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

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 […]

Flood gates on Trump’s border wall blown open by monsoon rains near San Bernardino Ranch in Arizona on 16 July 2021. Much of the West is suffering through a deep megadrought, but the monsoon rains that have swept across parts of the Southwest this summer have doused the southern half of Arizona with record-setting rains. Douglas has seen nearly double its average monsoon season rainfall so far, including a blast that came through on Monday and unleashed flooding on the Arizona-Sonora border. The National Weather Service data shows 2.15 inches (5.5 centimeters) of rain fell, which in turn funneled into washes and drove flooding. Photo: Fernando Sobrazo

Trump’s border wall torn apart by Arizona monsoon rains – “It’s not often that an ecologist can actually put a time stamp on the day that the evolutionary history of an area was sealed off”

By Brian Kahn 22 August 2021 (Gizmodo) – It turns out ignoring bedrock environmental laws may not have been the best choice for a multibillion-dollar construction project. Photos show former President Donald Trump’s border wall in deep disrepair after summer monsoon rains literally blew floodgates off their hinges. The damage took place near San Bernardino Ranch, a […]

Aerial view of flooding in Lagos Island on 16 July 2021. Photo: Belinda Ijeoma

Africa’s most populous city is battling floods and rising seas. It may soon be unlivable, experts warn.

By Nimi Princewill 1 August 2021 Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) – Cars and houses submerged in water, commuters wading through buses knee-high in floods, and homeowners counting the cost of destroyed properties. Welcome to Lagos during rainy season. Residents of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, are used to the yearly floods that engulf the coastal city […]

Aerial view of Lake Oroville, seen through a thick haze of smoke from California wildfires, on 20 August 2021. Lake Oroville has a surface area of 15,000 acres but is facing the worst crisis in its 52-year history. Photo: Action News Now

California mega-drought reduces Lake Oroville reservoir to historically low level – Hydroelectric plant shuts down – “We’re in uncharted territory”

OROVILLE, California, 20 August 2021 (Action News Now) – The reach of the drought emergency has a shocking look at as Lake Oroville drains to dirt. With a surface area of just over 15,000 acres – Lake Oroville provides water and electricity and impacts the local economy as recreation is big on this lake. California’s […]

Aerial view of vehicles stranded in floodwater on 20 July 2021 after record rainfall in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China. Photo: Jiao Xiaoxiang / VCG / Getty Images

Rescue efforts launched after record floods in central China displace 1.2 million – “Worst rain in a thousand years” in Henan province, “worst in Zhengzhou history” with a year’s worth of rain falling in a single day

By Alicia Chen, Lyric Li, and Eva Dou 21 July 2021 (The Washington Post) – Wang Peng rushed to join flood rescue efforts in Zhengzhou on Wednesday, as the central Chinese city was inundated with record rain. But his group of volunteers found themselves overwhelmed, with streets turned into rivers. “Once I got to the […]

Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis – “This place is unrecognizable”

By Jaaweed Kaleem and Thomas Curwen 11 July 2021 LAKE MEAD, Nevada (Los Angeles Times) – Eric Richins looked out from his pontoon boat to the shallows on the lake’s western edge. He squinted and paused as if he had come upon a foreign shore. For the first time in a career navigating the waters […]

An aerial view shows low water levels at Lake Oroville, which is the second largest reservoir in California and according to daily reports of the state's Department of Water Resources has declined to near 35 percent capacity due to record drought and heat, near Oroville, California, 16 June 2021. Photo: Aude Guerrucci / REUTERS

California calls for power conservation as new 2021 heatwave looms

8 July 2021 (Reuters) – California’s power grid operator on Thursday issued a “flex” alert for Friday, asking consumers to conserve energy from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. as high demand driven by extreme heat could trigger a capacity shortfall on the state’s electric grid. If the grid is still unable to meet power needs […]

Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Photo: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Nouriel Roubini: Conditions in 2021 are ripe for another global financial crisis – “The stagflation of the 1970s will soon meet the debt crises of the post-2008 period”

By Nouriel Roubini 2 July 2021 (The Guardian) – In April, I warned that today’s extremely loose monetary and fiscal policies, when combined with a number of negative supply shocks, could result in 1970s-style stagflation (high inflation alongside a recession). In fact, the risk today is even bigger than it was then. After all, debt ratios in […]

A crane is used to remove sets of human remains, as search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed, 2 July 2021, in Surfside, Florida. Rescue efforts resumed Thursday evening after being halted for most of the day over concerns about the stability of the remaining structure. Photo: Mark Humphrey / AP Photo

Miami’s climate dystopia gets real – South Florida real estate will get more deadly if we continue to ignore the warning signs of a doomed coastline

By Jeff Goodell 1 July 2021 (Rolling Stone) – Before it fell, Champlain Towers South, the 12-story Florida condo building that collapsed last week in the middle of the night, burying residents in a pile of concrete and chaos, was just another nondescript high-rise on the beach. It had been thrown up quickly during the […]

Satellite view of Lake Mead in 2000 and 2020. The United States' largest reservoir is draining rapidly. Plagued by extreme, climate change-fueled drought and increasing demand for water, Lake Mead on 16 June 2021 registered its lowest level on record since the reservoir was filled in the 1930s. Photo: LANDSAT / Copernicus / Google Earth

The American West is drying out – Lake Mead, largest reservoir in U.S., drops to lowest level on record since it was filled in the 1930s

By Zachary B. Wolf 20 June 2021 (CNN) – The incredible pictures of a depleted Lake Mead, on the Nevada-Arizona border, illustrate the effects of drought brought on by climate change. Later this year, the US government will almost certainly declare the first-ever water shortage along the Colorado River. Maps show more than a quarter of the US […]

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