Disasters

California Builds A ‘Noah’s Ark’ To Protect Wildlife From Extinction

"It was just before sunrise in July when the botanists Naomi Fraga and Maria Jesus threw on backpacks and crunched their way across a brittle alkaline flat in the hottest corner of the Mojave Desert. Their mission: to rescue a tiny plant teetering on the brink of extinction."

Source: LA Times, 09/01/2021

"A New Breed of Crisis: War and Warming Collide in Afghanistan"

"Afghanistan embodies a new breed of international crisis, where the hazards of war collide with the hazards of climate change, creating a nightmarish feedback loop that punishes some of the world’s most vulnerable people and destroys their countries’ ability to cope."

Source: NYTimes, 09/01/2021

Reports Of Environmental Problems Caused By Ida Begin To Trickle In

"Information about potential environmental threats caused by Hurricane Ida have been slow in coming, but initial reports to the Coast Guard's National Response Center and the state Department of Environmental Quality confirm there were releases of crude oil, fuel oils and a variety of chemicals in numerous locations in southeastern Louisiana on the day before and the day of the storm."

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/01/2021

"Some Ask Why Salmon Creek Dam Safety Documents Are Kept Secret"

"On Sept. 2, an area north of downtown Juneau will hear a loud, discordant siren. Juneau’s power company will be testing a disaster plan for a scenario where the 168-foot Salmon Creek hydroelectric dam fails and floods a largely commercial district near the regional hospital."

Source: KTOO, 08/31/2021

"Wildfire Evacuees Flood Lake Tahoe Roads In Rush To Flee"

"A popular vacation haven normally filled with tens of thousands of summer tourists was clogged with fleeing vehicles Monday after the entire resort city of South Lake Tahoe was ordered to leave as a ferocious wildfire raced toward Lake Tahoe, a sparkling gem on the California-Nevada state line."

Source: AP, 08/31/2021

"Hurricane Ida Forces Three Damaged Hospitals To Evacuate Patients"

"Hospitals in Southeast Louisiana, already burdened with extremely high numbers of covid patients, took a beating from Hurricane Ida, with roofs ripped off or damaged, leaving water pouring inside and forcing three bayou-country hospitals ravaged by the eye of the storm to evacuate their patients. Patients at a fourth hospital were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard."

Source: Washington Post, 08/31/2021
September 1, 2021

SciLine Media Briefing on Wildfires: Climate Connections and Community Impacts

Learn how climate, vegetation and other factors play a role in wildfire activity; how forest managers can assess vulnerability, and increase resilience, to wildfires; and what scientists know about the health effects of proximity to wildfires. Scientific experts will brief reporters and take questions on the record. 3:00 p.m. ET.

Visibility: 

Ida Smashes Louisiana, Bringing Record Winds, Storm Surge, Blackout

"Hurricane Ida was on course to smash ashore in southeastern Louisiana at midday Sunday as a monster with top winds of 155 mph, and pushing a life-threatening storm surge of 16 feet topped by devastating waves.

Two feet of expected rainfall began to dump early Sunday along the coast, with the first sprays reaching nearly empty New Orleans streets before dawn.

Source: New Orleans Advocate, 08/30/2021

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