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Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica with 165MPH winds and was the first Category 5 hurricane ever to strike the island. It is now headed toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and is continuing to strengthen. A typical autumnal weather pattern over the continental United States is expected to keep it offshore of the mainland as it turns north. Should it hit pockets of warm water in the South Atlantic, it has the potential to recover its strength. There is a remote possibility that it could surprise forecasters and move into the Caribbean.

All storm track models now see Maria moving northward well out to sea, but if it impacts the remains of Jose, it could still be pushed onshore somewhere along the Atlantic seaboard.
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To say the environment on the surface of Venus is extreme might be viewed as an understatement by some: the hottest planet in the Solar System’s air cooks at a scorching 462ºC (864ºF), under crushing atmospheric pressure that is 92 times greater than Earth’s — and that’s not counting the corrosive effects of the sulphuric acid lacing the clouds. The result is an environment that severely limits the lifespan of manmade probes sent there, that are typically measured in timescales of mere hours, as opposed to the years-long missions enjoyed by Mars rovers.
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Tropical storm Maria is likely to become a powerful hurricane and appears headed along the same path into the Caribbean that Irma took. Meanwhile, Lee appears to be organizing off Cape Verde while Jose,a category 1 hurricane with 80MPH winds seems likely to stay out at sea. If Maria becomes a hurricane, it could form into an extremely dangerous storm, and until south central Atlantic and Caribbean waters cool in November, similar storms could continue to form.

However, normal seasonal air flow southward across the United States is more and more likely to prevent these systems from affecting the US mainland. Not so the Caribbean, which will remain vulnerable throughout hurricane season.
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A slowly growing field of biological research is uncovering evidence that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is steadily decreasing the concentration of nutrients in our food supply. Plants metabolize CO2 in the same way we metabolize oxygen, and increases in CO2 levels have proven to boost plant growth, but that increased growth causes the affected plants to pack on more carbohydrates at the cost of taking on nutrients such as vitamins and minerals — effectively turning crops we consider to be healthy dietary choices into junk food.
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