"As Americans flock to the country’s coasts — and to the lakes and rivers in between — in the heat of summer, they may be doing so despite the presence of fecal matter."
"Early Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Chantal had blown ashore in South Carolina, and by the time it meandered into central North Carolina, it had weakened to a tropical depression. But by nightfall the impacts felt akin to a hurricane: 5 to 10 inches of rain fell within 12 hours. Dams burst. Interstates closed. Roads washed away. The Haw River reached historic levels, rising as much as 22 feet in four hours, engulfing parts of Saxapahaw."
"The Trump administration says it will uphold a Biden-era ban on the ongoing use of asbestos after previously saying it would reconsider the rule."
"The National Weather Service issued timely alerts, meteorologists say, but few were listening in the hours before the early morning flash floods." "The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives."
"The White House is planning to eliminate the board, a small agency that investigates chemical disasters to understand what went wrong."
"The three scientists joined the administration after it dismissed hundreds of experts who were assessing how global warming is affecting the country."
"The deadly Texas floods are drawing renewed scrutiny to Trump administration cuts at the nation’s weather and climate research agencies."
With the death toll exceeding 100 from catastrophic flooding in Texas, the SEJ Publications team offers resources for flood reporting in your region. See TipSheets on inland flood risks, extreme rainfall, flood readiness, flood-resistant construction, building in flood plains and flood-related hazardous waste threats. Also, a Reporter’s Toolbox on mapping flood risk, a Feature on the inequities of flooding and a special report, Covering Your Climate: The South. Plus, get rain and flood headlines from EJToday.
"It’s time to rethink the American lawn: a landscaping default that sucks up money, water, chemicals, and time."
"America’s treeless, isolated expanse put early European settlers to the test. Drought, loneliness, and debt drove many to failure, forcing the homesteaders to retreat East. But those who stayed unwittingly launched one of history’s largest terraforming projects, rewiring the land, the climate, and the future of the continent."
