Insights Learning to Lead in the Digital Age: The AI Readiness Reflection As the race to integrate generative AI accelerates, organizations face a dual challenge: fostering tech-savviness across teams while developing next-generation leadership competencies. These are critical to ensuring that “everyone” in the organization is prepared for continuous adaptation and change. This AI Readiness Reflection is designed to help you assess where your leaders stand today and identify the optimal path to build the digital knowledge, mindset, skills, and leadership capabilities required to thrive in the future. Take the assessment now to discover how your current practices align with AI maturity—and gain actionable insights tailored to your organization’s readiness level. To download the full report, tell us a bit about yourself. 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To opt-out, please visit our Privacy Policy. Digital Intelligence Share this resource Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Share on X Share on WhatsApp Email this Page Connect with us Change isn’t easy, but we can help. Together we’ll create informed and inspired leaders ready to shape the future of your business. Contact us Latest Insights Strategic Alignment Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units Harvard Business Publishing announced the launch of Harvard Business Impact, a new brand identity for… Read more: Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units News Digital Intelligence Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential While AI makes powerful operational efficiencies possible, it cannot yet replace the creativity, adaptability, and… Read more: Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential Perspectives Digital Intelligence 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation AI has become a defining force in reshaping industries and determining competitive advantage. To support… Read more: 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation Infographic Talent Management Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment In our study, “Leadership Fitness: Developing the Capacity to See and Lead Differently Amid Complexity,”… Read more: Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment Job Aid The post Learning to Lead in the Digital Age: The AI Readiness Reflection appeared first on Harvard Business Impact.

Insights Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment In our study, “Leadership Fitness: Developing the Capacity to See and Lead Differently Amid Complexity,” we identified four dimensions of leadership fitness that reframe how leaders see their environment as well as how they can lead differently through it. To help you evaluate your organization’s leadership maturity, we’ve created a tool to measure your leaders’ leadership fitness. Download the assessment today to uncover your score, and if desired, connect with one of our experts for personalized insights based on your results. To download the full report, tell us a bit about yourself. First Name * Last Name * Job Title * Organization * Business Email * Country * — Please Select — United States United Kingdom Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People’s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia The Former Yugoslav Republic Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory,Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe I’m interested in a follow-up discussion By checking this box, you agree to receive emails and communications from Harvard Business Impact. To opt-out, please visit our Privacy Policy. Talent Management Share this resource Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Share on X Share on WhatsApp Email this Page Connect with us Change isn’t easy, but we can help. Together we’ll create informed and inspired leaders ready to shape the future of your business. Contact us Latest Insights Strategic Alignment Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units Harvard Business Publishing announced the launch of Harvard Business Impact, a new brand identity for… Read more: Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units News Digital Intelligence Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential While AI makes powerful operational efficiencies possible, it cannot yet replace the creativity, adaptability, and… Read more: Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential Perspectives Digital Intelligence 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation AI has become a defining force in reshaping industries and determining competitive advantage. To support… Read more: 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation Infographic Talent Management Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment In our study, “Leadership Fitness: Developing the Capacity to See and Lead Differently Amid Complexity,”… Read more: Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment Job Aid The post Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment appeared first on Harvard Business Impact.

Insights Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential While AI makes powerful operational efficiencies possible, it cannot yet replace the creativity, adaptability, and contextual understanding that humans bring to strategic decision making. Effective AI integration requires leaders who can act as bridges between organizational goals and AI capabilities and then inspire their teams to trust and adopt AI tools to help achieve those goals. To download the full report, tell us a bit about yourself. First Name * Last Name * Job Title * Organization * Business Email * Country * — Please Select — United States United Kingdom Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People’s Republic Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People’s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia The Former Yugoslav Republic Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory,Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe By checking this box, you agree to receive emails and communications from Harvard Business Impact. To opt-out, please visit our Privacy Policy. Digital IntelligenceLeadership Development Share this resource Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Share on X Share on WhatsApp Email this Page Connect with us Change isn’t easy, but we can help. Together we’ll create informed and inspired leaders ready to shape the future of your business. Contact us Latest Insights Strategic Alignment Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units Harvard Business Publishing announced the launch of Harvard Business Impact, a new brand identity for… Read more: Harvard Business Publishing Unveils Harvard Business Impact as New Brand for Corporate Learning and Education Units News Digital Intelligence Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential While AI makes powerful operational efficiencies possible, it cannot yet replace the creativity, adaptability, and… Read more: Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential Perspectives Digital Intelligence 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation AI has become a defining force in reshaping industries and determining competitive advantage. To support… Read more: 4 Keys to AI-First Leadership: The New Imperative for Digital Transformation Infographic Talent Management Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment In our study, “Leadership Fitness: Developing the Capacity to See and Lead Differently Amid Complexity,”… Read more: Leadership Fitness Behavioral Assessment Job Aid The post Succeeding in the Digital Age: Why AI-First Leadership Is Essential appeared first on Harvard Business Impact.

Photo Credit: SpaceX SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Reuses Booster, Gathers Key Data Despite Loss Highlights First reuse of Super Heavy booster marks key Starship milestone Ship reached space but failed to deploy dummy Starlink satellites Valuable reentry and tile test data collected despite stage losses Advertisement SpaceX launched its ninth Starship test flight on May 27 that featured the first-ever significant reuse of Starship hardware. As planned on Flight 9, Starship's two stages separated successfully, and the upper stage even reached space. However, both were ultimately lost before completing their objectives. Despite these setbacks, the mission yielded valuable data which inspires SpaceX's iterative approach to innovation as it aims to create a fully reusable launch system for space missions. This test flight exhibited successful reuse of a Super Heavy booster and aimed to demonstrate improved hardware performance.Previous test flightsAccording to official site of SpaceX, Starship's two stages are one giant booster called Super Heavy and a 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship, or simply "Ship." Both are powered by SpaceX's new Raptor engine — 33 of them for Super Heavy and six for Ship.On Flight 7 and Flight 8 the Super Heavy performed flawlessly, acing its engine burn and then returning to Starbase for a catch by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. But Ship had problems: It exploded less than 10 minutes after launch on both missions, raining debris down on the Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas, respectively.Advancements in flight 9In flight 9, SpaceX reused a Super Heavy booster for the first time, swapping out just four of its 33 Raptor engines after its initial flight in January. The booster also conducted a new atmospheric entry experiment, entering at a higher angle to collect data on aerodynamic control. Meanwhile, Ship (the upper stage) was tasked with deploying eight dummy Starlink satellites.Despite the promising advances, Flight 9 encountered several failures. Super Heavy broke apart roughly six minutes after launch during its return burn, and Ship lost control due to a fuel tank leak. The upper stage began tumbling, which prevented a planned in-space engine relight and led to a destructive reentry over the Indian Ocean. Still, SpaceX gained critical data, particularly on tile performance and active cooling systems.   For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Further reading: SpaceX, Starship, Super Heavy, Starship Flight 9, Elon Musk, Rocket Reuse, Raptor Engine, Space Launch, Space Innovation, Starlink, Reusable Rocket Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More Related Stories

With summer vacations on the horizon, Disney Experiences are popping off at their bi-coastal theme parks, Disney Cruises, and international destinations. Walt Disney World is getting a nighttime parade featuring new Pixar and Disney Animation Studios favorites, while Mickey Mouse and the Fab Five get dapper outfits to shine along with Starlight. Spooky fun is already beginning with the Disney Villains getting their own show at WDW’s Hollywood Studios and Halloween party tickets going on sale. Over at Disneyland, the 70th anniversary party is in full swing with fun festive foods and more. At Disneyland Paris, the theme park dances the summer away with a new music festival. And Disney Cruises prepares to set sail with the fleet’s newest ship in this week’s theme park news. Walt Disney World – Starlight This summer brings an all-new nighttime parade, Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, which will debut July 20, 2025. The Magic Kingdom Park exclusive will bring back nighttime parades to the Walt Disney World resort and will feature classic and new Disney and Pixar fandom faves along the parade route on Main Street. The sparkling floats will light up the night and of course we’re excited to see the updates to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Daisy’s costumes for the summer premiere. Walt Disney World – Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After There has been a need for more indoor shows as Walt Disney World’s humid summer gets underway, so why not some chilling tales from the Disney Villains to beat the heat? We’re excited to check out Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After for a fun musical romp through villain showstoppers and more. Walt Disney World – Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Haunted Mansion’s Butler Broom extends the invitation for what’s sure to be a swinging wake. New this year will be a Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse spooky meet and greet at the Town Square Theater. For those of us with little tots, the Storybook Circus will get a “happy haunt” transformation to help the smallest of Disney fans ease into the spirit of the season—since it is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween after all. Along with popular returning faves, the event will run August 15 to October 31. Tickets here. Disney Imagineering tour of Epcot’s Moana: Journey of Water Delight in one of our favorite walkthrough attractions at Walt Disney World to keep summer visitors cool with Imagineering’s fun-fact filled behind the scenes look at Moana: Journey of Water. Disneyland 70th Food This summer, aside from watching all the nighttime shows and scavenger hunting with the key to Disneyland, we’ll be eating our way through the parks. Our current fave dish is the 70th celebration Mickey Waffles at Schmoozies which are like confetti cake in flavor and have a creamy strawberry center that’s not to be missed. Disneyland France – Disney Music Festival © Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris makes a debut as a music festival destination from now until September 7 with the Disney Music Festival. The event will combine all genres of music with experiences inspired by Pixar and Disney Animation favorites, with hubs dedicated to various genres of music. That includes a mariachi band with Coco’s Miguel in Frontierland, jazz with Mary Poppins in Town Square, rock n’ roll with Elvis Stitch in Discoveryland, and more characters getting in on the fun. I want to know to know the story of DJ Chip and Dale, who just by the looks of their outfits look like they mean house music business. Disney Cruise – The Disney Destiny The comic book action and fairytale magic of Disney, Pixar, and Marvel heroes and villains will soon take over the Disney Destiny, the newest ship set to embark on ocean adventures in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. The Destiny will begin its trips later this year on November 20 with 4-5 night cruises taking off from the port of Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas and Western Caribbean. We’re excited for the ship’s epic looking Hercules show and the gorgon battle teased in the image above. Duffy and Friends Celebrate 20 years at Tokyo DisneySea The iconic international bear Duffy and his friends are turning 20. The celebration is hittingTokyo DisneySea for seaside fun this year with special food, entertainment and merch. I hope we get some stateside soon! We need LinaBell and other plushes for those of us collecting. Star Wars BDX Droids on a World Tour – Tokyo Disneyland International Disney fans can meet the Star Wars droids which will be featured in Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu until June 30 at Tokyo Disneyland. Spider-Man themed land breaks ground at Shanghai Disney Resort The Marvel Cinematic (theme park) Universe expands at Shanghai Disneyland with a new Spider-Man inspired land which will host new shows, dining, and attractions. Notably there will be a high-octane coaster that will swing you around on a heroic action encounter with Spidey. Land broke on May 18 for the area which will neighbor the recently opened Zootopia land. Makes sense, the Wonderful World of Disney insects living next to animals and all. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

May 30, 20255 min readWhy This Hurricane Season Has Experts on EdgePredictions for an above-average number of storms, communities that are still recovering and cuts to the National Weather Service have meteorologists and other experts worried about this hurricane seasonBy Andrea Thompson edited by Dean VisserCategory 4 Hurricane Florence as seen from the International Space Station in 2018. ESA/NASA–A. GerstJune 1 marks the official start of the hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean—and once again, the season looks like it will be busy.Though it is impossible to tell this far in advance exactly when storms will form and where they might hit, the presence of hurricane-friendly environmental conditions this season—along with the federal government cuts and policy chaos—have experts worried about the accuracy of forecasts and the resulting safety of communities. Scientific American asked several forecasters and hurricane researchers what they were most concerned about this year.Warm oceans may mean a busy hurricane seasonOn supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Seasonal forecasts—including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s—put the odds in favor of having more storms than average this season, which will last until November 30. NOAA predicts 13 to 19 named storms, meaning those of tropical storm strength (with winds of 39 to 74 miles per hour) or higher. Of those, six to 10 are expected to become hurricanes (with winds of more than 74 mph). And among those hurricanes, three to five are expected to reach major hurricane status—meaning they will have winds that will fall within Category 3 (those of 111 to 129 mph) or a stronger category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.The expectations of an active season arise from a combination of a favorable atmospheric environment and abundant ocean heat to fuel storms. For one thing, there’s no El Niño in place right now to influence winds in a way that tends to shred storms apart, says Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, whose team releases its own seasonal forecast each year.And waters in the Gulf of Mexico are extremely warm right now, providing ample fuel for the convection that drives tropical cyclones. “Over 60 percent of the Gulf is at record or near-record warmth for the time of year, and waters east of Florida and around the Bahamas are as warm as we’ve seen them for the start of any hurricane season in the satellite era,” says Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist at WPLG Local 10 News in Miami. Warm ocean water in these areas can cause storms to rapidly intensify right before landfall, giving communities less time to prepare for the onslaught. This is a major concern for Jill Trepanier, a hurricane researcher at Louisiana State University. “That is just a devastating situation when it occurs,” she says.It’s a situation that has played out many times in recent years, including with Hurricanes Beryl and Milton last season. “The sticky heat of the Gulf is a worrisome trend that’s undoubtedly fueling the spate of big hurricane hits along the Gulf Coast over the past decade or so,” Lowry says. “This is consistent with recent research that suggests the Gulf has seen a significant increase over the past 42 years in the number of days where it can support high-end hurricanes.”Because of that abundant hurricane fuel, “I would not be surprised if we see early-season activity well ahead of the peak” of activity in September, says Marshall Shepherd, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia.Several experts noted that this year’s conditions have some slight differences from the most recent seasons. For one, “the waters of the deep tropical Atlantic east of the Caribbean—often a bellwether for overall hurricane season activity—are the coolest we’ve seen them to start a hurricane season since 2021,” Lowry says. But, he adds, they are “still plenty warm ... and forecast to remain so, which should favor above-average activity.”Though the overall message is that this will be a busier-than-normal season, it is not predicted to be quite as busy as those of the past few years. Klotzbach is worried that could lead to complacency. “My biggest concern is that, because the seasonal forecasts are a bit less aggressive than last year..., people may tend to let their guard down,” he says.Communities are still recoveringInevitably, each time a new hurricane season begins, some communities are still reeling from storms from the previous year—and often even further back in time. This year “places in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas are still recovering from Helene, Milton and Debby,” Shepherd says, citing three of the worst storms of the 2024 season.An aerial view of destroyed houses in Port St Lucie, Fla., after a tornado hit the area and caused severe damage as Hurricane Milton swept through on October 11, 2024.Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty ImagesA National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report released last year warned that the Gulf Coast in particular risked being in “perpetual disaster recovery” mode. The report noted that seven hurricanes struck the region in 2020 and 2021 alone.It’s entirely possible that some of the communities pummeled in recent years could face hurricane peril again this year. “With projections of average to above-average activity, all it takes is one storm to compound an already bad situation for many people,” Marshall says.NWS and FEMA cutsPiled atop these concerns is the situation within the federal government, with substantial budget and staffing cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “It remains to be seen what the impacts of reduced staffing across relevant NOAA offices and agencies will be,” says Brian McNoldy, a tropical storm researcher at the University of Miami. “But any loss of expertise, data collection capabilities and around-the-clock monitoring is troubling during critical, high-impact situations.”Though the National Hurricane Center (NHC) monitors the development of tropical storms and hurricanes and produces the main forecasts, local NWS offices still play a crucial role in providing more localized warnings about storm surge, flooding and winds. Many offices in hurricane-prone areas are understaffed, says Jeff Masters, a writer at Yale Climate Connections and a former Hurricane Hunter at NOAA. Among those, the NWS’s Houston and Miami offices are suffering the largest staff shortages. The NWS has asked staff from other offices to move into some of these open slots.Lowry and Masters also point out that the cuts have reduced the number of weather balloons launches. Balloon data are crucial for understanding the larger atmospheric patterns that determine where a hurricane will go—and who might need to evacuate or take other precautions.There is one positive note: “I was very pleased to see the Hurricane Hunters reinstated,” Trepanier says, referring to three of the meteorologists who fly specialized, equipment-laden planes directly into storms to gather data that significantly improve forecasts. “Though it isn't enough to offset the concern, it is a move in a good direction.”James Franklin, former chief of the NHC’s Hurricane Specialist Unit, says he is concerned about trainings for emergency managers that were canceled earlier this year Their absence could leave areas less prepared and less able to know what decisions to make based on forecasts. “When training has to be cut down…, it just makes those kinds of mistakes on the emergency management side more likely to occur,” he says.Finally, another big worry is simply the government’s ability to respond with help for victims when a storm hits. Masters’ biggest worry is that FEMA won't “be capable of managing a major disaster right now.”Reports by CNN and other news outlets have cited internal FEMA memos that report the loss of 30 percent of full-time staff. “I wrote the plan FEMA uses to respond to hurricanes,” says Lowry, a former employee of both the NHC and FEMA, “and it’s hard to imagine the agency will be able to meet its mission-critical functions this season with such depleted staffing and without a fully revised plan.”

The first observance of what came to be known as Memorial Day was on May 30, 1868, when a Civil War general called on Americans to commemorate the sacrifices of Union soldiers. It was initially called Decoration Day, for the practice of decorating graves with wreaths and flags. And there were so many graves — more than 300,000 men had died on the Union side, and nearly as many for the Confederacy. In total, more died on both sides of the Civil War than in every other US conflict through the Korean War, combined. It wasn’t long, though, before remembrance began to be overshadowed by celebration. Within a year, the New York Times opined the holiday would no longer be “sacred” if parades and speeches became more central than the act of memorializing the dead. Which is precisely what happened, especially after Congress in 1971 fixed Memorial Day as the last Monday in May, making it the perfect launchpad for summer, with an increasingly perfunctory nod to the holiday’s original purpose.The gap between those for whom Memorial Day is a moment of remembrance versus three days of hot dogs and hamburgers will likely only grow in the future, as veterans of previous wars pass away and the divide between America’s all-volunteer military and its civilians deepens. Fewer than 1 percent of the US adult population serves in the military, and those still signing up increasingly come from a small handful of regions and families with a history of military service. (You can include my own family in that ever rarer number: My brother is a retired Army captain who served in Iraq.)With ever-inflating military spending — now nearing $1 trillion, according to one estimate — the footprint of the US military is hardly shrinking, but the number of those who will potentially be called on to give what Abraham Lincoln called the “last full measure of devotion” is.Yet there’s a greater gap embedded in Memorial Day: It’s between those who died as warfighters (to use one of the Pentagon’s terms), and the far greater number around the world who have died not as war’s participants, but as its victims. When civilians die in warThe past is not just a foreign country to us, but a bloody one. From the interpersonal to the international, conflict was a constant throughout much of human history. Between 1500 and 1800, there was hardly a year when great powers weren’t enmeshed in some kind of war. Though war became somewhat less common as we entered the 1900s, it did not become less deadly. Far from it — while the death toll of war in the past was more chiefly concentrated among combatants, the 20th century saw the awful blossoming of total war, where little to no distinction was made between those fighting the war and the civilians on the sidelines, and new weapons enabled mass, indiscriminate killing.Go back to the Civil War, which sits at the junction between battle as it had long been practiced and the greater horror it would become. Over 600,000 soldiers were killed in the conflict, against at least 50,000 civilians, ranging from those killed directly to the many who died in the wake of war, from starvation and disease. That number was terrible, yet in the wars to come, it would only grow.In the First World War, a roughly equal number of combatants and civilians were killed globally — approximately 10 million on each side. In the Second World War, more combatants were killed than in any other conflict in human history, a toll nearing 15 million. Yet for every soldier, sailor, or airman who was killed, nearly one and a half civilians would die, totaling, by one count, almost 40 million. The last of the dead would come in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when as many as 210,000 people — nearly all of them Japanese civilians — died in the first and so far only atomic bombings. Not only were these new weapons capable of murdering at a vastly larger scale than ever before, but they existed chiefly to threaten the lives of noncombatants. Thankfully, given the weapons militaries now had at their disposal, World War II was the high mark for war deaths. In the decades that followed, deaths in battle for both combatants and civilians sharply declined, minus the occasional spike in conflicts like the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Even with the recent resurgence of conflict, people around the world today are much less likely to die in war than their ancestors, which is one of the most undeniable — if tenuous — markers of our species’ under-appreciated progress.Yet even in this era of comparative peace, civilians still bear the brunt of war when it comes, including when it is fought by the United States. According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, more civilians were likely directly killed in post-9/11 conflicts than fighters on either side — and when the number of indirect deaths from starvation and destruction are included, that gulf only widens. In Ukraine, at least 12,910 civilians have been killed in the war as of March 31, including nearly 700 children, while nearly 31,000 civilians have been injured. In a single large-scale Russian missile attack on April 24, at least nine civilians were killed and 90 were injured, including 12 children.In Gaza, accurately counting the civilian death toll has been all but impossible, but the most recent UN estimates put the number of dead children, women, and elderly people at north of 27,000, with thousands of dead bodies still unidentified. Even those civilians who have escaped death face the real risk of starvation, with Israel only now allowing trickled of aid in after a blockade that has lasted more than two months. And of course, Israel itself lost nearly 700 civilians in the October 7 attacks, while many noncombatants are still held hostage by Hamas and other militant groups.And the ongoing war in Sudan — which has received only a fraction of the global attention of Ukraine and Gaza — has led to horrifying levels of civilian death. Last year Tom Perriello, then the US envoy for Sudan, estimated that at least 150,000 people had died of war-related causes, while 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes.A new kind of Memorial DayThe US has its Memorial Day to honor fallen soldiers, while other countries have their Remembrance Day, their Victory Day. Yet there are only a handful of monuments to honor the countlessly greater number of civilians killed in war.It’s not hard to imagine why. As the shift in perception around the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has shown — from unpatriotic atrocity to a celebrated work of national mourning — we can honor the sacrifice of service members who died in a war, even if we don’t believe in the war. But the death of those who died without a rifle in hand, who died in childhood and infancy, who died because they could not fight and could not be protected, shows war for what it ultimately is: a waste. And we can’t begin to know how to mark the unmarked.America has been a historical exception in many ways, but perhaps no more so than that its civilian citizens have largely escaped the scourge of war. (Though the same, of course, can hardly be said for its Indigenous populations, so long treated as enemy combatants in their own land.) Americans have fought and Americans have died, but at an ever-increasing remove, a distance that grows with each Memorial Day. The general decline of war is one of our great accomplishments as humans, something to be unequivocally celebrated. Perhaps we would feel that more if we gave the deaths of civilians the same honor as that of soldiers — a new kind of Memorial Day that can begin here. A version of this story was initially published in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here to subscribe!Update, May 26, 2025, 8 am ET: This story was first published on May 31, 2023, has been updated to include new data on civilian deaths in Gaza, Israel, Sudan, and Ukraine.You’ve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you — join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: