Disasters

"The US government’s withdrawal from dealing with, or even acknowledging, climate change may have provoked widespread opprobrium, but for Alaskan communities at risk of toppling into the sea, the risks are rather more personal."

"New Orleans is under a state of emergency Thursday (Aug. 10) as officials work to bring back online a turbine that supplies power to the city's drainage pump system in the face of expected thunderstorms. It's the latest headline in a weekend of miscommunications from city officials after severe flooding seeped into thousands of homes, business and cars over the weekend."

"Government forecasters said Wednesday that the Atlantic hurricane season, already a busy one, may be the busiest since 2010 and is likely to produce two to five major hurricanes."

"As the U.S. growing season entered its peak this summer, farmers began posting startling pictures on social media: fields of beans, peach orchards and vegetable gardens withering away."

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In the energy industry, Hilcorp has built a reputation for fast growth, big profits and making people rich. ... In regulatory circles, however, and among environmentalists, Hilcorp has become known for different reasons."

"As global temperatures rise, river valleys in South Asia will face the highest risk of heat waves that reach the limits of human survivability, a new study shows."

"The area is due for a major hurricane, and it is not prepared. If a big one scores a direct hit, the damage would likely surpass Katrina."

"The biggest gas storage facility in the West resumed operations Monday, nearly two years after a blowout led to the nation’s largest-known methane release and drove thousands of families from their Los Angeles homes."

"The only way to know exactly what’s in a wildfire’s smoke is to sample straight from the haze. So during the Rim Fire in Yosemite—which emitted so much smoke it formed its own clouds—a NASA DC-8 passenger plane and an Alpha fighter jet each crisscrossed through the plume. On both planes, scientists had created an in-flight lab to measure exactly what the fire was producing."

"In the summer of 2010, Russia faced a severe drought, a heat wave and a series of catastrophic wildfires, destroying a third of the country’s wheat harvest. Half a year later, the Arab Spring began."