Disasters

"As dozens of cities in eastern and southern China issued heat alerts on Tuesday, with some temperature forecasts exceeding 104 degrees over the next 24 hours, health workers conducted outdoor coronavirus tests with packets of frozen snacks strapped to their white hazmat suits. Roofs melted, roads cracked and some residents sought relief in underground air-raid shelters."

"Texas's power grid operator held off from imposing rolling blackouts on Monday using voluntary cutbacks and appeals to conserve energy as scorching triple-digit temperatures hit much of the state."

"An unusually early and intense summer heat wave hit many parts of Europe this past weekend. The heat wave sent temperatures soaring to as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit above normal temperatures for this time of year. That’s especially concerning given that Europe is also experiencing an energy crisis, driving up the costs – and potentially the carbon emissions – associated with staying cool."

"Deforestation of the Amazon hit a new record during the first half of 2022, the Brazilian Space Agency reported Friday, deepening concerns that the vast rainforest’s critical role in protecting the planet’s health will be irreparably damaged."

"The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park was closed Friday and hundreds of people ordered evacuated nearby as a wildfire burning through dense forest became the latest in recent years to threaten the world’s largest trees."

"Over the past few weeks, catastrophic flash floods – the worst in Bangladesh in a century – have inundated much of Sylhet, where rising waters have washed away whole towns, killing at least 68 people and leaving thousands displaced."

"Alaska is on pace for a historic fire season, spurred on by warm temperatures, a diminished snowpack, and an apparent uptick in lightning strikes. Fires have ripped through 2 million acres so far this year, roughly 10 times the total area burned in all of 2021."

"Drought and changing weather patterns feed stronger, longer dust storms, causing damage that costs the region $13 billion a year".

"A potent weather system near Australia’s east coast has unloaded tremendous rainfall in the state of New South Wales for days, putting Sydney on track for its wettest year on record."

"Removing dams is one thing, but thousands of levees also restrict rivers in the United States — and they’re not working as intended."