'Painful' years ahead, think tanks warn, as living standards set to fall People are facing a painful and depressing few years ahead, economic think tanks have warned, after forecasts showed growth in living standards grinding almost to a halt. Typical working-age households would see their disposable income fall by £1,050, or 3%, between now and 2029, according to the Resolution Foundation, while the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the current decade would be the worst for household income growth on record. Chancellor John Healey said his Budget offered breathing space, but said the government could never remove completely cost of living pressures. The UK's official forecaster said its latest economic forecast painted a pretty grim picture. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), blamed the difficult financial situation facing the UK on higher borrowing costs and inflation caused by the US-Iran war.

The UK may have no involvement in the US-Iran war, but the country is feeling the full force of the conflict on its economy. Soaring energy prices are set to dent growth in the short term, push up inflation and leave living standards in a grim place, according to the latest official forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Interest rates are also predicted to rise, making borrowing more expensive, along with government debt repayments. Chancellor John Healey warned the nation faces real challenges ahead as he announced policies that he said would offer breathing space for households in the coming months. What we face today are global economic storms, he said.

Countries around the world have had their future economic prospects assessed by influential body, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). What the IMF says matters - it aims to keep the global economy stable and its twice-yearly forecasts are one of the most authoritative looks at what is really going on around the world. Yet like all forecasts they can also turn out to be incorrect, so they shouldn't be treated as gospel. Here are three things we've learnt about the UK from the IMF's latest report. The global economy has been rocked by the US-Israel war with Iran. The transportation and production of energy in the Middle East has been severely disrupted, causing oil prices to jump and inflation to rise.

Let's Talk About the Super El Niño and Climate Change Here's what we know about the record-setting El Niño on a record-hot planet, and the most important questions scientists are trying to answer. The tropical Pacific has seen heat build for months as a "super" El Niño takes shape. A climate phenomenon that forms every few years, this year's iteration of El Niño has been on a tear of daily records and is forecast to reach unprecedented strength this winter. While it's characterized by hotter-than-normal waters in the eastern tropical Pacific, El Niño is a global problem. It's fair to wonder how another global problem is interacting with El Niño: climate change, driven by burning fossil fuels.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Tropical Storm Rachel is threatening to drop up to five inches of rain on the Southwest early next week. Where to follow the track. Tropical Storm Rachel is threatening to drop several inches of rain on the Southwest this weekend into early next week. The storm, which has weakened slightly as of Friday morning, is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm late Saturday or early Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service, which offers online storm-tracking forecasts and graphics on the National Hurricane Center website . Tropical Storm Rachel has 50-mph maximum sustained winds and is currently heading northeast at 3 mph.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall as soon as this evening on the Gulf Coast in the US. Where to follow the track. Hurricane Isaias could reach Category 3 this morning as it approaches landfall on the Gulf Coast. While the forecast calls for the storm to weaken slightly ahead of landfall, the storm is still expected to make landfall as a hurricane late Friday or early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service, which offers a suite of online storm-tracking forecasts and graphics on the National Hurricane Center website . ET Friday, Hurricane Isaias has 110-mph maximum sustained winds and is moving north-northeast at 15 mph.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Hurricane Isaias is expected to strengthen further ahead of a Gulf Coast landfall in the US. Where to follow the track. Hurricane Isaias strengthened Thursday morning as it continues its arcing path toward the Gulf Coast. The storm is expected to make landfall as a hurricane late Friday or early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service, which offers a suite of online storm-tracking forecasts and graphics on the National Hurricane Center website . ET Thursday, Hurricane Isaias has 80-mph maximum sustained winds and is moving east-northeast at 9 mph.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series Tropical Storm Isaias: Spaghetti models track the storm's path online Tropical Storm Isaias formed Wednesday morning and is expected to become a hurricane early Thursday. Where to follow the track. Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday morning and is expected to reach hurricane strength early Thursday as it pushes toward a Gulf Coast landfall. The National Weather Service has launched its suite of online storm tracking forecasts and graphics on the National Hurricane Center website . The National Hurricane Center's prediction cone reveals a northeastward trajectory that turns northward Thursday night, with a projected landfall late Friday or early Saturday morning somewhere between eastern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. California's economic growth expected to continue, but slowly and with few jobs gains OpenAI's record-breaking $122-billion funding round in March underscores how AI investment is fueling California's economic growth. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.

It will take a better understanding of underground physics, but volcanologists believe it may be possible. In the summer of 1991, Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, self-destructed. The eruption started on June 12, and three days later it culminated in a tremendous explosion . By the time pyroclastic flows--incandescent avalanches of molten rock and gas--tumbled down its sterilized slopes, Pinatubo's peak had been obliterated and replaced by a 2.5-kilometer-wide chasm. The eruption killed more than 800 people, mainly because roofs, weighed down by rain-saturated ash, collapsed. But it could have been so much worse: About 250,000 people, across multiple cities and a sprawling US Air Force base, lived in the volcano's shadow. When Pinatubo started convulsing and belching steam in April of that year, scientists from the US and the Philippines deployed an array of instruments that tracked the volcano's inner tumult. "We didn't know much about that volcano, and so there was this really rapid geological assessment. And the assessment said, 'Oh, crap, when this thing erupts, it only erupts big,'" says Mike Poland, current scientist in charge at the US Geological Service's Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.