A possible treatment for Florida’s disastrous red tides (赤潮) took another step toward widespread use after successful testing in Sarasota Bay.

This study, led by UCF Assistant Professor of Biology Kristy Lewis, is the first successful test of any red tide treatment technology in open water using large water containers (容器). These containers — about six feet in diameter — extend from the waters’ surface to the ocean floor, allowing scientists to test real ocean conditions within a controlled setting. Four containers were treated with a clay (黏土) solution, while the other four served as a control.

The clay along with the Karenia brevis algae (海藻), which is responsible for Florida red tide, is put on the ocean floor. Lewis has spent the last three years carefully testing the impact of introducing this clay into the ocean ecosystem. She not only looks for changes in the water’s quality, but also wants to know how the clay affects the health of sea life. “We want to make sure the treatment is not worse than the disease,” she says.

At first, the test was simply to measure the influence of the clay on the ecosystem, but an unexpected red tide event caused Lewis to make the test practical. The results suggest the clay performed as expected, but there’s still a question of whether the bad effects of algae remain active on the ocean floor. Water collected during the test should provide an answer. Next steps depend on the test results, but there are already plans to survey what happened to the clay-coated algae when it’s used near seagrass beds.

Visiting Sarasota. Florida, in the middle of a red tide event reminded Lewis just how important the research is to keep the state’s coast healthy. Lewis says she’s prepared to go another three years if that’s what it takes to find an acceptable solution to red tides.

The tornadoes that recently struck the U.S. are some of the most destructive and deadly in history. The death in Kentucky, the hardest hit state, reached 80 on Monday, with dozens still unaccounted for. The scale of destruction and timing of the tornadoes so late in the year — most tornadoes occur in the spring and summer — is fueling discussion about how climate change may have influenced this deadly disaster.

“In my 40 years as a meteorologist (气象学家), this was one of the most shocking weather events I’ve ever witnessed,” says Jeff Masters, at Yale Climate Connections. “Watching these storms on Friday night, my thought was, ‘Is no season safe?’ Extreme tornadoes in December. That was mind blowing to me.”

Unlike heat waves and floods, the link between a warming world and tornadoes is complex and uncertain. Scientists have several theories about how tornado behavior may change. Tornadoes in December are possible. But it remains to be seen whether climate change will strengthen or increase the frequency of tornadoes.

According to NOAA’s data, there has been a recorded increase in the number of observed tornadoes since 1950, which experts believe is largely due to better technology such as Doppler radar. There’s been no observed increase in the frequency of major tornadoes over time. For example, 59 of the most severe F5 tornadoes in the U.S. have occurred since 1950. But if the storm that destroyed Kentucky turns out to have been an F5, it will have been the first since 2013 — bringing to an end the longest recorded period so far.

Nevertheless, “given the general influence of global warming on the atmosphere, it makes sense that it should be having an impact on tornadoes too,” says Victor Gensini, an extreme weather expert at Northern Illinois University. “Instead of asking: ‘Did climate change cause this tornado?’ It’s better to operate under the assumption that climate change did play a role,” he says.

While the science on climate change and tornadoes isn’t clear, meteorologists are predicting that conditions benefiting tornadoes will continue this month. “I’m worried about the rest of the year to be honest. I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.” Gensini says.

On November 8th, a tornado, the most powerful in the past 70 years, hit Jersey, causing great damages to the area and leaving the residents in great panic.

“Suddenly, the windows of the waiting room exploded in and dragged everything inside. My cars have been completely destroyed by branches and fences, and my garden is completely gone. There’s no furniture, no fence; everything has been thrown everywhere. At first there was lightning but then a strange noise and strange darkness came over the whole house. It was like being in a scary scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz,” Ashleigh Quail-Charleston, a Jersey resident, told the Bailiwick Express after the tornado that struck overnight on November 1—2 during Storm Ciaran.

The consequence looked like a bomb had gone off: cars hit, roofs with holes, windows broken. “A huge tree leans drunkenly against a block of flats. Piles of branches are piled optionally and pavements are covered with pieces,” said Chris Stone at BBC Radio Jersey. The tornado was powerful and exceptionally rare, caused by a severe thunderstorm that had sent out intense lightning and huge hailstones described as “ice bombs”. The Tornado and Storm Research Organization (Torro) and Jersey Met Office revealed the tornado left a trail of damages 8 km long across the island, and rated its intensity as T6 on an international scale of tornado power.

According to Torro records, this was the most powerful tornado to strike anywhere in the British Isles or Channel Islands since December 7th, 1954 when a tornado struck west London, leaving tremendous devastation, with Gunnersbury railway station torn apart, roofs torn off houses and one car even thrown through the air.

Tornados during Storm Ciaran also hit Sompting in West Sussex and Loders in Dorset. One resident in Loders, Sophie van Hensbergen, described the moment, saying, “The tornado struck with a very, very powerful whistling sound and the windows looked as though we were in a car wash.”