Tropical Storm Henri, currently located about 490 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is forecast to intensify into a hurricane Friday and may pass close to or make landfall in southern New England late this weekend.
Why it matters: A slow-moving Category 1 hurricane or strong tropical storm spinning near Cape Cod could pound the region with high surf and coastal flooding in particular, which could be heightened by rising sea levels from long-term climate change.
A company using a bio-based approach to making more environmentally friendly indigo dye is the first small startup to sign up with Ginkgo Biowork's automated synthetic biology platform.
Why it matters: Boston-based Ginkgo, which recently made plans to go public via a SPAC deal, aims to become the Amazon Web Services for the growing synthetic biology world, offering its microbe engineering foundry as a platform to build out biological apps.
The extreme heatwaves that blasted the Pacific Northwest this summer exposed a new reality for hospitals that were overwhelmed by patients with heat-related illnesses.
Why it matters: State and local health departments in Washington and Oregon report those who succumbed to heat-related illness were often older, with pre-existing conditions and had no air conditioning. Many were also socially isolated.
Red flag warnings are in effect over a vast stretch of the West — including California, Nevada and Montana, prompted by strong winds, high temperatures and drought conditions.
The latest: In Northern California, where fuel moisture and flammability are especially conducive to extreme wildfire behavior, the rapidly growing Caldor Fire prompted mandatory evacuation orders to be issued late Tuesday, as it tore through homes in and around the El Dorado County town of Grizzly Flats.
