Disasters

"Few public universities get more federal research funding than the University of Washington."

"Ten of the 11 plant workers killed at a Longview, Wash., paper mill last month died from alkaline chemical burns, the result of caustic liquid that flooded out of a failed holding tank and through the plant."

"If the blob persists for years, it could eventually cool the climate around Greenland, Iceland and northern Europe."

"El Niño has developed in the Pacific Ocean, a climate pattern that can reshape weather around the globe into 2027. The last El Niño was in 2023-24, and forecasters say this one is developing earlier than many typically do."

“In a world where people accept global heating is bad, news that we had avoided a boiling-in-our-own-juices version of the planet’s future might have been welcomed. Instead, the news that a group of climate scientists had officially retired their very worst scenario for the future of the planet was proof – according to Donald Trump – that the scientists had been (in all caps) WRONG! WRONG! WRONG."

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) replaced employee desk phones with calling software used on their laptops, something the union says poses safety issues, including during a recent medical emergency.”

“As the West enters a high-risk wildfire season, Nevada’s largest utility is asking state regulators to OK a $500 million insurance policy funded by its ratepayers."

“Extreme drought and rising temperatures in the US are poised to overwhelm the Trump administration’s plans to control wildfire by logging federal forests, scientists say."

“U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy previously ran an aerial firefighting company. After joining Congress, he proposed ending Forest Service inspections of those aircraft. The same month a draft of his plan to end Forest Service inspections leaked, an aircraft at his former company failed an inspection because of a crack in its wing.”

“Wildlife department says drought conditions and water released from dam led to ‘major fish kill’ at San Carlos Lake.”