90% of U.S. Counties Had a Weather Disaster Between 2011 and 2021
Very few parts of the U.S. have been untouched by extreme weather.
According to a recent report, 90% of U.S. counties had a federally declared weather disaster between 2011 and 2021.
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Climate Change Making Summer Hotter Despite Mild Season in California
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Athena Jreij /ABC 10 by Brenden MincheffIt wasn’t too bad of a summer season here in Northern California and really, when it comes to temperature, the entire state of California had a pretty mild summer.
Perhaps Kaitlyn Trudeau, a meteorologist with Climate Central, summed it up best: “Well, it wasn’t as hot as it’s been in recent years.”
2023 Has Had More Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters Than Any Other Year on Record
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Athena Jreij /Huffington Post by Lydia O'ConnorNew government data released Monday revealed that the U.S. has already experienced more billion-dollar weather disasters in 2023 than in any other year since authorities started tracking such data 40-plus years ago.
Water Quality Expected to Decline as Extreme Weather Becomes More Common, New Study Says
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Ed Joyce /Forbesby Mary Whitfill RoeloffsThe increasing frequency of droughts, heatwaves, storms and floods is threatening the availability of water and its quality across the world, a study released Tuesday said, heightening scientist’s existing concerns that climate change poses a severe threat to human health.
Opinion: America Should Harvest a Trillion Gallons of Rainwater
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Athena Jreij /TIME by Justin Talbot and Israel MirskyOver the weekend, Burning Man attendees were forced to shelter in place when the usually-parched Black Rock Desert got roughly 3 months’ worth of rain in 24 hours. In August, Tropical Storm Hilary dropped as much rain on some inland areas of Southern California in a single day as they would typically receive in an entire year. In an age of Western megadroughts and dangerous decimation of groundwater throughout the country, recent storms underscore the importance of investing in the capacity to manage, collect, and store water.
July Was the Planet’s Hottest Month on Record — So Far
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Natalie Traylor /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley SmithA sizzling month marked by record heat waves, major wildfires, melting sea ice and a burgeoning El Niño will go down in the books as the hottest July on record — at least until next year, federal officials said. The planet and its oceans roasted last month as global average temperatures soared 2.02 degrees above average, making July 2023 not only the hottest July ever, but very likely Earth’s warmest month in at least 174 years of record keeping.
Florida Could Soon Become Uninsurable—and Other States Will Likely Follow
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Natalie Traylor /Newsweekby Giulia CarbonaroFlorida is no stranger to extreme weather events, a fact that those living in Sunshine State have always factored in when insuring their homes. But as climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of events like droughts, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes in the U.S., the reality Floridians and insurers in the state are working with is quickly changing. Florida, according to several experts, is becoming “uninsurable.” And other states, starting from California, might follow suit in the near future.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: The Great Floods of 2023
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Ed Joyce /Bulletin of the Atomic Scientistsby Jessica McKenzieAnother week, another catastrophic, record-setting, history-making flood, this time in Kentucky.
Preliminary assessments indicate rainfall in Graves County last week likely set a new record for most precipitation in a 24-hour period, with 11.28 inches of rain. This would make it yet another “1,000-year” flood event, which had, according to historical projections, less than a 0.1 percent chance of occurring in any given year. One of the towns that experienced flash flooding was Mayfield, a community still rebuilding from a 2021 tornado that killed 57 people.
This was just one of the 11 flash flood emergencies in as many days in the United States, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Heather Zons. These events have claimed multiple lives: 2-year-old Mattie Shiels, 9-month-old brother, Conrad, and their mother, Katie Seley drowned after getting swept away by flash flooding in Pennsylvania, during an event that killed at least four others. In New York earlier this month, 43-year-old Pamela Nugent was swept away trying to evacuate a flooded area; 63-year-old Stephen Davoll drowned in his home in Vermont.
Climate Change Leaves Fingerprints on July Heat Waves Around the Globe, Study Says
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Ed Joyce /APby Seth BorensteinThe fingerprints of climate change are all over the intense heat waves gripping the globe this month, a new study finds. Researchers say the deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have happened without the continuing buildup of warming gases in the air.
Opinion: Michael Smolens: Poll Says San Diegans Less Concerned about Extreme Weather than Rest of State
/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Natalie Traylor /The San Diego Union Tribuneby Michael SmolensResidents of San Diego and Orange counties say they are less affected by extreme weather than other parts of the state. Still, a strong majority says extreme weather is a big problem or somewhat of a problem for the region. People in the two counties also have less confidence than residents elsewhere in government’s ability to respond to weather-related problems.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
