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Home > Disasters

"Oregon County Sues Fossil Fuel Companies Over 2021 Heat Dome" [1]

"The Oregon county that includes Portland on Thursday filed a lawsuit against several fossil fuel companies and their business partners in an effort to hold them responsible for a deadly heat wave in 2021."

Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Northwest (OR WA) [9]
Source: NYTimes [10], 06/23/2023

"Texas Cities Set Temperature Records in Unremitting Heat Wave" [11]

"A searing heat wave has pushed temperatures to record highs in recent days in several cities in South and West Texas, prompting health advisories and pleas for energy conservation."

Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [12]
Infrastructure [13]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [14]
Source: Inside Climate News [15], 06/22/2023

World's Worst Industrial Disaster Harmed People Even Before They Were Born [16]

"Shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984, about 40 tons of deadly gas leaked out of a pesticide factory in the central Indian city of Bhopal. ....Now, a new study shows that the accident ,,, affected not just those who were exposed to the gas that night but also the generation of babies still in the womb when the accident happened."

Chemicals [17]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Health [12]
Public [7]
Asia [18]
Source: NPR [19], 06/21/2023

Sweltering Heat, Power Cuts In Northern India As Death Toll Climbs [20]

"A scorching heat wave in two of India’s most populous states has overwhelmed hospitals, filled a morgue to capacity and disrupted power, forcing staff to use books to cool patients, as officials investigate a death toll that has reached nearly 170."

Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Health [12]
Public [7]
Asia [18]
Source: AP [21], 06/20/2023

"Tropical Storm Bret Forms, Forecast To Become Hurricane Near Caribbean" [22]

"The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Storm Bret formed at 5 p.m. Eastern Monday, the second of the young Atlantic season. Located about halfway between the coast of Africa and the eastern Caribbean Sea, the system is likely to intensify, and it could approach or impact the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane by the weekend."

Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Water & Oceans [23]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Central America & the Caribbean [24]
Source: Washington Post [25], 06/20/2023

Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [26]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Features [27]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [28]
Chemicals [17]
Disasters [3]
Economy & Business [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [29]
Environmental Politics [30]
Government [31]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [33]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Pollution [34]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [8]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [14]
Visibility: 
Public [7]

Shell Chemical Plant Had Many Violations Before Recent Fire, Paid Few Fines [35]

"Residents, lawyers, and environmental groups point to aging facilities and reluctant state regulators as reasons for the continued string of industrial fires."

Air [28]
Chemicals [17]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [29]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Pollution [34]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [14]
Source: Houston Public Media [36], 06/16/2023

"US Government Toughens Rules On Chemicals Used To Break Up Oil Slicks" [37]

"The Environmental Protection Agency has announced more stringent rules governing offshore oil spill response, amid continuing concerns about the effects on public health and wildlife from chemical disasters, including BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010."

Biodiversity [38]
Chemicals [17]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [29]
Fish & Fisheries [39]
Laws & Regulations [6]
Natural Resources [40]
Water & Oceans [23]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [8]
Source: Guardian [41], 06/16/2023

"UN Chief To Fossil Fuel Firms: Stop Trying To 'Knee-Cap' Climate Progress" [42]

"U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that countries must start phasing out oil, coal and gas - not just emissions - and demanded fossil fuel companies "cease and desist" measures that aim to "knee-cap" climate progress."

Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Politics [30]
Public [7]
International [43]
Source: Reuters [44], 06/16/2023

"Thick Wildfire Smoke Plume Brings Unhealthy Air Quality To Minnesota" [45]

"Call it a smoke front. That’s what it looks like from space on weather satellites and here on the ground on air quality monitors."

Air [28]
Climate Change [2]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Health [12]
Pollution [34]
Public [7]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [46]
Source: MPR [47], 06/15/2023

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/oregon-county-sues-fossil-fuel-companies-over-2021-heat-dome [2] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [7] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [8] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [9] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [10] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/climate/oregon-lawsuit-heat-dome.html [11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/texas-cities-set-temperature-records-unremitting-heat-wave [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [14] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [15] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21062023/texas-heat-wave-records-climate-change/ [16] https://www.sej.org/headlines/worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-harmed-people-even-they-were-born [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [18] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia [19] https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/06/17/1181244389/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-harmed-people-even-before-they-were-born [20] https://www.sej.org/headlines/sweltering-heat-power-cuts-northern-india-death-toll-climbs [21] https://apnews.com/article/india-uttar-pradesh-bihar-heat-wave-deaths-273cbb7bd51a9e617e32240671b63c5a [22] https://www.sej.org/headlines/tropical-storm-bret-forms-forecast-become-hurricane-near-caribbean [23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [24] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/central-america-caribbean [25] https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/06/19/tropical-depression-storm-bret-caribbean/ [26] https://www.sej.org/publications/features/watching-watchers-how-journalistic-teamwork-uncovered-years-regulatory-failure [27] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/features [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [32] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [35] https://www.sej.org/headlines/shell-chemical-plant-had-many-violations-recent-fire-paid-few-fines [36] https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/in-depth/2023/06/14/454375/shells-deer-park-chemical-plant-had-received-thousands-of-violations-prior-to-recent-fire/ [37] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-government-toughens-rules-chemicals-used-break-oil-slicks [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [40] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [41] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/14/epa-chemical-regulation-oil-spill-cleanup-exxon-valdez-bp [42] https://www.sej.org/headlines/un-chief-fossil-fuel-firms-stop-trying-knee-cap-climate-progress [43] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [44] https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-chief-fossil-fuel-firms-stop-trying-knee-cap-climate-progress-2023-06-15/ [45] https://www.sej.org/headlines/thick-wildfire-smoke-plume-brings-unhealthy-air-quality-minnesota [46] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [47] https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/06/14/thick-wildfire-smoke-plume-brings-unhealthy-air-quality-to-minnesota [48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=162 [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=159 [50] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=160 [51] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=161 [52] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=164 [53] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=165 [54] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=166 [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=167 [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=759