‘Bomb cyclone’ is bringing big waves to Central Coast. What caused this weather phenomenon?

Over the years, North Pacific cyclones have become more intense. We measure the intensity of a storm by its atmospheric pressure. Generally, the lower the atmospheric pressure within the tempest, the stronger the storm.

Previously, two storms held the record for the lowest atmospheric pressure readings in the North Pacific Ocean…

Building resilience on a restless Earth

A recent study linked the fall of the Roman Republic in 43 AD to the eruption of one of Alaska’s Aleutian volcanoes. The fallout from Okmok volcano circled the globe and unleashed several years of extreme weather, disease, famine and social unrest. Julius Caesar was killed as the sun mysteriously disappeared.

Numerous other volcanic eruptions have had similar effects. For example, Iceland’s Laki volcano erupted in 1783, killing tens of thousands of people. It cooled the climate in Europe, causing crop failures and famine, which in turn helped trigger the French Revolution. Such events remind us that local natural disasters can have global consequences and we ought to heed warnings from the past…