Axios

Tropical Storm Fiona is expected to become a hurricane and could dump as much as 20 inches of rain on Puerto Rico beginning Saturday, the National Hurricane Center warned.

Driving the news: The meteorological agency issued a hurricane warning for the U.S. territory, where the impending flooding and high winds could imperil the island's power grid, which is still recovering from 2017's Hurricane Maria.

Health systems are increasingly responding to the threat of climate change with commitments to cut back their own carbon footprint.

Why it matters: Health care is a massive global industry, and shrinking its carbon footprint could go a long way toward reducing carbon emissions.

Climate anxiety is an increasingly accepted phenomenon that many psychologists and therapists are tailoring their practices to treat.

The big picture: The symptoms are especially prevalent among young people, and while it's not treated as an official clinical diagnosis, it can be debilitating at times, mental health professionals tell Axios.

Climate change is scrambling the way we fight infectious diseases and adding a stealthy public health threat to the heat waves, droughts, wildfires and other physically observable hazards.

By the numbers: In a study of 375 infectious diseases, 58% have at some point been aggravated by climatic hazards, researchers wrote last month in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

The combination of extreme heat and air pollution is extremely lethal, and this noxious mix is likely to become more common as global warming worsens.

The big picture: It has long been known that particulate pollution emitted from car tailpipes, factories and power plants can aggravate chronic health problems and prove deadly. Add extreme heat, and the threat is especially dangerous.

A 2021 heat wave that killed at least 157 people in Washington state drove home why even regions accustomed to fresh air and moderate temperatures need to calibrate their public health efforts to confront extreme climate events.

Why it matters: The dual threats of extreme heat and smoke from wildfires can be fatal in places where many households lack air conditioning, or they could worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.

The world is facing a climate change-fueled health crisis — from increased emergency department visits due to heatstroke, exacerbated asthma and even heart attacks to injuries and illness linked to severe storms.

Why it matters: The growing threats to human health only promise to get more complex and expensive, and health systems have to make major changes to how they prepare for those threats, experts say.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Climate Truths Deep Dive series. Today we're exploring the health care impact of climate change, and how the health care industry and emergency management officials are responding.

Japan is urging hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate ahead of the landfall of a typhoon that could be one of the most destructive and expensive storms to hit the country in years.

Driving the news: Typhoon Nanmadol is forecast to make landfall on Sunday. It's current maximum sustained winds are at 145 mph, as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it a dangerous Category 4 storm. It could bring as much as 20 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours to certain areas, the BBC reports.

Tropical Storm Fiona is nearing the French island of Guadeloupe, and is forecast to pass close enough to Puerto Rico this weekend to bring tropical storm conditions and up to a foot of rain.

The big picture: The storm, which packed maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as of 5 p.m. ET, is forecast to slowly intensify, possibly to the cusp of hurricane intensity, before making landfall in the Dominican Republic on Sunday night into early Monday morning.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed "some of the nation’s most aggressive climate measures in history" to combat human-caused climate change into law on Friday.

Why it matters: The legislative package "complements" the $54 billion in climate funding included in the state's budget earlier this year, Newsom's office said. The new laws come as the state nears the end of a harsh summer that brought record-breaking heat that tested its power grid and contributed to major wildfires.

At least nine people were killed and four were missing from flooding caused by heavy rainfall across Italy's central Marche region on Friday, Italian wire service ANSA reports.

The big picture: Hospitals in the area had treated around 50 people for injuries from the flooding, while rescue operations were launched for Senigallia, Barbara and Cantiano and other more remote towns in the Apennine Mountains, according to AP.

Climate and progressive groups are launching a $10 million, 12-week ad campaign touting the new energy law, an effort targeted at young people and communities of color.

Driving the news: The ads begin Monday on streaming services and social media platforms in states including Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and a few others.

Surging electricity costs are a fresh source of inflationary pressure.

Driving the news: This week's Consumer Price Index report showed costs for electricity in the U.S. climbed at their fastest rate in 40 years.