Wildfires to Hurricanes, 2017’s Disasters Carried Climate Warnings

"Exceptionally high ocean temperatures fueled devastating Atlantic hurricanes, while a wet spring and hot summer set the stage for a deadly fire season in the West."

"The Great Plains were already crackling with the blazes of an unusually early fire season last spring when federal officials, warning of the costly impacts of climate change, asked Congress for help with overstretched firefighting budgets.

Nobody could have foretold the ferocity of the fires that would close out 2017 in California.

In the Atlantic, ocean temperature maps were already colored in glaring hues by midsummer when hurricane forecasters heightened their alerts about a season that seemed likely to send more intense storms toward the Caribbean and the U.S. coast."

Georgina Gustin reports for InsideClimate News Dec 29, 2017.

SEE ALSO:

"The Most Consequential Environmental Stories Of 2017" (Washington Post)

"2017 Was The Year Of Extreme Weather" (NPR)

"Raging Fires, Baseball-Sized Hail. 'The New Normal?'" (ClimateWire)