Hawaii – Desdemona Despair

Map showing notable economic loss events due to natural and climate disasters in 2023. Global economic losses in 2023 were higher than the 21st century average. Economic losses from global natural disasters in 2023 are estimated at $380 billion, above long-term and short-term averages, after adjusting historical losses to today’s values using the U.S. Consumer Price Index. All continents recorded remarkable natural disaster events in 2023 and multiple countries faced the most significant disasters in their modern histories. The global map shows event and peril patterns that contributed to the overall economic losses in 2023. The largest loss driver was earthquake, yet this was largely caused by a handful of events, notably the earthquake sequence in Turkey and Syria. Severe convective storms came second, with the largest individual losses concentrated in the United States and Europe. Graphic: Aon

February 19, 2024

Aon: Number of billion-dollar disasters in 2023 highest on record – Severe convective storms were the most damaging peril for insurers

LONDON, 23 January 2024 (Aon) – Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2024 Climate and Catastrophe Insight report, which identifies global natural disaster and climate trends to help make better decisions to manage volatility and enhance global resilience. The report reveals that the 398 global natural disaster events caused a $380 billion (2022: $355 billion) […]

Change in percentage of U.S. kindergartners exempt from one or more vaccinations, by jurisdiction, 2021–22 and 2022–23 school years. From the 2019–20 to the 2021–22 school year, national coverage with state-required vaccines among kindergartners declined from 95 percent to approximately 93 percent, ranging from 92.7 percent for diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) to 93.1 percent for polio. During the 2022–23 school year, coverage remained near 93 percent for all reported vaccines, ranging from 92.7 percent for DTaP to 93.1 percent for measles, mumps, and rubella and polio. The exemption rate increased 0.4 percentage points to 3.0 percent. Exemptions increased in 41 states, exceeding 5 percent in 10 states. Exemptions >5 percent limit the level of achievable vaccination coverage, which increases the risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccination before school entry or during provisional enrollment periods could reduce exemptions resulting from barriers to vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Graphic: Seither, et al., 2023 / CDC

November 11, 2023

School vaccination exemptions in U.S. now highest on record among kindergartners, CDC reports

By Sara Moniuszko 9 November 2023 (CBS News) – A record number of American kindergarten students started school last year with an exemption from one of the key vaccines health authorities require, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the report published Thursday, the CDC examined immunization program data to […]

An aerial view of a wildfire in Kihei, Maui County, Hawaii, on 8 August 2023. Photo: Clint Hansen / Maui Real Estate / Reuters

August 9, 2023

“It’s apocalyptic”: People jump into the ocean to flee Maui wildfires – Burn patients overwhelm hospitals as 911 is cut off – Winds from Hurricane Dora fan flames – “This is so unprecedented”

By Holly Yan, Amanda Jackson, Jamiel Lynch and Chris Boyette 9 August 2023 (CNN) – The wildfires raging out of control in Maui are so catastrophic, some residents are hurling themselves into the ocean to escape the flames. Even emergency crews might not be able to help as the infernos – fueled in part by […]

Deaths from overdoses, alcohol use, or suicide in Washington state, 2015-2020. Nearly 3,900 Washingtonians died from “deaths of despair” in 2020, an increase of almost 600 since 2019. Graphic: Mark Nowlin / The Seattle Times

January 11, 2022

“Deaths of despair” spiked in Washington state in 2020, exceeding deaths from COVID-19

By Gene Balk 10 January 2022 (Seattle Times) – They’ve come to be known as “deaths of despair” — fatalities from drug overdoses, alcohol use, and suicide. Research has shown they’ve been on the rise for decades in the United States and have contributed to the decline in life expectancy over the last few years. Since the […]

COVID-19 daily cases per 100,000 in Miami-Dade County, Florida, 24 December 2021. Graphic: Covid Act Now

December 28, 2021

COVID-19 case rates spike to record levels across the U.S. in December 2021

28 December 2021 (Desdemona Despair) – Bill Gates tweeted, “Just when it seemed like life would return to normal, we could be entering the worst part of the pandemic.” In a seven-tweet thread, he went on to say that the Omicron variant “is spreading faster than any virus in history” and it “will be the […]

Coastal erosion encroaches on a house in Happisburgh, Norfolk, UK. Photo: Philip Bird, LRPS CPAGB / Shutterstock

March 21, 2020

15 towns being slowly swallowed by the sea – Coastal communities fighting a losing battle with the ocean

4 March 2020 (Love Property) – Positioned on the frontline of climate change, the world’s most vulnerable shoreline communities face an uncertain future. Plagued by ever-worsening coastal erosion and rising sea levels, their existence hangs precariously in the balance. As the tide continues to draw in, take a look at 15 towns being gradually reclaimed […]

Study skins of the extinct Lana’i and Kaua’i ‘akiaola. Photo: Paul Sweet / AMNH

December 27, 2019

All of the species declared extinct in the 2010-2019 decade – “The trends that connect these 160 extinctions are true of the biodiversity crisis more generally”

By Ryan F. Mandelbaum 16 December 19 (Gizmodo) – Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island tortoises, died in 2012. George’s story is the perfect extinction story. It features a charismatic character with a recognizable face, an obvious villain, and the tireless efforts of naturalists. The population of the Pinta Island tortoise species was […]

Hawaii was surrounded by waters with warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures on 9 September 2019. Departures from the seasonal norm are shown in degrees Celsius. On this date, Lihue, Kauai observed its 17th consecutive day of a daily record high temperature being set or tied. This is likely the longest such stretch for any official weather station with a long period of record (more than 50 years) at any site in the U.S. climate database. Graphic: Tropical Tidbits

September 12, 2019

Hawaii’s warmest summer on record and Alaska’s second warmest in 2019

By Christopher C. Burt 10 September 2019 (Weather Underground) – Although 2800 miles of open ocean separate them, both Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii experienced their warmest climatological summers (June-August) on record this year. It appears that this was Alaska’s second warmest summer (following that of 2004) but it is likely that it was Hawaii’s […]

Satellite view of East Island, Hawaii before (top) and shortly after (bottom) category 5 Hurricane Walaka in October 2018. Source: Maxar Technologies. Graphic: Jiachuan Wu / NBC News

June 16, 2019

Three islands disappeared in the past year – The same forces put coastlines around the world at risk – “The sooner we start thinking about this, the less painful it’s going to be”

By Denise Chow 9 June 2019 (NBC News) – Anote Tong can remember when Tebunginako, on the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati, was a thriving village. But beginning in the 1970s, the tide started inching closer to the houses in the village. Over the years, as strong winds whipped up monster waves and climate […]

The Chilean crocus, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus. Photo: Richard Wilford

June 12, 2019

Almost 600 plant species have already gone extinct – “Plant extinction is bad news for all species”

By Amanda Gonzalez Bengtsson 11 June 2019 (Stockholm University) – For the first time ever, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Stockholm University, have compiled a global analysis of all plant extinction records documented from across the world. This unique dataset published today in leading journal, Nature Ecology & Evolution, brings together data […]