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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Maui’s Fire Became Deadly Fast. Climate Change, Flash Drought, Invasive Grass and More Fueled It
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /AP Newsby Claire Rush, Seth Borenstein, Jennifer McDermottHawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging.
Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of these flash droughts as well as other extreme weather events like what’s playing out on the island of Maui, where dozens of people have been killed and a historic tourist town was devastated.
Why California Wildfires Burned Far Less This Year
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Scientific Americanby Anne C. MulkernCalifornia is enjoying fewer extreme wildfires than it has in years, which experts attribute to a combination of summer rain, calm weather and increased forest management.
‘Extraordinary is No Longer Extraordinary’: US Scientists on a Year of Climate Disasters
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /The GuardianThe American west faced an unprecedented year of climate disasters in 2021.
A cold wave in February triggered temperatures 50F below average in Texas, killing at least 150 across the state and leaving millions without power and water. Heatwaves over the summer broke temperature records across different western states, killing hundreds in the northwestern US and Canada. Fires seared through large swathes of the west, razing the northern California town of Greenville and searing through groves of giant sequoia trees.
This summer, the Guardian interviewed a panel of climate scientists about their experiences living through the crises that climate research had long foretold. As the year ends, they share their reflections on what’s happened – and what gives them hope, even as climate catastrophe looms.
Massive Dixie Fire burn Scar Could Cause Unprecedented Runoff Into Waterways This Winter
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /ABC 7by Kelli SaamState water officials are facing unprecedented challenges preventing erosion and runoff this winter after the Dixie Fire burned more acreage than any other single wildfire in California history. Crews have begun erosion control projects and are planning for the run-off of sediment into the Sierra watershed throughout the wet season. Crews with the California Conservation Corps are out doing erosion control in the burn scar areas in Greenville, in Plumas County. Most of the town was destroyed in the Dixie Fire.
California Oil Industry Continues to Thwart Climate-Related Bills
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Capital and Mainby Aaron CantuThis year, natural disasters across the country — including epochal drought conditions and devastating wildfires in California — have thrown into sharp relief the urgent need for action on climate. Despite the urgency of the issue, proposed legislation in the state to address climate change has either been thwarted or diluted by the powerful fossil-fuel industry’s allies and lobbyists.
California’s Aging Dams Face New Perils, 50 Years After Sylmar Quake Crisis
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Los Angeles Timesby Louis SahagúnIt was a harrowing vision of the vulnerability of aging California dams — crews laboring feverishly to sandbag and drain the lower San Fernando Reservoir, as billions of gallons of Los Angeles drinking water lapped at the edge of a crumbling, earthquake-damaged embankment that threatened catastrophe on the neighborhoods below. Although the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the near failure of the Lower Van Norman Dam have given rise to construction improvements — the much newer Los Angeles Dam survived an equivalent shaking in the 1994 Northridge quake — the overwhelming majority of California dams are decades past their design life span.
Across the U.S., States are Bracing for More Climate-Related Disasters
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles Timesby Alex BrownState lawmakers across the country are calling for huge investments to mitigate the effects of wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, droughts and other natural disasters made more devastating and frequent by climate change.
Following the hottest decade on record, which saw record-breaking wildfires in the West, extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy, a years-long drought in California, and severe flooding in the Midwest, legislators in many states say it’s long past time to treat such events as the new normal — and invest accordingly.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
