Disasters

"A record-shattering heat wave that blistered the Pacific Northwest in 2021 carried an important lesson, scientists say. Places that historically haven’t had to deal with extreme heat may not be prepared when it strikes."

"Eric Wiersma says there's an 80% chance he'll quit his job helping direct crews to U.S. wildfires if office staff like him are denied new benefits intended for federal firefighters."

"Barely five weeks after the last bout of heavy rain and snow in California's historically wet winter, firefighters on Friday battled the state's first large wildfire of the year in rugged foothills east of Los Angeles."

"More than a month after heavy storms eroded a section of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, work crews are still scrambling to complete repairs and shore up flood defenses in the face of a weeklong heat wave that threatens to trigger widespread snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada."

"All barge traffic will be halted across a wide swath of the Upper Mississippi River for weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday, as record winter snowfall in the upper Midwest is now melting and flooding into waterways."

"Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm before a disastrous fire struck in March 2019. The fire released toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks."

"East Africa’s worst drought in at least 40 years, which has displaced more than a million people and pushed millions more to the brink of famine, would not have happened if not for human-caused climate change, a network of extreme-weather scientists said Thursday."

"Good news: California has a near-record snowpack in the Sierra, which could ease the impact of our deep drought. Bad news: There’s a heat wave coming this week. Really bad news: If the snow melts too fast, it could help cause devastating floods in the Central Valley."

"Unsterilized laboratory wastewater from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, spewed out the top of a rusty 50,000-gallon outdoor holding tank, the pressure catapulting it over the short concrete wall that was supposed to contain hazardous spills."

"When wildfires spread through parts of Northern California wine country in 2017, they melted electronics, combusted cars and exploded propane tanks. The fires sent acrid smoke billowing into the sky, its footprint wafting over the state and extending for 500 miles into the Pacific Ocean."