Below is Patrick Porgan’s breaking report on how a U.S. Geological Survey Report affirms the catastrophic consequences of climate change and an ARkSTorm, with $725 billion in flood damages, resulting from the flooding of the entire Central Valley and the Delta, out to San Francisco Bay. By Dan Bacher This report is particularly urgent and timely, […]
As we wrote last week, the Marshall Fire in northern Colorado on December 30, 2021, was a devastating finale to a record-warm, record-dry fall in the state’s eastern plains and foothills. Several experts interviewed for this story, including Deputy Colorado State Climatologist Becky Bolinger, said that, because the risk of drought and warm extremes are increasing […]
The disasters just kept coming in 2021, from Hurricane Ida’s destruction across Louisiana and the Northeast to devastating wildfires in the West and damaging storms, tornadoes and floods. Nearly half the U.S. was in drought, and extreme temperature spikes disrupted power supplies just when people needed cooling or heating most. Stacy Morford, The Conversation The […]
Alongside a lingering global pandemic, the year 2021 was filled with climate disasters, some so intense they surprised even the scientists who study them. Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton The Conversation Extreme rainstorms turned to raging flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe, killing over 200 people. Across Asia, excessive rainfall inundated wide […]
The deadly tornado outbreak that tore through communities from Arkansas to Illinois on the night of Dec. 10-11, 2021, was so unusual in its duration and strength, particularly for December, that a lot of people including the U.S. president are asking what role climate change might have played – and whether tornadoes will become more […]
Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2021, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. This time the levees held. Billions of dollars invested in reinforcing them had paid off – at least for part of the population. A strong similarity between Ida and Katrina still emerged: Low-income communities and […]
The impact of climate change and how to respond to it is the defining political debate of our era. There are two forms this response can take – reacting to environmental disasters by providing financial and technical assistance to affected areas, or adapting to the effects of global heating by preparing for future disasters. By […]
The floods across Europe, China and the US in recent months have again brought to the fore the ability of extreme rainfall to take lives, destroy homes and displace communities. Evidence suggests climate change is causing increases in extreme precipitation, leading to a greater risk of flooding in urban areas. As a result, agencies around the world are responding to this threat by […]
The two Senators from California urge CPUC to outline a formal plan to close the Aliso Canyon methane storage facility (while ensuring uninterrupted utility services). By Dan Bacher Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.) have released the following statement on the 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak: “More than six years after the well […]
By Tom Corringham, University of California San Diego The Conversation Ask people to name the world’s largest river, and most will probably guess that it’s the Amazon, the Nile or the Mississippi. In fact, some of Earth’s largest rivers are in the sky – and they can produce powerful storms, like the ones now […]
Officials issued evacuation orders for people living downhill from several of California’s wildfire burn scars on Oct. 24, 2021, as a powerful storm system known as an atmospheric river began to drench the West Coast. While the storm brings much-needed water to a region in the midst of an historic drought, and should significantly lower […]
Yesterday, Consumer Watchdog and Fractracker Alliance revealed in an alarming report that California oil and gas regulators have approved 9,728 oil drilling permits since Governor Gavin Newsom assumed office in January 2019. By Dan Bacher Here is their full report: Governor Newsom’s oil regulators have approved 9,728 oil drilling permits since he assumed office in […]
From heatwaves and hurricanes in the US to flooding in Europe and China, the weather over recent months has frequently hit the headlines. So, with the summer coming to a close for much of the northern hemisphere, this is an opportunity to look back at some of the extreme weather of the past season and […]
Record downpours from Hurricane Ida overwhelmed cities across the Northeast on Sept. 1, 2021, hitting some with more than 3 inches of rain an hour. Water poured into subway stations in New York City, and streets flooded up to the rooftops of cars in Philadelphia. The storm had already wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast […]
Sixteen years to the day that Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Hurricane Ida struck at Port Fourchon, La., on Aug. 29, as a Category 4 hurricane with 240 kilometres per hour winds. Given the date and location of the area affected, Katrina and Ida comparisons are being made. By Jack L. Rozdilsky, York University, Canada The […]