This Week on Earth: May 22-28
Baby geese enjoy some sunlight on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. (Samantha Alvarez/ION)
Northwestern
Due to recent warm temperatures, trillions of cicadas have begun their annual release from the ground. This year is more extreme than most. 2024 is the first time since 1803 that the 13-year and 17-year broods of cicadas have overlapped in their release years, creating the largest emergence in modern history.
The country-wide epicenter of the release is, of course, Northern Illinois. Bug enthusiasts from around the world are flocking to the area to visit the area in which broods most densely overlap, and soon the phenomenon will be audible when cicadas begin their noisy mating calls.
As soon as cicada nymphs emerge from the ground, they shed their shells, leaving them clinging to plants and trees. Keep an eye out for their telltale husks as you walk around campus!
The Atlantic Seaboard
In their annual May hurricane outlook, NOAA has predicted the highest ever hurricane forecast in history, with 17 to 25 named storms and 8 to 13 hurricanes. A named storm is any storm that reaches sustained winds of over 39 mph, and one becomes a hurricane with winds of over 74 mph.
Due to abnormally warm temperatures in the Atlantic from both climate change and 2024 La Nina conditions, circumstances will be optimal for the formation of exceptionally destructive storms. Climate change has increased both the frequency and power of hurricanes--almost doubling the amount of Category 3 and above storms per year since 1980.
Over a dozen other forecasting agencies have concurred with the NOAA forecast and multiple have called for more than twenty hurricanes this year. It only takes one powerful storm to devastate East Coast communities, evident with recent disasters like Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Maria.
The Caribbean
Since 2023’s hottest summer on record in the Northern Hemisphere, scientists have been anxiously watching coral reefs’ reactions to the heat. Temperatures in the Caribbean Sea are currently at levels much higher than normal for late May; they will likely accelerate a global bleaching event predicted by the government’s Coral Reef Watch Program.
Coral bleaching occurs when coral under stress releases the algae that nourishes it, exposing its exoskeleton and putting it at risk for disease. A new study on stony coral tissue loss has shown a recent increase of the disease due to bleaching.
“I hate that I have to keep using that word ‘unprecedented.’ But, again, we are seeing unprecedented patterns again this year,” said David Manzello, coordinator of the Coral Reef Watch Program.
While a bleaching outbreak does not spell an end to the Caribbean reefs, it has the potential to greatly alter coral populations, damaging the nearby biodiversity and ecosystem.