15 September 2011 (MSNBC) – The drought in Texas that has fueled wildfires, devastated agriculture and caused water shortages actually worsened in the past week while several other states also saw spreading drought, according to a weekly report issued Thursday. The forecast for three months out isn’t any better: Texas was told to expect abnormally […]
By Rhett StevensonSeptember 6, 2011 The 20 hottest years on record have all taken place in the past quarter century. The resulting floods, wildfires, and heat waves have all had deadly consequences, and if we don’t reduce carbon emissions immediately, humanity faces bleak prospects. We can no longer ignore this issue. Beginning today, we must […]
By Ashley Powers and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times7 September 2011 Reporting from Bastrop, Texas, and Los Angeles – Beleaguered firefighters battling one of the most destructive Texas fire seasons on record found themselves punished not only by searing weather, but by lax brush clearance and dwindling budgets. With no end in sight to scores […]
By Patrick Michels7 September 2011 As fire crews continue battling some of the worst blazes this dry state has seen in years, Texas Gov. Rick Perry took a break from his presidential campaign early this week, for a look at what he called “one of the meanest fires I’ve ever seen,” taking aerial tours of […]
By Julie Cart7 September 2011 The litany of misery playing out in Texas is tough to watch but less difficult to predict. Well before the contagion of wildfires was sparked this week, the state had been experiencing a weather catastrophe. Texas has seen its driest consecutive months since record-keeping began in 1895. Parts of the […]
By Dave Montgomery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with contributions from Anna Tinsley and Alex Branch5 September 2011 BASTROP, Texas — Firefighters from across the state swarmed into Central Texas on Labor Day to combat devastating wildfires that left hundreds homeless and prompted Gov. Rick Perry to abruptly return from a scheduled East Coast political appearance. At […]
By Erik Jensen Health 29 August 2011 RATES of mental illnesses including depression and post-traumatic stress will increase as a result of climate change, a report to be released today says. The paper, prepared for the Climate Institute, says loss of social cohesion in the wake of severe weather events related to climate change could […]
By Nicky Phillips 29 August 2011 A THICK blanket of grass spanning the width of Australia will pose a significant bushfire threat this season, experts say. While the record-breaking rains that fell across the eastern states earlier this year replenished drought-depleted soil, they also spurred large amounts of vegetation growth, particularly grass, the likes of […]
By Jane Sutton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman17 August 2011 MIAMI (Reuters) – The United States has already tied its yearly record for billion-dollar weather disasters and the cumulative tab from floods, tornadoes and heat waves has hit $35 billion, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday. And it’s only August, with the bulk of the […]
By ALLAN TURNER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE15 August 2011 ROBERT LEE — […] With Texas gripped in a seemingly intractable drought that state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon has declared the worst single-year dry spell in 116 years, Robert Lee, population 1,106, has emerged as an alarming worst-case example of what scant rainfall and triple-digit temperatures can do. Since […]
