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.
Seventy-five years after the first well near Tioga, the community reflects the booms, busts and lasting impact of a resource-driven economy.
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.
According to the air monitoring website IQAir, the city had the worst air quality out of 95 cities worldwide on Tuesday, June 27. Alerts were issued for parts of the Great Lakes, Lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys.
Coastal preservation expert Simone Maloz weighs in on the 50-year plan to reverse decades of damage to the Mississippi Delta.
Texas is the most recent state in which regulators have not required companies to offer their outdoor employees rest breaks with shade and water. Heat causes the most deaths of any extreme weather.
Across the Midwest, thousands of miles have been planned to soon have metal pipelines connecting dozens of ethanol plants. Proponents tout the pipes’ financial boon, while critics worry about their environmental impact.
Seacliff State Beach near Santa Cruz suffered more than $100 million in damage alone after storms battered its pier in January. The state endured 31 atmospheric rivers this winter, making it one of the coldest and wettest in recorded history.
Gov. Gavin Newsom asked state residents in July 2021 to reduce water usage by 15 percent during the height of the state’s driest years on record. But statewide water savings only reached 7 percent, fewer than 9 gallons per person per day.
Climate activists say hazardous air conditions are not something that will end once the Canadian wildfires are put out. Air pollution from smoke or other sources are a daily struggle for many communities.
The users of the river need to treat its needs as equal to their own. That means looking out for its environmental health.
The state's new transportation bill, backed by Democratic-Farmer-Labor leaders who control the state Legislature and governor's office, will require agencies to pursue projects that reduce carbon emissions.
A recent survey found that only 20 percent of residents do anything for hurricane season and 24 percent said they ignore evacuation warnings. Ten percent said the hurricane must be a Category 5 for them to leave.
A series of earthquakes last month near Southern California’s Salton Sea had many residents worried that new lithium extraction and geothermal projects were triggering seismic activity.
They want to hold the major oil companies responsible for the costs of responding to disasters that scientists are increasingly able to attribute to climate disruption and tie back to the fossil fuel industry.
The average hurricane season includes 14 named storms, based on a 30-year storm history. But the average 10 years ago was just 12 named storms. This year’s El Niño conditions may depress storm formation.
City officials are launching the “Heat Relief 4 L.A.” campaign to inform residents of the dangers of extreme heat, install more cooling centers and hydration stations and invest in cool pavement projects and trees.
The reductions would surpass 10 percent of the total water use in the lower Colorado River basin: More than 1.5 million acre-feet would be conserved by the end of next year, according to the plan.
Two years ago, 14.5 percent of EV drivers said they were unable to charge at a public station. Now it’s 21.4 percent. For the nation to meet its climate goals, a reliable EV charging station network is vital.
After a very wet winter, less than 6 percent of the state is in moderate drought while one-third of the state is still abnormally dry. Climate experts predict the state’s future will be full of weather extremes.
New federal guidelines make it clear that new hazard mitigation plans should factor in the likelihood of extreme weather events. Here are four recommendations for preparing for the future impacts.
Congress has authorized billions, but there’s a problem: New infrastructure planning frequently relies on historical flood patterns for its benchmarks rather than forecasts of changing risks as the climate warms.
Despite being a deeply blue state, the oil industry has a firm financial grip on California, making fossil fuel restrictions challenging as law making is swayed by the millions of dollars that the industry has pumped into lobbying.
