Tipping Point: What does WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report say?

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

World Wildlife Fund’s 2024 Living Planet Report shows a decline in every indicator used to track nature globally.  

This report uses the Living Planet Index, which tracks sizes of animal populations and how they are changing. It can be used as an indicator for early warning risks related to extinction of species and ecosystem losses. 

According to the Living Planet Index, the average size of monitored wildlife populations decreased by 73% in the last 50 years. The worst trends were noticed in freshwater populations, that reduced by 85%. Latin America and the Caribbean were among the worst affected areas, and climate change is the leading cause for the loss of biodiversity in these areas.  

The report uses the Living Planet Index to highlight that nature is disappearing at a frightening rate. The study also identifies five tipping points which will trigger devastating consequences for the earth if they are crossed.

We then look at important updates on Hurricane Milton, which was even more intense than Hurricane Helene in its formation. According to the U.S. government, Milton became the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Rita in 2005 based on wind speed. It was also the fifth most intense hurricane in the Atlantic basin based on pressure. Pressure is inversely proportional to the strength of a hurricane. 

This week’s climate hope is all about safeguarding the corals in Indonesia. 

Presentation: Priyali Prakash

Video and production: Zeeshan Akhtar

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Germany next week
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Germany next week, a government source said Sunday (October 13, 2024), after a previously planned trip was cancelled due to Hurricane Milton.

“He’s coming to Berlin on Friday” for a one-day visit, the source said.

According to German media reports Biden will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East expected to be high on his agenda.

Mr. Biden’s original visit to Germany was to have taken place between October 10 and 12 and to have included a four-way summit with Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

He had also planned to travel to Angola immediately afterwards as part of a series of valedictory international trips in the final months of his presidency, after he withdrew from the race in July.

Mr. Biden had also planned to hold a meeting of more than 50 of Ukraine’s allies to discuss further support for Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been expected to attend that meeting but instead went on a whirlwind two-day tour of European capitals, including Berlin, to ask for sustained military aid as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on through its third year.

However, on Tuesday (October 8, 2024) Mr. Biden called off the visit to stay in the U.S. and oversee the response to Hurricane Milton as it slammed into Florida, causing an estimated $50 billion in damage, killing at least 16 people and leaving millions without power.

Travelling abroad as the hurricane approached would have posed severe political risks at home just 28 days before a tight U.S. Presidential election.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has spread misinformation about the emergency response by Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee on November 5.

According to Spiegel magazine, the programme for Mr. Biden’s visit next week will be much reduced from the original plans, which had included an official state visit.

Nevertheless, Steinmeier is still expected to present Mr. Biden with Germany’s Order of Merit in recognition of his services towards German-American friendship.

A Florida fishing boat captain faced a harrowing survival ordeal, spending over 18 hours clinging to a cooler in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Milton’s wrath in the region. The US Coast Guard successfully rescued the man on Thursday, October 10, around 1.30pm local time, approximately 30 miles off Longboat Key.

According to a Coast Guard release, the captain was found wearing a life jacket, a vital piece of equipment that likely saved his life. “This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” said Lt Cmdr Dana Grady, chief of the command centre at Sector St Petersburg. The captain’s identity has not yet been disclosed.

The captain initially contacted the Coast Guard on Monday, October 7, after his fishing boat became disabled about 20 miles off John’s Pass, prompting a rescue operation that brought him and a crew member safely back to Air Station Clearwater. Just two days later, as Hurricane Milton approached land, the captain returned to the boat around 3am to make repairs but failed to check in afterwards.

On October 9, during severe weather conditions caused by the hurricane, which included 6 to 8-foot seas and winds reaching approximately 30 mph, the Coast Guard managed to establish radio contact with the captain. He reported that the boat’s rudder had fouled, leaving him stranded. Coast Guard officials advised him to don his life jacket and stay close to the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon. Unfortunately, communications were lost shortly thereafter.

After more than 18 hours adrift, the Coast Guard launched a helicopter rescue mission. Dramatic footage captured a crew member being lowered into the turbulent waters to reach the captain, who was clinging to a small cooler. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds and 20-25 foot seas for an extended period, including overnight,” Grady noted. His survival was attributed to his life jacket, the emergency locator beacon, and the cooler he held onto.

After the rescue, the captain was shifted to Tampa General Hospital. Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, around 8.30pm local time on October 9, bringing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and resulting in at least 16 fatalities so far. 

Clean-up continues at Clearwater Beach, Fla., after Hurricane Milton on Friday (October 11, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Experts that human-induced climate change made Hurricane Milton, which lashed Florida this week, wetter and windier, said on Friday (October 11, 2024).

“Heavy one-day rainfall events such as the one associated with Milton are 20-30% more intense and about twice as likely in today’s climate,” the international World Weather Attribution group said in a report.

The effect boosted Milton’s wind strength by about 10%, making what would have been a Category 2 storm a more destructive Category 3, on a five-point scale, the report said.

A man, clinging to a cooler in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, was saved by a Coast Guard helicopter crew on October 10, around 48 kilometres off Longboat Key. The rescue operation took place around 1:30 pm and the man was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital for medical evaluation. He was found wearing a life jacket, which played a big role in his survival during the storm.

The Coast Guard’s Air Station Miami launched the search mission on Thursday morning after receiving reports of a missing captain. The aircrew, alongside support from Air Station Clearwater, was positioned at the Aviation Training Center Mobile for storm avoidance during Hurricane Milton.

The captain, aboard the fishing vessel Capt. Dave initially contacted Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg on the afternoon of October 7. He reported that he and a crew member were stranded about 32 kilometres off John’s Pass. The Coast Guard promptly dispatched a rescue boat and a helicopter, bringing the pair to safety and then to Air Station Clearwater without injury. Capt. Dave was left adrift while salvage arrangements were made.

On October 9, the vessel’s owner notified the Coast Guard that the captain went out to the boat for repairs in the early hours and had not been heard since. However, after a connection was re-established with the captain, he reported that his vessel’s rudder had become fouled with a line, rendering the boat inoperable.

At the time, sea conditions were challenging, with 6 to 8-foot waves and winds of about 48 kmph. However, the weather rapidly worsened as Hurricane Milton approached. The Coast Guard instructed the captain to wear a life jacket and remain near the vessel’s emergency position indicating a radio beacon. Unfortunately, communication was lost on the evening of October 9.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, chief of the command centre at Sector St. Petersburg. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight. He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler.”

Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 9 near Siesta Key, a barrier island located just south of Sarasota on Florida’s central west coast. Initially, the storm struck as a formidable Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds reaching approximately 193 kmph. However, as it moved inland, it weakened to a Category 2 storm.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released dramatic satellite footage capturing Hurricane Milton’s landfall in Florida, showcasing the sheer power of the storm from a cosmic perspective. The footage, released Thursday, illustrates the hurricane’s spiralling mass over the southeasternmost US state, featuring intense lightning activity that illuminates its centre.

Milton struck Florida’s west coast near Siesta Key on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, forming a striking image of its eye encircled by dense cloud bands stretching hundreds of miles. The satellite visuals highlight the storm’s massive impact on a wide area of Florida and neighbouring states.

“This imagery from NOAA’s GOES-East provides visible cloud imagery every 30 seconds of Hurricane Milton as it pushes closer to Florida. Notice the frequent lightning being detected by the satellite’s GLM instrument as well,” the caption reads.

One of the most eye-catching aspects of the imagery is the frequent lightning flashes observed in southern Florida, where multiple tornadoes formed during the storm’s passage. This captivating light show within the storm system underscores the extreme weather conditions experienced on the ground.

Milton moved across central Florida on Thursday, leaving a trail of destruction. With winds reaching up to 120 miles per hour at landfall, the hurricane caused extensive damage, uprooting trees, destroying homes, and leaving nearly 2 million people without power across the state.

Meteorologists and emergency management officials are monitoring satellite data to track Milton’s trajectory and intensity. This information is vital for issuing timely alerts and coordinating emergency response efforts.

Although Milton has since weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, it continues to pose serious risks as it travels further inland.

Hurricane Milton crashed into the U.S. State of Florida as a Category-3 storm Wednesday (October 9, 2024), pounding the coast with ferocious winds of over 100 mph (160 kph), heavy rain and producing a series of tornadoes around the state. Tampa avoided a direct hit.

The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph) as it made landfall at 8:30 p.m. near Siesta Key, the National Hurricane Center said. Siesta Key is a prosperous strip of white-sand beaches home to 5,500 people about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa.

More than 1.5 million homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night in Florida, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. The highest number of outages were in Hardee County, as well as neighboring Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Before Milton even made landfall, tornados were touching down across the State. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.

“We have lost some life,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, though he wouldn’t say how many people were killed.

Tampa Bay suffers

The Tampa Bay area has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century, but the storm was still bringing a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

The National Weather Service said flash flooding was occurring in the Tampa Bay area, including St. Petersburg, where over 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain had fallen.

Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida Peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane even made landfall, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, said Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Sarasota and had weakened slightly with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), becoming a Category 2 storm, the hurricane center reported. It was moving east-northeast at 16 mph (26 kph).

Milton slammed into a Florida region still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which caused heavy damage to beach communities with storm surge and killed a dozen people in seaside Pinellas County alone.

Evacuation warnings

Earlier, officials issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.

“This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.”

By late afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts, suggesting that people who stayed behind hunker down instead. By the evening, some counties announced they had suspended emergency services.

Milton was expected to remain a hurricane as it plowed across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.

Close on the heels of Helene

The storm threatened communities still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage. Surge was projected to reach as high as 9 feet (2.7 meters) in Tampa Bay.

The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges also closed.

At a news conference in Tallahassee, Governor Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other States; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.

“Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around that,” Mr. DeSantis said.

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people. Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, because first responders were not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.

Disney World shuts down

By early afternoon, airlines had canceled about 1,900 flights. SeaWorld was closed all day Wednesday, and Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando shut down in the afternoon.

More than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. Mr. DeSantis said the State’s overall supply was fine, and highway patrol officers were escorting tanker trucks to replenish the supply.

In the Tampa Bay area’s Gulfport, Christian Burke and his mother stayed put in their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay. Burke said his father designed this home with a Category 5 in mind — and now they’re going to test it.

As a passing police vehicle blared encouragement to evacuate, Burke acknowledged staying isn’t a good idea and said he’s “not laughing at this storm one bit.”

Sarasota, United States:

Hurricane Milton blasted ashore in Florida Wednesday night with furious winds, life-threatening rain and storm surge, as people who endured another hurricane just two weeks ago braced for a long, violent night.

The “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm made landfall near Siesta Key, in a densely populated area on the state’s western coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Thursday) bulletin.

“So the storm is here. It’s time for every one to hunker down,” Governor Ron DeSantis told a press conference just before Milton’s arrival.

Life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding were happening across the central Florida peninsula, the NHC said.

Tidal surges are expected to inundate western Florida’s heavily populated and low-lying Gulf Coast amid fears of widespread chaos and possible fatalities.

Milton is later expected to rip through inland areas to the Atlantic Ocean, with tourist hub Orlando — home to Walt Disney World — in its path.

As it hit land Milton was packing sustained winds moving at 120 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, with potential for as much as 13 feet (four meters) of storm surge, the NHC said.

In cities up and down Florida’s western coast, the wind howled furiously and torrential rain fell as frightened people took shelter wherever they could.

In the city of Sarasota, near Siesta Key, gusts of wind blew panes of glass from buildings on the waterfront. The streets were deserted. Trees swayed almost horizontal, barely able to withstand the wind. Businesses were shuttered and sandbagged.

On a wooden board fixed against a window of an old red brick building, someone wrote: “Be kind Milton.”

Just before landfall DeSantis said it was too late and too dangerous to evacuate anyone so people had to stay put and weather the storm wherever they were.

“Stay inside and stay off the roads. Flood waters and rushing storm surge are very dangerous,” the governor said.

The airports in Tampa and Sarasota were closed until further notice.

‘The other storm’

Milton hit just two weeks after another major hurricane, Helene, hit Florida and other southeastern states with devastating and deadly effect.

“I am nervous. This is something we just went through with the other storm — ground saturated, still recovering from that,” Randy Prior, who owns a pool business, told AFP.

Prior, 36, says he plans to ride out the storm at home, after recently toughing out Hurricane Helene, which sparked flooding in Florida before wreaking havoc across remote areas further inland such as western North Carolina.

The Weather Channel reported “numerous tornadoes” touching down in central and southern Florida.

With the storm coming immediately after lethal Helene hit the US southeast, presidential candidate Donald Trump has sought political advantage by falsely saying aid is channeled away from residents, many of whom are supporters of his Republican Party, and toward migrants.

At the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden slammed the Republican former president and current candidate’s “onslaught of lies.”

“There’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies,” Biden said in angry remarks.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is taking on Trump at the polls, echoed Biden’s criticisms in a separate telephone interview with CNN.

“It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who’d consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled,” she said.

Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 235 people.

Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Tampa:

Storm-battered Florida braced for a direct hit from Hurricane Milton which strengthened back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday, as US President Joe Biden begged residents to flee what he warned could be the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century. As the second huge hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward Florida’s west coast, a sense of looming catastrophe spread as people raced to board up homes and flee.

“It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole,” Biden said from the White House, urging those under orders to leave to “evacuate now, now, now.”

I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton’s path to listen to local officials and follow all safety instructions.

If you are under evacuation orders you should evacuate now while it is still safe to do so.

It is a matter of life and death.

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 8, 2024

Thousands of federal personnel are on the ground across the Southeast delivering needed resources as fast as possible.

And my priority is to increase the size and presence of our effort as we prepare for another potentially catastrophic storm making landfall in Florida.

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 8, 2024

Biden’s warning came amid a bitter pre-election quarrel, with his Democratic vice president Kamala Harris castigating her rival Donald Trump for peddling false claims that recovery efforts after the first storm, Hurricane Helene, were diverted away from Republicans.

Folks in Hurricane Milton’s path:

Listen to local authorities.
Evacuate while it is still safe to do so.
And if you cannot evacuate, find a shelter near you by texting SHELTER and your ZIP code to 43362. pic.twitter.com/Rtt63NfOV2

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 9, 2024

As of Tuesday, Milton returned to the maximum Category 5 designation, generating maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

“Fluctuations in intensity are likely while Milton moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida Wednesday night,” the NHC said.

Governor Ron DeSantis, at a news conference, ticked off town after town and county after county that are in danger.

“Basically the entire peninsula portion of Florida is under some type of either a watch or a warning,” he said.

Airlines put on extra flights out of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sarasota, as highways clogged up with escaping traffic and gas stations sold out of fuel.

Walls of water

Hurricane expert Michael Lowry warned that in the Tampa area, home to some three million people, Milton’s storm surge “could double the storm surge levels observed two weeks ago during Helene,” which brought massive flooding.

Biden postponed a major trip to Germany and Angola to oversee the federal response, as storm relief efforts have emerged as a political battleground ahead of the presidential election on November 5.

Trump has tapped into frustration about the emergency response after Hurricane Helene and fueled it with disinformation, falsely claiming that disaster money had been spent instead on migrants.

Biden on Tuesday slammed Trump’s comments as “un-American,” while presidential hopeful Harris warned about the danger that misinformation posed to the federal response.

“It’s crude. Have you no empathy, man, for the suffering of other people? Have you have no sense of purpose if you purport to be a leader?” she said, challenging Trump directly, during an with late night talk show host Stephen Colbert due to be aired later Tuesday. 

In a scene of frantic preparation repeated all over Florida, dozens of cars lined up at a sports facility in Tampa to pick up sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.

John Gomez, 75, ignored official advice and traveled all the way from Chicago to try to save a second house he has in Florida.

“I think it’s better to be here in case something happens,” Gomez said as he waited in line.

Global warming a factor

Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released footage from a specialist plane called “Miss Piggy” as it flew into the hurricane to collect data.

Paperwork, equipment and personal items were sent flying as the plane was shaken by wind and rain.

On the ground, communities hit by the deadly Hurricane Helene, which slammed Florida late last month, have rushed to remove debris that could become dangerous projectiles as Milton approaches.

In Mexico’s Yucatan, strong winds toppled trees and pylons, and heavy rain caused flooding, but the peninsula avoided major damage or casualties as the storm barreled offshore.

Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 230 people across several states.

It hit the Florida coastline on September 26 as a major Category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding in remote inland towns in states further north, including North Carolina and Tennessee.

Helene was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the US mainland since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, with the death count still rising.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Vehicles stuck in sand swept up by Hurricane Helene ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall in Treasure Island, Florida, US, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. Milton exploded into the Atlantic’s strongest hurricane this year, bearing down as a catastrophic Category 5 storm on a Florida region still struggling to recover from Helene’s devastation.
| Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Hurricane Milton weakened to a Category 4 storm on Tuesday (October 8, 2024) as it barrelled toward the west coast of Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday (October 9, 2024).

“Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory, adding the storm was packing sustained winds of around 155 miles per hour (250 kmh).

Milton was downgraded early Tuesday (October 8, 2024) to a Category 4 hurricane, but forecasters said it still posed “an extremely serious threat to Florida.” Milton had intensified quickly Monday (October 7, 2024), becoming a Category 5 storm at midday with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (285 kph) before being downgraded.

Milton’s centre could come ashore Wednesday (October 9, 2024) in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it could retain hurricane strength as it churns across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains.

Tampa Bay has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921, and authorities fear luck is about to run out for the region and its 3.3 million residents. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and US Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were mobilised to help in one of the largest mobilisations of federal personnel in history.

“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told a Monday news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 per cent of the time.” The Tampa Bay area is still rebounding from Helene and its powerful surge — a wall of water up to 8 feet (2.4 metres) it created even though its eye was 100 miles (160 kilometres) offshore. Twelve people died there, with the worst damage along a string of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

Forecasters warned that Milton could bring a possible 8- to 12-foot (2.4- to 3.6-metre) storm surge, leading to evacuation orders being issued for beach communities all along the Gulf coast. In Florida, that means anyone who stays is on their own and first responders are not expected to risk their lives to rescue them at the height of the storm.

Stragglers were a problem during Helene and 2022’s Ian. Many residents failed to heed ample warnings, saying they evacuated during previous storms only to have major surges not materialize. But there was evidence on Monday (October 7, 2024) that people were getting out before Milton arrives.

The signs of Ian’s devastation remain visible everywhere. Rebuilt homes stand next to others in various states of construction. There are numerous vacant lots, which were once rare.