Disasters

"Proponents say a federal disaster designation could save lives by providing vital services and reimbursing states for being proactive".

"The only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smoke from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly, forecasters say."

"As smoke from wildfires crosses state and international borders more frequently, tracking and studying it is increasingly important for shaping air quality and health measures around the world."

"For the past three years, a sinkhole in a Mooresville parking lot has released coal ash into a tributary of Lake Norman, in part because of a legal impasse about who is responsible — the property owners or Duke Energy — for repairing the damage."

"Two days after jurors in Multnomah County found that the utility PacifiCorp was to blame for wildfires in 2020, they ordered the company to pay punitive damages. That’s in addition to the more than $70 million already owed to the plaintiffs in the case."

"Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the U.S. West through a multi-billion dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth."

"Wildfires burning through large swathes of eastern and western Canada have released a record 160 million tonnes of carbon, the EU's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service said on Tuesday."

"As thick smoke from Canadian wildfires coated Chicago and the surrounding areas Tuesday, weather officials warned more bad air is expected Wednesday."

"Record-setting heat in Texas has sent hundreds of people to emergency rooms in recent weeks, according to state health officials."

"Rescued from the beach, a sick sea lion and her newborn pup are now on the mend with dozens of others at a marine mammal care center, part of effort by California wildlife experts responding to a sudden surge in animals falling ill to a neurotoxin."