Resilience
States and localities are having to adjust to a changing climate, establishing new policies, rules and guidelines relating to energy, land use and water rights, as well as responding to emergencies triggered by more intense storms, floods and wildfires.
New testing standards, staffing strains, and persistent absenteeism are testing the sustainability of the state’s post-pandemic academic rebound.
As funds flow from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects across the country, getting the full benefit of this landmark law will depend on governors seizing the moment.
The city’s air quality index hovered between 170 and 190 on Sunday evening and was ranked the worst in the world as smoke from ongoing wildfires in British Columbia, Eastern Washington and the Cascades enveloped the city.
California is one of the few states that requires farmworkers working in the heat to have shade, water and rest, but those rules are often not followed. Additionally, 39 percent of workers reported having problems keeping their own homes cool.
The federal agency found Alabama’s program of managing its own coal ash is “significantly” less protective than what the federal rules require. For many the decision is evidence that other states, like Georgia, need to adjust their plans.
A recent study found that reused water is not only safe but it’s actually cleaner than conventionally sourced water, but proponents are still fighting an uphill battle against the “yuck” factor.
Fast-moving wildfires have torn through the historic Hawaiian city of 12,000 and have damaged or destroyed approximately 270 structures. So far, more than 11,000 people have been flown off the island since the fires began earlier this week.
The agency will address its plan to clean an industrial site that is leaking cancer-causing chemicals and contaminating approximately 80 homes in the predominantly low-income neighborhood of North Texas.
State officials are considering the development of hydrogen fueling stations across the state with a potential focus on a 23-mile stretch near Savannah. The cost of the proposed hydrogen fueling network is not yet known.
A Los Angeles County superior court judge implemented a preliminary injunction that will halt the city’s removal of 36 Indian laurel figs after advocates touted the shade benefits the trees offer in a warming world.
A report from the state comptroller’s office found that the state would need to increase its renewable energy generation by over 200 percent to achieve its goal of 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
Heat indexes in Orlando have surpassed 100 degrees 32 times so far this year, making this year especially dangerous for unhoused residents. There has been a 75 percent increase in unsheltered people in Central Florida since 2019.
To avoid putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some companies are using pipelines to inject the gas underground. But environmentalists and landowners are concerned about gaps in health and safety regulations.
As a way to better allocate resources to the drought-ridden area, cities across Arizona are collaborating on water treatment plants and sharing data, knowing that there is not one single solution to assure water security for the region.
Too many neighborhoods are not designed for today’s record-setting heat. There is a solution: “Smart surfaces” can make cities cooler and less vulnerable to flooding.
A buoy in Manatee Bay recorded water temperatures of 101.6 degrees on Monday, possibly the hottest sea surface temperature ever recorded, prompting scientists to transplant coral to temperature-controlled tanks.
More than 50 democratic state assembly members want federal regulators to stop a planned natural gas pipeline over environmental concerns, particularly in poor, rural areas.
As climate change has brought on an increase in heat waves, a growing number of residents across the state have been affected by heat-related illness and death.
What can Phoenix, the hottest large city in the country, teach local governments about managing extreme heat?
Before Jane Gilbert took on the job for Miami-Dade County, no city in the world had a chief heat officer. What can others learn from the work she’s doing?
The state’s depleted aquifers received 3.8 million acre-feet of water, more water than 11 million California households will use annually. But reaching sustainability will still take more water and stronger conservation efforts.
The $3.8 billion flood-control project recently had to activate many of its overflow pipes and a sluice gate to manage the quickly gaining waters. As storms become more severe due to climate change, they will continue to outmatch the region’s infrastructure.
Most of our infrastructure has been designed to withstand rainfall projections that are hopelessly obsolete. Every part of the country at risk of flooding needs urgent and significant upgrades.
Rogers-O’Brien Construction is piloting a program in which its workers wear sensors on their arms that continuously monitor biometric data to reduce heat-related injuries and deaths. Nearly 300 people died last year in Texas due to heat.
A University of Idaho-led team, one of 34 semi-finalists for the largest ever grant program from the National Science Foundation, hopes to improve communication across sectors to better address climate change.
A mineral exploration company hopes to discover lithium, a necessary component of rechargeable batteries, on a small patch of land in Nye County, Nev. But the operation could decimate a neighboring wildlife refuge with one miscalculation.
Networks of thousands of home-based batteries could be key to a cleaner, more reliable electricity system.
A team of researchers has developed a plan for helping the state achieve its ambitious climate goals, which includes increasing EV purchases, a reduction in driving, switching more buildings to electricity and generating more renewable energy.
Over 2,000 square miles of land have been lost in the past 100 years due to natural and manmade causes. The state intends to spend $1 billion annually for the next several decades to protect what remains of its coastal areas.
“Only the Sahara Desert and Persian Gulf area will be as hot or hotter than the Lone Star State” as a heat dome covers large swaths of the state, bringing temperatures well above 100 degrees.
In The Three Ages of Water, Peter Gleick traces the history of a resource humans can’t do without. While there’s enough water to go around, he says, state and local leaders from both sides of the aisle need to act now on what we know.
