Historic Texas wildfire consumes more than 500,000 acres as blaze rages on

A wildfire rages in Texas on 27 February 2024. Photo: Greenville Fire-Rescue / Reuters

February 28, 2024

Historic Texas wildfire consumes more than 500,000 acres as blaze rages on

By Gloria Oladipo 28 February 2024 (The Guardian) – A historic wildfire in Texas continued to rage on Wednesday morning as firefighters work to contain the flames and survey damage. The Smokehouse Creek fire, the second largest wildfire in Texas to date, has consumed more than 500,000 acres in Texas’s Panhandle area since it ignited on Monday. […]

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) […]

2023 had the warmest December on record for Sea-Tac, Olympia, and Quillayute, with mean daily average temperatures of 45.5°F (7.5°C) in Seattle and Olympia, and 48.0°F (8.9°C) in Quillayute. Graphic: NWS Seattle

January 4, 2024

Seattle set record-high December temperatures in 2023, following global trend – “It is unlikely that this would reverse anytime soon, unless there’s very, very drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”

By Lauren Girgis 4 January 2024 (Seattle Times) – If you like the snow, this unusually warm winter likely isn’t for you. Snow levels this season have been “marginal, to say the least,” said Rune Harkestad, president of Kittitas County’s Kongsberger Ski Club, based east of Snoqualmie Pass. December did bring a fair share of […]

Percentage of documented and undocumented mines, by country. More than half of the global mining areas (56 percent) visible from satellite images have no production information available listed in a global compilation from the S&P Capital IQ Pro database. The total worldwide mining land use for mining in 120,000 km2, with 67,000 km2 undocumented. Graphic: Nature

January 3, 2024

Impacts for half of the world’s mining areas are undocumented – 56 percent of global mining areas visible from satellite images have no production information available

By Victor Maus and Tim T. Werner 3 January 2024 (Nature) – Mining is a crucial industry — from iron and copper to gravel and sand, we depend on it for the basic building blocks of the modern world. It is a fast changing sector, as the clean energy transition and digitalization boost demand for […]

Crews use specialized vehicles to move man-made snow over trails at the Battle Creek Regional Park in St. Paul, Minnesota. The record warm and snowless winter of 2023-2024 has disrupted life in Minnesota. Photo: Rob Adams / The Wall Street Journal

January 2, 2024

Record warm and snowless winter disrupts life in Minnesota – “People are bored”

By Melanie Evans 1 January 2024 (The Wall Street Journal) – For Minnesotan Tara Young, the perfect beach conditions are when the water is, well, extra stimulating. She prefers the middle of winter, when most mornings she treks off to soak in a nearby frigid lake. The 38-year-old enjoys her chilly pastime so much she […]

Map showing areas surrounding New Orleans underwater by 2050 if current trends in sea level rise continue. Graphic: Climate Central

January 1, 2024

Interactive map shows United States areas under the sea in 2050 due to climate change

By John O’sullivan 1 January 2024 (Irish Star) – Several parts of The United States could be underwater by the year 2050, according to a frightening map produced by Climate Central. The map shows what could happen if the sea levels, driven by climate change, continue to rise at rates of 2 mm and 4 mm […]

Number of mass killings in the U.S. 2023 compared with previous years. Data: The Associated Press / Northeastern University / USA TODAY. Graphic: USA TODAY

December 31, 2023

U.S. faces second-worst year on record for mass shootings, with nearly 650 incidents – More than 42,000 people died from gun-related events in the U.S. in 2023, including 23,694 who died by suicide

By Molly Bohannon and Ana Faguy 25 December 2023 (Forbes) – The United States has faced 649 mass shootings so far this year, making it the second-worst year for shootings in the nine years since the Gun Violence Archive began recording data—after a set of brutal mass shootings in Maine, California, Texas and Tennessee took […]

Number of fentanyl overdose deaths in King County, 2013-2023. The number of people dying in King County from fentanyl has grown exponentially in the past few years, surpassing 1,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Data: Public Health – Seattle and King County. Graphic: Fiona Martin / The Seattle Times

December 30, 2023

King County’s 2023 fentanyl deaths top 1,050, surpassing record – “Drugs have gotten much more lethal, they’ve gotten to be much more available, and we know that they’re much less expensive – and they’re also much more synthetic than ever”

By Sara Jean Green and Lauren Girgis 29 December 2023 (The Seattle Times) – King County has seen over 1,000 fatal fentanyl overdoses in 2023, surpassing a record set last year by an astounding 47%. Over 1,050 of the county’s nearly 1,300 fatal overdoses this year involved fentanyl, sounding yet another alarm about the potency of the […]

Gun-related mass murders and fatalities in the U.S., 2019-2023. The pace of mass murder shootings continued to accelerate in the U.S. in 2023, hitting new records for both the number of attacks and the number of people killed. The year ended with a grim toll of 40 mass murder shootings, which left 207 people dead. Data: gunviolencearchive.org. Graphic: The Messenger

December 30, 2023

Mass shooting deaths in U.S. hit record in 2023: More than 200 people killed in 40 mass murders – “People are just getting numb to it”

By Safia Samee Ali 25 December 2023 (The Messenger) – The pace of mass murder shootings continued to accelerate in the U.S. in 2023, hitting a new record for both the number of attacks and the number of people killed. The year ended with a grim toll of 40 mass murder shootings — which left […]

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2021 and trend since 2000, including inventory-based Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) CO2 in GtCO2e (top) and Per capita GHG emissions in 2021 and trend since 2000, including inventory-based LULUCF CO2 in tCO2e/capita (bottom). Graphic: UNEP

December 29, 2023

Petrostates planning huge expansion of fossil fuels, says UN report – “These plans throw humanity’s future into question. Governments must stop saying one thing and doing another.”

By Damian Carrington 8 November 2023 (The Guardian) – The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Experts called the plans “insanity” which “throw humanity’s future into question”. The energy plans of the petrostates contradicted their climate policies and pledges, the report said. […]

Desdemona Despair

Tag: United States