RESEARCH, MISCELLANEOUS AND Typhoon Haiyan

RESEARCH

HURRICANE STUDY AND ITS AFTERMATH

On the eve of the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, it was a bitter-sweet moments for many in the affected coastal communities of the eastern seaboard. On October 29, 2012, Sandy came ashore, sending floodwater to densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey Shore. In the New York City, the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city's subway and commuter rail tunnels. The storm was blamed for 182 deaths and $65 billion in economic damage, only the second-worst since the Hurricane Katrina. What was unique about Hurricane Sandy's devastating force was its breadth--its band of tropical-storm-force wind stretched for a record 1,000 miles--that had pushed much more water into communities in New Jersey and New York, had as high as 20-foot water surge in Great Lakes and dropped 3 feet of snow in West Virginia. According to an National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study, Sandy had winds with energy as devastating five times of Hiroshima-type A-bomb. According to a September 2013 NOAA study, Sandy-type water surge is more common now--with likelihood of once-in-295 years--compared to the likelihood (once-in-435 years) back in 1950. By 2100, the likelihood is destined to reach an alarming threshold of once-in-20-year event.

Researchers Propose Additional Severity Level

The Dallas Morning News reported in a front-page article in its February 6, 2024, edition that the time may have come, based on the widely respected research conducted by two renowned climate scientists, to revamp the Saffir-Simpson Scale introduced in 1970s. According to Saffir-Simpson Scale, the highest category storm, Category 5 storm system,  has a sustained wind of 157 mph. However, since 2013, dozens of storms far exceed that threshold by significant margin. The climate change and higher oceanic temperature have only made the intensity and ferocity of the storm system far worse in recent decade, leading to proposals from few quarters of scientific communities for the need of another category, Category 6.

Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and James Kossin, a distinguished science adviser at the First Street Foundation, hypothesized for another elevated category in the Saffir-Simpson Scale: Category 6 for cyclone with sustained winds of at least 192 mph. If Category 6 were introduced, at least five storms would have belonged to that category: (1) Typhoon Haiyan (195 mph; Philippines; 2013), (2) Hurricane Patricia (215 mph; Mexico; 2015), (3) Typhoon Meranti (195 mph; China; 2015), (4) Typhoon Goni (195 mph; Philippines; 2020), (5) Typhoon Surigae (195 mph; Asia and Russia; 2021), respectively. However, main stream meteorological organizations and climate groups are not planning to introduce a sixth category any time soon. Other scientists argue that Saffir-Simpson Scale is not a representative measure of the intensity of the overall effect of the storm system as it bakes in only wind speed in the calculation of the metric, not other significant contributors such as storm surge, flooding and other water-related hazards. 

Warming Ocean a Threat to Base of Marine Food Web

A research led by Francois Ribalet, an Associate Professor of the School of Oceanography, University of Washington, is published on September 8, 2025 in the Nature Microbiology. The research shows, based on an avalanche of reliable data, that a keystone species, Prochlorococcus, a specific group of Phytoplankton, that forms the base of the marine food web will be depleted by half in the next 75 years if the ocean temperature rises 82 degrees Fahrenheit or more, a common trend seen in the tropical and sub-tropical ocean temperatures in recent times. 

MISCELLANEOUS

Young Plaintiffs Challenge Judicial Process on Climate Constitutional Rights 

An unprecedented trial is set to begin on June 12, 2023 in Helena, Montana where 16 plaintiffs ranging in ages between 5 and 22 are challenging the state leaders for not protecting the health and wellbeing of Montanans. Their attorneys are presenting the fight against climate change as a constitutional right of the citizens and how state GOP leaders are failing to protect that right by continually encouraging the fossil fuel. Montana Attorney-General Austin Knudsen tried to toss the case out, but the state Supreme Court in a June 6, 2023, ruling rejected the attorney general's effort.  The case is being keenly studied by environmentalists and industry groups. 

********** FIRST OF A KIND LAWSUIT IN MONTANA ON CLIMATE CHANGE **********

Landmark Trial Opens in Helena

The landmark trial that 16 young plaintiffs had filed three years ago to force the state government to change its approach towards fossil fuel and climate change began on June 12, 2023 at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse of the state District Judge Kathy Seely. 

Unique Victory for the Youth Environmental Activists

Students who had sued the state of Montana for not discharging its responsibilities to protect the rights of Montanans to a clean and healthful environment received a major victory on August 14, 2023 as the Lewis and Clark County District Judge Kathy Seely opined that Montana had lost its focus on protecting the health and wellbeing of its citizens by continuing to encourage burning fossil fuel. 

Montana Supreme Court Upholds the Teenagers' Right to Have Stable Climate

The landmark and unprecedented case in Montana has happy ending for 16 young plaintiffs. On December 18, 2024, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the plaintiffs had constitutional rights to live in stable and good environmental climate. The case is the first of a kind that espouses climate change from the perspectives of constitutional rights. 

********** FIRST OF A KIND LAWSUIT IN MONTANA ON CLIMATE CHANGE **********

Phoenix Sets Deadly Record on Book

July 2023 is alarmingly brutal for most of the United States and rest of the world, with a trifecta of contributing factors baking most of the regions of the world. El Nino and natural variation of climate pattern are playing havoc on an already worsening baseline of climate change. Phoenix is the epicenter of that rolling climatic disaster. Phoenix recorded an average of 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit for the month of July 2023, beating the previous record of 102.2 set by another Arizona city, Lake Havasu City, in July 1996. In July 2023, Phoenix recorded daytime average of 114.7 degree and nighttime average of 90.8 degree, respectively, according to the August 2, 2023, edition of The Dallas Morning News. 

*********** HAWAII: CHILDREN MOVEMENT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE **********

Hawaii Students, DOT Reach Settlement

In an unprecedented win for the children and their dream for a healthier planet, 13 students and teens who had taken the Hawaii government to the court won a significant victory, according to a June 21, 2024, report by The Associated Press. The lawsuit was filed in 2022 as the plaintiffs got frustrated over the state DOT's focus on fossil fuel instead of decarbonization. 

Under the settlement reached between the plaintiffs and the defendant, the state DOT will gradually wean away from fossil fuel and completely decarbonize in 20 years. In separate statements, Governor Josh Greens and plaintiff attorneys from One Children's Trust and Earthjustice on June 20, 2024 lauded the children's fight against climate change. Hawaii is the first state in the Republic to reach such a settlement with youths and in making a clarion statement that passing the buck and burden of climate change to the next generation is not pono [Hawaiian meaning of righteousness]. 

*********** HAWAII: CHILDREN MOVEMENT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE **********

TYPHOON HAIYAN

A devastating typhoon, one of its own kind, slammed Philippines on November 8, 2013 with a force of sustained winds of 147 mph and with gusts of 170 mph. That will make Haiyan a strong Category 4 hurricane and close to Category 5 hurricane in the USA. The typhoon slammed into island of Samar on the eastern edge and sped across islands in the center of the country with a speed of about 25 mph, making Haiyan a high-speed moving storm that minimized the scale of damage and destruction in the middle swath of the island nation. Eastern city of Tacloban on the Leyte Island bore the brunt of Haiyan with thousands of people feared dead. Nearly 800,000 people were forced to flee in the wake of this typhoon.

On November 10, 2013, the scale of devastation cut through by Typhoon Haiyan was becoming transparent as several central islands and seaside city of Tacloban began the harrowing recovery and rescue operation. The typhoon crossed the last island of Busuanga before moving to South China Sea and weakening further on November 10 to a storm system with 100 mph over central and North Vietnam. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on November 9, 2013 directed the U.S Pacific Command to gear up for relief and search-and-rescue operations as part of aiding the regime of President Benigno Aquino III. The USS George Washington is headed toward the region with supplies of water and food.

The USS George Washington arrived at the eastern coast of the Samar Island on November 14, 2013, and US Navy helicopters flew 77 sorties in 48 hours since then to carry 11 tons of water and medical supplies off the aircraft carrier. As of November 16, 2013, US aid supplies reached to 190 tons. The devastation and destruction of life and properties have become clearer on November 16, 2013, eight days after Typhoon Haiyan made a landfall and cut across the middle swath of the island nation, leaving behind mangled vehicles, razed homes and hung dead bodies from trees. As of November 16, 2013, death toll stood at 3,633, with an additional 1,179 missing. According to the UNICEF, at least 13 million people have been affected by this killer typhoon.

President Benigno Aquino III arrived at Tacloban on November 17, 2013 to oversee the relief effort by himself. On November 18, 2013, Filipino government established a website called the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub to track money donated by foreign donors. As of November 18, 2013, 3,976 people were killed and 1600 missing. So far, $270 million in foreign aid was donated to the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which is called by Filipinos as Yolanda.

The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan exceeded 6,000, according to official estimate provided December 13, 2013. According to the estimate, death toll stood at 6,009, with 1,779 missing.