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The fires in Hawaii would be shocking anywhere — killing at least 36 people, in one of the deadliest wildfires in the United States in modern history. The explanation is as straightforward as it is sobering: as the planet heats up, no place is protected from disasters. The story of this week’s blaze arguably began decades ago, when Hawaii started experiencing a long-term decline in average annual rainfall. Since 1990, rainfall at selected monitoring sites has been 31 percent lower in the wet season, and 6 percent lower in the dry season, according to work published in 2015 by researchers at the University of Hawaii and the University of Colorado. There are multiple reasons for that change, according to Abby Frazier, a climatologist at Clark University who has researched Hawaii.

Persons: Abby Frazier Organizations: University of Hawaii, University of Colorado, Clark University Locations: Hawaii, United States

☆ As Climate Shocks Multiply, Designers Seek Holy Grail: Disaster-Proof Homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | More About Christopher Flavelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

John duSaint, a retired software engineer, recently bought property near Bishop, Calif., in a rugged valley east of the Sierra Nevada. The area is at risk for wildfires, severe daytime heat and high winds — and also heavy winter snowfall. But Mr. duSaint isn’t worried. And it can withstand high winds and heavy snowpack. “The dome shell itself is basically impervious,” Mr. duSaint said.

Persons: John duSaint, duSaint isn’t, Mr, duSaint Organizations: Calif Locations: Bishop, Sierra Nevada

This week’s flooding in Vermont, in which heavy rainfall caused destruction far from rivers or coastlines, is evidence of an especially dangerous climate threat: Catastrophic flooding can increasingly happen anywhere, with almost no warning. And the United States, experts warn, is nowhere close to ready for that threat. The idea that anywhere it can rain, it can flood, is not new. But rising temperatures make the problem worse: They allow the air to hold more moisture, leading to more intense and sudden rainfall, seemingly out of nowhere. “It’s getting harder and harder to adapt to these changing conditions,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Persons: “, ”, Rachel Cleetus, “ It’s Organizations: Union of Concerned Locations: Vermont, United States, New Orleans, Miami, Houston, Charleston, New York City

☆ Arizona, Low on Water, Weighs Taking It From the Sea. In Mexico.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | Adriana Zehbrauskas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fifty miles south of the U.S. border, at the edge of a city on the Gulf of California, a few acres of dusty shrubs could determine the future of Arizona. The idea of building a desalination plant in Mexico has been discussed in Arizona for years. But now, a $5 billion project proposed by an Israeli company is under serious consideration, an indication of how worries about water shortages are rattling policymakers in Arizona and across the American West. On June 1, the state announced that the Phoenix area, the fastest-growing region in the country, doesn’t have enough groundwater to support all the future housing that has already been approved. Cities and developers that want to build additional projects beyond what has already been allowed would have to find new sources of water.

Locations: U.S, of California, Arizona, Colorado, Mexico, Phoenix

☆ Arizona Limits New Construction in Phoenix Area, Citing Shrinking Water Supply
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | Jack Healy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Arizona has determined that there is not enough groundwater for all of the future housing construction that has already been approved in the Phoenix area, and will stop developers from building some new subdivisions, a sign of looming trouble in the West and other places where overuse, drought and climate change are straining water supplies. The decision by state officials marks the beginning of the end to the explosive development that has made the Phoenix metropolitan region the fastest growing in the country. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, gets more than half its water supply from groundwater; most of the rest comes from rivers and aqueducts as well as recycled wastewater. In practical terms, groundwater is a finite resource; it can take thousands of years or longer to be replenished. The announcement of a groundwater shortage — what the state calls “unmet demand” for water over the next hundred years — means Arizona would no longer give developers in areas of Maricopa County new permits to construct homes that rely on wells for water.

Persons: “ Locations: Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa County

The climate crisis is becoming a financial crisis. This month, the largest homeowner insurance company in California, State Farm, announced that it would stop selling coverage to homeowners. That’s not just in wildfire zones, but everywhere in the state. “We’re just now seeing it.”In parts of eastern Kentucky ravaged by storms last summer, the price of flood insurance is set to quadruple. In Louisiana, the top insurance official says the market is in crisis, and is offering millions of dollars in subsidies to try to draw insurers to the state.

Persons: That’s, ”, Roy Wright, “ We’re Organizations: State Farm, . Insurance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Insurance Institute, Business, Home Locations: California, Kentucky, Louisiana

☆ A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River From Going Dry, for Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

California, Arizona and Nevada get their shares of water from Lake Mead, which is formed by the Colorado River at the Hoover Dam and is controlled by the federal government. The Bureau of Reclamation, an agency within the Interior Department, determines how much water each of the three states receives. The other states that depend on the Colorado get water directly from the river and its tributaries. At that point, all seven states that rely on the river — which include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — could face a deeper reckoning, as its decline is likely to continue. The negotiations over the Colorado were spurred by a crisis: Last summer, the water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs along the river, fell enough that officials feared the hydroelectric turbines they powered might soon cease operating.

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