The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has already caused widespread death and destruction with Harvey and Irma. Category 5 hurricane Maria is the latest threat. It is heading for Puerto Rico after devastating the island of Dominica yesterday. Maria is expected to cross over Puerto Rico on Wednesday. It will also impact the US and British Virgin Islands. Read more... September 19, 2017

Thames Water engineers have discovered an enormous fatberg that weighs more than eleven double decker buses. The fatberg weighs 130 tons and is over 250 meters (820.21 feet) long. The engineers plan to wage a three week war on the fatberg reducing it by a little bit each day until it is gone. Read more... September 12, 2017

A new species of porcelain crab has been discovered in Colombia. It was discovered by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany (JLU). The new species, Pachycheles tuerkayi, is named for the late Michael Türkay, head of the Crustacea Section at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany. Read more... September 12, 2017

The National Hurricane Center has issued an urgent warning about a powerful storm surge for Marco Island and the Naples are of Florida. The water is expected to rise very quickly. The warning reads, "...URGENT...WATER LEVELS FROM STORM SURGE TO RISE RAPIDLY IN THE NAPLES AND MARCO ISLAND AREA..." Read more... September 10, 2017

Hurricane Irma dried up some beaches at low tide in the Bahamas. The water was likely in fairly shallow bay for this to occur. Hurricanes have been known to do this in the past. It can happen with powerful hurricanes when the winds are blowing offshore. It is more frequently noticeable with smaller bodies of water, particular rivers and creeks. Read more... September 9, 2017

Hurricanes are known to spawn tornadoes especially on the northeast side of the storm. Some hurricanes spwan many more tornadoes than others. Hurricane Ivan spawned 117 tornadoes over a 3 day period in 2004. Hurricane Harvey resulted in hundreds of tornado warnings for the Houston metropolitan area. Some of these tornadoes caused damage. Hurricane spawned tornadoes tend to be much weaker and shorter lived than the powerful torndaoes in the plains but they can still cause damage. Read more... September 9, 2017

Rain should not be forgotten as a potential threat from Hurricane Irma. Rainfall and tropical storm force winds will begin in southern Florida well before the stronger hurricane winds arrive. Heavy rain can continue well after the core of the storm passes if a feeder band sets up over the same area. Inland flooding is one of the biggest killers with hurricanes. Read more... September 8, 2017

These videos contain raw footage of the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Irma in St. Martin. Irma was a category five hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph when it passed over the island in the northeast Caribbean. The island measures 34 square miles (87 square kilometers). Read more... September 8, 2017

Hurricane Irma is an extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane headed for the Florida peninsula. The National Hurricane Center forecast cone has Irma making landfall somewhere in south Florida on Sunday as a major hurricane (likely Cat 4 or Cat 5) and move up the peninsula into Georgia. Irma is expected to impact heavily populated areas of Florida including the Miami metropolitan area. If it takes this predicted path Irma will likely become the costliest storm in U.S. history. Read more... September 7, 2017

A newly discovered crab species is covered in star-shaped tubercles. The crab species was found in red coral beds during a survey of a seamount by Peng-Chia-Yu Island, Taiwan. The crab species has also been found in the Philippines. Read more... August 29, 2017