floods
pgleick | February 4, 2016By Peter Gleick, Brett Walton, J. Carl Ganter
Water was a Top Risk on the 2015 Global Agenda
In early 2015, participants at the World Economic Forum, a who’s who of the political and business elite, ranked water crises as the top global risk. Water was also a key factor in the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a blueprint for international development over the next 15 years. Ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all by 2030 is one of six water goals for the SDGs. In December at the UN climate change conference in Paris,…
gregladen | December 31, 2015This is a guest post by Larry Lazar.
If you have had the news on the last day or two you may have seen stories and images about the Missouri floods. Many of those images are from Eureka (where we live), Pacific (where my wife Kellie works) and Valley Park (which is on my commute to work). That picture of the submerged McDonald's you may have seen on the news is in Union, Missouri, about 20 miles to the southwest of Eureka
We are dry, mostly, and doing okay. The basement was flooded during the initial 3 day rain event due to a failed sump pump and a couple downspouts that came unattached from…
pgleick | December 8, 2014Over the past three years (and indeed, for 10 of the past 14 years) California has experienced a particularly deep drought. How bad is the drought? Is it the worst in the instrumental record? The worst in over a century? The worst in 1200 years? The worst “ever”? And why has it been so bad?
There is no single definition of “drought.” Drought, most simply defined, is the mismatch between (1) the amounts of water nature provides and (2) the amounts of water that humans and the environment demand. As the National Drought Mitigation Center puts it:
“In the most general sense, drought originates…
illconsidered | February 18, 2014As most of you know already, England's dramatic sequence of winter storms since December has resulted in its worst winter on record. England's records go back 248 years. (Al Jazeera is reporting 300 years). Who knows if such a series of storms has ever occurred since the climate stabilized after the last glaciation ended some 8000 years ago, this is truly uncharted territory.
The featured image above serves as a very apt and stark metaphor for just what adaption to climate change means. That picture was taken at least ten days ago (I found it here where many other dramatic images can be…
lborkowski | November 10, 2011Thailand is experiencing its worst flooding since 1942, and millions of people are affected. The death toll has reached 533, due mostly to drowning but also to electrocutions. CNN reports that more than 113,000 people have arrived at 1,700 government shelters set up across the country, and Bangkok officials have warned residents of interruptions to electricity and tap water.
In addition to immediate dangers like drowning, the potential for widespread disease outbreaks is worrisome.
Citing concerns about water-borne diseases spreading through contaminated floodwater, UNICEF announced that it…
sastyk | September 9, 2011The first thing you need to know is that no one ever complains. I've seen a few people cry, mostly about lost pets, but what they say is "we're so lucky."
They say "We're so lucky" as elders in their 80s and 90s put all the possessions of a lifetime out on the street to be hauled away as trash. One couple told me "We're so lucky - we saved our wedding album and one picture of all the grandchildren together." There wasn't time for more before they evacuated. "We're so lucky - the kids lost all their toys, but we're staying with friends who have girls the same size as mine, so they have…
sastyk | May 18, 2011Crap. We've had so much flooding (not the house, thankfully, but the creek has breached its banks, the driveway is flooded and the barn has about a ton of much-needed ;-P mud added to it) that I have to cancel our planned open farm day this Sunday. We're just not going to be in shape for it, and I'd be too worried about stuck cars and kids not familiar with the property near the creek. Profuse apologies for all of you planning on coming - this sucks - and there's more rain in the forecast.
Still, no harm done, we're way better off than those near the Mississippi, and we'll plan another…
sastyk | January 25, 2011Paul Kingsnorth has a brilliant article on what underlies the disproportion in attention between flooding in the Global South and Global North, and what it says about how we see the world:
This imperial narrative morphed, after the death of the Western empires, into the narrative of 'development' that we still cleave to today (I recommend this explanation of the process). Now, the world is divided up into 'developed' countries and 'developing' countries. Developed countries are largely white. Developing countries are largely brown. The latter are assumed to be on an inevitable trajectory that…
tsmith | August 18, 2010The Skepchicks are sponsoring a pertussis vaccination clinic at Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend. They're teaming up with the Georgia Dept. of Health, who is providing free assistance and vaccines, but they need some assistance raising funds to cover space rental, posters, and other miscellaneous charges. If you're able to assist, you can donate to their "Hug me! I'm vaccinated!" campaign at the links included in the post.
And while I'm nagging about donations, I'll also note that donations to help the flooded in Pakistan have been slow, especially compared to the Haiti earthquake. If you…
lborkowski | August 17, 2010Flooding in Pakistan has killed 1,600 and is affecting an estimated 20 million people. Six million lack access to food, shelter, and water. The report of a single confirmed cholera case (in the Swat valley) is generating some headlines, but the important point is that a lack of clean water makes the spread of any diarrheal disease far more likely.
UNICEF warns that "more than 3 million children are at high risk of deadly water-borne diseases in Pakistan," and cites a WHO projection of up to 1.5 million cases of diarrheal diseases that could occur over the next three months. These aren't just…
eklemetti | April 14, 2010
The steam and ash plume from the Eyjafjallajökull subglacial eruption that started early morning, April 14, 2010.
Well, after the brief respite when there was speculation Eyjafjallajökull-Fimmvörduháls eruption might be over, we now know what was going on. After the original fissures ceased activity, the magma found a new route to the surface, this time underneath the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. Eruptions readers last night watched as an earthquake swarm arrived underneath the icecap, which prompted Icelandic officials to start evacuating people from the area around the volcano (photo…
illconsidered | June 29, 2009(The following is offered as an amusing example of how reality sometimes seems to have a sense of homour:)
My wife is from the Czech Republic and was mentioning to me her family's worries about the recent flooding (they are not in immediate danger). I google-news'ed it and went to the first hit, an AP article, that mentioned among the rest of it that there have been several major floods in the last 10 or fifteen years.
She mentioned that Czech never had these kids of events when she was growing up. I mentioned that increased flooding is an expected consequence of climate change in many…
illconsidered | April 1, 2009Guest post from het, provider of the weekly feature "Another week of GW News"
Sandbag Central
(source: Boston.com)
When I see scenes like the 'sandbag central' Fargo stadium --- thousands of people shovelling sand, making and piling sandbags, fighting together for their city --- my heart swells. It is the community of shared adversity.
CBC-TV had a camera crew wandering around the stadium interviewing people and they zeroed in on one little blonde haired girl of 7 or 8 years. "Why are you doing this?" asked the interviewer. "For my city, for my family," said the little girl. But the thing…
illconsidered | March 27, 2009This was passed on to me for posting by het, just as a human interest angle to this current event
My brother David lives 50 feet from the Red River north
of Winnipeg about half way between Lockport and the perimeter
highway. You may have heard about the flooding across
the river at St. Andrews. Below I have copied an email received
from him last night.
> I've been getting calls and emails about the Red River and flooding, so I thought
> I would write and let you know.
>
> On monday, after work, we had the most amazing experience. The river ice was groaning
> and moaning and…
greengabbro | June 12, 2008 I don't actually know what underlies the Middle Devonian brachiopods of my childhood, but I might get to find out soon. Iowa City is experiencing its second "500 year" flood in 15 years, and Coralville Lake has overtopped its dam... again. And the river hasn't crested yet. Fortunately, my family is on high ground, and playing host to some friends who've been evacuated from the flood zone.
Buildings in Iowa City must have floors that are at least 1 foot (or 1.4 of your Earth football diameters) above a designated "100 year" flood elevation. These elevations are determined by FEMA; climate…