollowed out key weather monitoring staff amid storm season
As deadly severe storms swept the US this week, recent Donald Trump administration staffing cuts have left key parts of weather monitoring and disaster preparedness systems severely understaffed, the Guardian has learned. March typically signals the start of a four-month tornado season across the eastern two-thirds of the US. Last year’s tornado season was one of the most prolific on record, and this year’s tornado season is getting off to an early active start.
Inside the 'slow-rolling catastrophe' of Trump's NOAA cuts
Mass layoffs struck the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) late last week, throwing into jeopardy the core mission of the agency tasked with observing the skies and seas nationwide—and a key piece of the federal disaster preparedness apparatus. In addition to hampering the day-to-day weather forecasting ability of its National Weather Service, cuts to NOAA will curtail efforts to protect endangered species, manage coastal regions, and prepare for climate change.
California faces worsening drought despite recent heavy rainstorms
Dramatic rainstorms earlier this month brought more than 6in of rain to the California mountains – a full month’s worth of rain in little more than a day – but the deluge wasn’t enough to reverse a worsening drought trend that is set to intensify further in the coming weeks and months. Along the iconic Pacific Coast highway in Malibu, where just weeks earlier flames leveled hundreds of oceanside homes, a Los Angeles firefighter was washed out to sea, and later rescued.
The horrifying L.A. wildfires are being fueled by the worst conditions January has ever seen
The horrifying L.A. wildfires are being fueled by the worst conditions January has ever seen Southern California is experiencing a midwinter drought at the same time as dangerous Santa Ana winds sweep through. BY Eric Holthaus Southern California is facing a rare and dangerous juxtaposition of extreme winds and midwinter drought on Tuesday and Wednesday, a worrying example of the state’s expanding wildfire threat as climate change worsens.
California’s Problem Now Isn’t Fire-It’s Rain
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California’s Problem Now Isn’t Fire-It’s Rain
Before humans arrived in Southern California, Safford estimates, the average watershed might go 30 to 90 years without a wildfire. With the addition of 20 million people and climate change, “some places in SoCal are burning every 2 to 10 years now.” At that pace, woody shrubs can’t regrow fast enough after a fire, and the increasing frequency of fire is pushing the region into a transition from chaparral and oak forests to grassland and, in some cases, bare soil.
Noaa imposes limits on scientists, sparking concerns over global forecasts
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) has placed onerous new restrictions on its scientists that people within the agency say could hamper the quality and availability of the world’s weather forecasts, among other key services. The new requirements have created a sense of unease within the agency, according to current and former high-level Noaascientists and officials the Guardian spoke with, and alarmed partners at European agencies.
Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders could jeopardize safety of Nasa crews
A flurry of executive orders and internal directives from Donald Trump’s administration may be putting the safety of Nasa’s crews in jeopardy, sources within the US space agency told the Guardian.
US scientists feeling ‘stress and fear’ as sweeping Trump orders hit funding
Scientists around the US have described experiencing distress, disruption to their work and interruption of payments in the chaos following Donald Trump’s executive orders affecting federal grant money. Among the funds caught in limbo in recent days were millions of dollars of congressionally appropriated research awards and grants across the vast networks of publicly funded scientific departments at universities, businesses and non-profits across the country.
Trump wants to get rid of FEMA. The future of disaster relief would be grim
In an executive order Monday, President Donald Trump demanded a “full-scale review” of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and requested a report proposing “structural changes” within the next 180 days. The move comes after he made repeated calls for “getting rid of” the nation’s backstop against natural disasters during his first few days as president.
Last year was the hottest year in recorded history. Buckle up.
This story was originally published by Slate and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration The official numbers are in, and 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history—and almost surely also the hottest year in the history of human civilization. The meme in which Homer Simpson explains to Bart that what he’s experiencing is the coldest weather of the rest of his life feels apt here. The world keeps getting hotter and hotter; we know that.
Last year was the hottest year in recorded history. Buckle up. Original
Science Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The official numbers are in, and 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history—and almost surely also the hottest year in the history of human civilization. The meme in which Homer Simpson explains to Bart that what he’s experiencing is the coldest weather of the rest of his life feels apt here. The world keeps getting hotter and hotter; we know that.
‘Particularly dangerous’ wildfire weather returns to California and could linger for months, say experts
When it comes to forecasting the conditions for catastrophic California wildfires, there are two main ingredients: fuels (think grasses, shrubs, trees – basically anything that’s available for fires to burn) and winds. When analyzing fuels, forecasters look mainly at the levels of drought, along with any recent rains that may help diminish the effect of longer-term drought.
Los incendios forestales de Los Ángeles representan la combinación de varios desastres climáticos Original
Una combinación excepcional de factores medioambientales contribuyó esta semana a la tormenta perfecta de unos incendios que no tienen antecedentes históricos en el sur de California.
Los incendios forestales de Los Ángeles representan la combinación de varios desastres climáticos
Una combinación excepcional de factores medioambientales ha contribuido esta semana a la tormenta perfecta de unos incendios que no tienen antecedentes históricos en el sur de California.
Los Angeles Feuer: Warum Kalifornien ausgerechnet in der Regenzeit abbrennt
Zerstörte Gebäude, flüchtende Hausbesitzer in den Straßen: Der Brand, der derzeit in Kalifornien wütet, könnte der schadenträchtigste in der Geschichte der USA sein. Es gibt eine einfache und eine komplizierte Erklärung für das Desaster Von The Guardian Eine außergewöhnliche Kombination von Umweltbedingungen hat in dieser Woche in Südkalifornien einen noch nie da gewesenes Feuerinferno ausgelöst.
The Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded
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The Los Angeles wildfires are climate disasters compounded
An exceptional mix of environmental conditions has created an ongoing firestorm without known historical precedent across southern California this week. The ingredients for these infernos in the Los Angeles area, near-hurricane strength winds and drought, foretell an emerging era of compound events – simultaneous types of historic weather conditions, happening at unusual times of the year, resulting in situations that overwhelm our ability to respond.
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