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February 13, 2018

Tonga: Massive Cyclone Destroys Homes, Flattens Parliament Building
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In the South Pacific, the island nation of Tonga was left devastated
Monday after a major cyclone made landfall, leveling homes, flooding
neighborhoods and flattening the kingdom's Parliament building. Tropical
Cyclone Gita arrived Monday evening with winds of 145 miles per hour-far
higher than forecasters had predicted. The storm made landfall as a new
report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds sea
level rise due to human-driven climate change is happening now, as ice
from Antarctica and Greenland melts at an accelerated rate. The report
found sea levels have risen by an average of nearly 3 inches over the
past quarter-century. The storm in Tonga is the worst in more than 60
years.


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