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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Deadly, relentless storms tapering off --- for now --- after hammering Midwest; Mississippi River flooding now longest-lasting in more than 90 years; Extreme weather delays planting in (Trump's) farm country; Two House Republicans block disaster relief bill; PLUS: Student climate strike protests help propel climate candidates into E.U. parliament... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): US energy department rebrands fossil fuels as 'molecules of freedom'; More natural gas isn’t a “middle ground” — it’s a climate disaster; China struggles to contain African swine fever, resorts to mass live-pig burials; Floridians concerned for upcoming hurricane season; World's rivers 'awash' with dangerously high levels of antibiotics; Should California burn its forests to protect against catastrophe?; New Hampshire sues 3M, DuPont, other chemical companies over water contaminants; Mass die-off of puffins raises fears about Arctic's warming climate... PLUS: A warming Arctic produces weather extremes in our latitudes... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• Deadly, relentless storms tapering off --- for now --- after hammering Midwest:
• Tornado Outbreak: One More Day of Severe Weather, Then Forecast Shows Relief (NY Times):
  
  Tuesday was the record-setting 12th consecutive day when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received at least eight reports of tornadoes, and tornadoes have been linked to at least seven deaths this month, pushing the year’s tornado fatality toll to 38.
• More than 200 tornadoes devastated the Midwest over 13 days. Why? (Vox):
  
  While it’s not unusual to have tornadoes several days in a row during tornado season in late spring and early summer, the sheer number this spring stands out...Researchers say several factors brewing for weeks converged to lead to such a prolific outbreak of tornadoes, but they’re rooted in a weather pattern that originated halfway around the globe more than a month ago. And at least one scientist saw it coming.
• There have been 500 reports of tornadoes in the past 30 days (CNN)
• Tornadoes hit Kansas, Pennsylvania as storms sweep across US (AP)
• At least 225 twisters in 12 days: A historic tornado outbreak ravages the U.S. (Washington Post)
• Mississippi River flooding now longest-lasting in more than 90 years:
• 'Slow-motion disaster' along Arkansas River: Every large community will see major flooding within 7-10 days (USA Today):
  
  Every large community along the Arkansas River will see major or record flooding within the next week to 10 days as swift-moving water from weeks of heavy rain challenges Arkansas' aging levee system, the National Weather Service said Wednesday. Worse, more heavy rain is on the way.
• Mississippi River flood is longest-lasting in over 90 years, since 'Great Flood' of 1927 (USA Today):
  
  Anytime a modern flood can be mentioned in the same breath as the Great Flood is newsworthy: During that historic flood, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes as millions of acres of land and towns went underwater. At one point in 1927, along the Tennessee border, the Mississippi rose an astonishing 56.5 feet above flood stage, and in Arkansas, the river ballooned to 80 miles wide, according to the book Extreme Weather by Christopher Burt.
• VIDEO: NWS hydrologist Bill Lawrence on ongoing flooding across Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas (Weather Channel)
• Influence of climate change on extreme storms in U.S.:
• Floods, tornadoes, snow in May: Extreme weather driven by climate change across US (USA Today):
  
  Climate scientists say this is only the beginning of what will be decades of increasingly dangerous and damaging extreme weather – and there’s no question that much of it’s being driven by global warming.
• Tornado season in overdrive: What's behind the extreme weather hitting the Midwest? (CBS News)
• What's fueling the spate of recent tornadoes across the U.S.? (NBC News):
  
  [S]ince 1950, the number of days with a cluster of at least 32 tornadoes has more than doubled, while smaller clusters have declined. “The overall trend is not upwards, but what was surprising and sharply up is the fact that when conditions become favorable for tornadoes, we’re seeing more tornadoes per outbreak,” Elsner, who was the lead author of a 2014 study about this phenomenon, said.
• Increased variability of tornado occurrence in the United States (Science, 10/17/2014)
• Heavy Rainfall Getting More Extreme (Climate Central, 3/14/19)
• Extreme storms are costing beleagued farm country billions:
• Extreme weather is pummeling the Midwest, and farmers are in deep trouble (Washington Post):
  
  “I’ve never had a yield where I couldn’t get my crop planted,” Culp said, noting that his father, who is in his 80s, recalled the same. “This is unprecedented, what we’re facing.”
• As planting window closes, Minn. farmers face tough choices (MN Public Radio)
• On May 26, the United States still had 99 million acres of both corn and soybeans left to plant (Karen Braun, Reuters)
• The corn crop insurance date looms as wet weather continues to stall planting (Ohio Ag Journal):
  
  June 5 is the last corn plant date for Ohio producers to have full coverage on their crop insurance in place for 2019. After June 5, producers will lose 1% of coverage each day for corn planted after this date.
• Climate Crisis Brings Historic Delay to Planting Season, Pressuring Farmers and Food Prices (EcoWatch)
• House Republicans block disaster relief bill:
• Another GOP lawmaker blocks massive disaster aid package (Politico):
  
  “If the speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the speaker of this House should have called a vote on this legislation before sending its members on recess for 10 days,” Massie said on the floor, flanked by fellow conservative Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia, who also objected to the bill’s passage.
• Republicans turn on each other amid disaster bill delay (The Hill)
• VIDEO: $19 Billion Disaster Relief Bill Blocked by Lone Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Bloomberg)
• Blocking a Disaster Aid Package Out of Partisan Vandalism? Sounds Like Modern Conservatism. (Esquire)
• Climate Strikes influence EU parliamentary elections:
• European Greens surge as voters abandon old parties over climate (Washington Post)
• The single cause that won the EU elections: the climate crisis (Quartz)
• VIDEO: Green Party Wins Record Support in EU Elections as Youth-Led Climate Strikes Grow (Democracy Now!)
• One of the largest environmental protests ever is underway. It’s led by children. (Vox)
• Teenage activists demand climate action on eve of global school strike (Reuters)

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page

• US energy department rebrands fossil fuels as 'molecules of freedom' (Guardian UK)
• More natural gas isn’t a “middle ground” — it’s a climate disaster (Vox)
• China struggles to contain African swine fever, resorts to mass live-pig burials, millions of culls (ABC Australia)
• AAA Survey: Floridians Concerned for Upcoming Hurricane Season (Insurance Journal)
• World's rivers 'awash' with dangerously high levels of antibiotics (Guardian UK)
• Fighting fire with fire: Should California burn its forests to protect against catastrophe? (Sacramento Bee)
• DC's Tidal Basin Is One Of America’s ‘Most Endangered Places’ (WAMU)
• Trump administration appeals ruling that blocked offshore Arctic drilling (The Hill)
• A warming Arctic produces weather extremes in our latitudes (Phys.Org)
• Dear Map People: What should and shouldn't exist (Tom MacWright)
• US Officials To Put Off Oil Leases Near Sacred Tribal Land (AP)
• New Hampshire Sues 3M, DuPont, Other Chemical Companies (AP)
• Mass Die-Off of Puffins Raises Fears About Arctic's Warming Climate (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• This Is How Human Extinction Could Play Out (Rolling Stone)
• SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Explainer: The 'Green New Deal': Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps.
• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
  
  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think.
• A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
  
  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).

                 

Article Categories: Arkansas, Kansas, U.S. House, Environment, Republicans, Green News, Climate change, Extreme weather, Oklahoma, Agriculture, European Union, Greta Thunberg, Thomas Massie