California may have had a brief respite from widespread flood watches on Thursday, but officials are warning that upcoming storms this weekend are expected to push into next week.
A major storm system sweeping across the South on Thursday killed at least nine people (seven in Alabama, two in Georgia) as it unleashed a series of tornadoes, causing significant damage and leaving a trail of destruction behind.
The latest: The National Weather Service said Friday that damage resulting from a tornado rated "at least" EF3 — with winds between 136 and 165 mph — has been confirmed in Autauga County, Ala., where most of the deaths were reported.
The United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that the CEO of one of the world's biggest oil firms will lead the COP28 global climate talks in Dubai later this year.
Why it matters: The appointment of UAE climate envoy Sultan al-Jaber, who leads the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil, as COP28 president was met with outrage from climate activists — many of whom were already concerned that the UAE, one of the world's largest oil and gas producers, was hosting the summit.
Discoveries that push science in new directions are happening less often than they did in the last century, according to a new finding that will help to frame debates about how (and how much) to try to spur this type of research.
Why it matters: Scientific advances fuel economies and contribute to improving human health and life — and they are increasingly at the center of geopolitics. Countries are strengthening their scientific institutions to compete for top talent and scientific and technological dominance.
The James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed its first planet orbiting a distant star, and it's a rocky world just about the same size as Earth.
Why it matters: Part of the scientific value of the JWST is its ability to characterize alien planets. This finding opens the door to learning more about what the atmosphere of this planetcould be.
ExxonMobil's own climate science research, which began in the 1970s, accurately predicted the pace and severity of global warming, a new study finds.
Why it matters: The study is the first to examine the performance of Exxon's internal climate modeling as well as its scientists' collaborations with outside researchers. It provides a quantitative assessment of how much the company's executives may have known about the risks of burning oil and gas and when.
The death toll from California's relentless stream of extreme storm systems rose to 18 Wednesday, as the state's National Guard joined the search for a missing 5-year-old boy who was swept away in floodwaters.
The big picture: The latest in the barrage of atmospheric river events that have been unleashing heavy rains and destructive winds across the state was taking aim at the Pacific Northwest Wednesday, as flooding concerns remained in the storm-battered Bay Area ahead of the next major downpour there later this week.
People experiencing long COVID may see their symptoms ease within a year, per a study published in BMJ medical journal Wednesday.
The big picture: The outcome of this new study may provide some hope for the millions of people left newly disabled during the pandemic with a lingering illness that has no effective treatment.
