infrastructure failure – Page 13

Estimated economic impacts of unmitigated climate change on seven geographical regions in the United States. Over the next 50 years, climate change-induced economic losses in the U.S. could total approximately $14.5 trillion in present-value terms. Graphic: Deloitte

February 7, 2022

Climate change-induced losses in the U.S. could total $14.5 trillion by 2070 – “In a climate-damaged world of 2070, the U.S. could lose nearly 4 percent of GDP in that year alone”

By Rachel Koning Beals 26 January 2022 (MarketWatch) – Definitive and deliberate climate action from Wall Street to Washington and beyond could deliver a $3 trillion gain to the U.S. economy over the next 50 years to 2070. But it’s the toll of inaction that would cost the nation nearly five times that amount, a […]

Nurse Marie-Laure Satta wipes her face during a pause in her New Year’s Eve shift in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at La Timone hospital in Marseille, France, 31 December 2021. Photo: Daniel Cole / AP Photo

January 29, 2022

“COVID parties” spread the virus on purpose. That’s “Russian roulette”, doctors warn

By Lisa Gutierrez 21 January 2022 (Kansas City Star) – Thinking about intentionally exposing yourself to the coronavirus? Thinking that you’ll probably get away with a mild case and become immune to COVID-19? You need to think again. Even if you’re fully vaccinated. If you get COVID on purpose, there’s no guarantee you’ll only get […]

Coronavirus in the U.S., January 2020-January 2022, showing case rates, hospitalizations, and mortality. Data: Johns Hopkins University / Department of Health and Human Services. Graphic: CNBC

January 21, 2022

Two years since Covid was first confirmed in U.S., the pandemic is worse than anyone imagined – “Everybody wants to get to this thing called endemic. I still don’t know what the hell that means.”

By Spencer Kimball and Nate Rattner 21 January 2022 (CNBC) – A 35-year-old man returned to the U.S. from Wuhan, China on Jan. 15, 2020 and fell ill with a cough and fever. He had read an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan […]

U.S. hospital utilization by facility, 10 January 2022. By mid-January 2022, at least 18 states had less than 15 percent capacity remaining in their ICU facilities, as the United States grappled with surging COVID-19 cases, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data. Graphic: HHS Protect

January 14, 2022

ICUs nearing capacity in at least 18 U.S. states – “The sudden and steep rise in cases due to omicron is resulting in unprecedented daily case counts, sickness, absenteeism, and strains on our health care system”

By Monique Beals 13 January 2022 (The Hill) – At least 18 states have less than 15 percent capacity remaining in their ICU facilities as the United States grapples with surging COVID-19 cases, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data. The states include Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, […]

Satellite view with heat map showing temperatures rising to 45C (113F) in Argentina on 11 January 2022. At the start of 2022, Argentina faced a historic heatwave with temperatures soaring above 40°C. On the day this image was acquired, Buenos Aires recorded a temperature of 41.1°C, the second highest in the history of the Argentine capital. Photo: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3A imagery

January 14, 2022

Power grid fails as Argentina hit by record-breaking heatwave – Temperatures hit 45°C (113°F) with extreme heat set to last until the weekend

By Harry Cockburn 12 January 2022 (The Independent) – A historic heatwave with temperatures soaring up to 45°C (113°F) has hit Argentina, causing power grids to fail and leaving at least 700,000 people without electricity in Buenos Aires. Hot dry weather, driven by the Pacific Ocean’s La Niña weather pattern, has made the South American […]

Map showing natural catastrophe loss event worldwide in 2021. In 2021, natural disasters caused overall losses of $280 billion, of which roughly $120 billion were insured. Alongside 2005 and 2011, the year 2021 proved to be the second-costliest ever for the insurance sector (record year 2017: $146 billion, inflation-adjusted) – overall losses from natural disasters were the fourth-highest to date (record year 2011: $355 billion). Graphic: Munich Re

January 13, 2022

For the insurance industry, 2021 was the second-highest loss year on record, after 2017 – “The 2021 disaster statistics are striking because some of the extreme weather events are of the kind that are likely to become more frequent or more severe as a result of climate change”

10 January 2022 (Munich Re) – Worldwide, natural disasters caused substantially higher losses in 2021 than in the two previous years. Based on provisional data, storms, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes destroyed assets worth US$ 280bn. Losses in the previous year amounted to US$ 210bn, while in 2019 they were US$ 166bn. Roughly US$ 120bn of […]

Daily positive COVID-19 test rate in the United States, 14 March 2020 - 5 January 2022. As of 11 January 2022, there were roughly 62.4 million cases and 841,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. Over the previous 14 days, daily new cases increased by about 100 percent and daily deaths increased by about 13 percent. Graphic: Covid Act Now

January 13, 2022

The Great Resignation roars again: Here’s why more U.S. workers than ever quit in November 2021 – Nearly 3 million reported not working due to COVID-19 symptoms or caring for somebody who was sick

By Connie Lin 4 January 2022 (Fast Company) – New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the Great Resignation did not go gently into that good night; rather, it was very much alive at the end of 2021. A historic 4.5 million workers willingly quit their jobs in November, up from a succession of records […]

Daily COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC, 23 January 2020 - 10 January 2022 CDC. The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on 10 January 2022 CDC, the highest daily total for any country in the world, as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing. The previous record was 1.03 million cases on 3 January 2022. The seven-day average for new cases tripled in two weeks to more than 700,000 new infections per day. Graphic: CDC

January 11, 2022

U.S. reports 1.35 million COVID-19 cases in one day, shattering global record – More than 65,000 L.A. students and employees test positive as school resumes – U.S. breaks COVID-19 hospitalization record

By Lisa Shumaker 11 January 2022 (Reuters) – The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country in the world as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing. The previous record was 1.03 million cases […]

New confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions reported in the United States, 26 October 2021 - 27 December 2021 and forecast to 28 January 2022. The number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions will likely increase, with 24,700 to 53,700 new confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions likely reported on 28 January 2022. The forecast may not fully account for the emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron variant or changes in reporting during the holidays. Graphic: CDC

January 10, 2022

U.S. hospitals are in serious trouble – “Too many facilities are pulling from the same labor pool, and if that pool is sick, where are the reinforcements?”

By Ed Yong 7 January 2022 (The Atlantic) – When a health-care system crumbles, this is what it looks like. Much of what’s wrong happens invisibly. At first, there’s just a lot of waiting. Emergency rooms get so full that “you’ll wait hours and hours, and you may not be able to get surgery when […]

An anti-vaccine protester, left, attacks Status Coup journalist Tina Desiree Berg at an anti-vaxxer protest in Los Angeles on 14 August 2021. During the protest, one man screamed, “unmask them all” and clawed at a woman’s face. KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze walked out of the park near City Hall at was screamed at by anti-mask protesters. One man could be seen kicking him. Stoltze later told a police officer he had been assaulted while trying to conduct an interview. Stoltze later tweeted this statement: “Something happened to me today that’s never happened in 30 yrs of reporting. In LA. I was shoved, kicked and my eyeglasses were ripped off of my face by a group of guys at a protest - outside City Hall during an anti-vax Recall @GavinNewsom/Pro Trump rally.” Photo: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

December 31, 2021

Covid and the war on medical expertise

31 December 2021 (Desdemona Despair) – If you’ve been on the internet for a few years, you may have encountered a skirmish with climate denialists or evolution “skeptics”. Frequently, these threads start with a “concern troll” who questions some aspect of science and insinuates corruption or deception on the part of scientists. The accusations are […]