Engineering for flood resilience can address storms heightened by climate change.
Flooding
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
After historic floods, the safety net failed small farmers
Climate disasters are killing the largest subset of California farms. Government programs are too.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
California’s homelessness and climate crises leave unhoused communities vulnerable to floods
Seeking shelter, people are living in flood control channels and other flood-prone places.
Posted inArticles
Disaster disparities in the West
The risk of climate catastrophe is complex, but people of color often face ‘unnatural hazards.’
Posted inArticles
Remove dams to fight the climate crisis
Ten reasons bringing down these barriers are key for mitigation and adaptation.
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023
When burn scars become roaring earthen rivers
Geologists in Washington are monitoring scorched forest to help create a better warning system for deadly debris flows.
Posted inArticles
This year’s record-breaking snowpack is pouring into the dried-out Salt Lake
Snowmelt is replenishing depleted ecosystems and flooding communities.
Posted inArticles
As the West’s epic snow melts, flood danger rises
How do 2023’s atmospheric rivers compare to past extremes and what can be expected in the future?
Posted inArticles
Displaced by the climate crisis
Jake Bittle’s new book foregrounds the experience of those already affected by a worsening climate.
Posted inArticles
The Salinas River and the foretold flood
Agriculture beat the river into submission. It’s back.
Posted inArticles
How California’s emergency plans fail disabled communities
Kelley Coleman’s 9-year-old son had two days of his medication left. Then the evacuation order hit.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
California’s power outages are a life-and-death issue
A perspective on the impacts of storms for people with disabilities.
Posted inArticles
After June’s floods, will the Yellowstone River be allowed to roam?
Rock walls called riprap constrain the river to protect property from erosion —but there are other options.
Posted inArticles
When a housing crisis meets a megaflood
June’s massive Yellowstone-area floods illuminated and worsened housing inequities across southwestern Montana.
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
Rising rivers don’t necessarily follow the lines on a map
June’s record-breaking flooding in Montana illustrates the importance of risk mapping for people living in the floodplain.
Posted inArticles
What’s it like to live in a tourist town with no tourists?
After the floods, Yellowstone gateway communities are grappling with what comes next.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2022: Going Under
Flooding could breathe life into Yellowstone ecosystem
Although destructive for people, high-water events are a natural part of river systems.
Posted inArticles
The funky politics of wildfire right now
After New Mexico’s record-breaking fires, the politics of wildfire are morphing into weird configurations.
Posted inArticles
In the wake of fires and floods
Climate disasters across the West wreak havoc on economies and livelihoods.
Posted inArticles
Yellowstone area flooding upends lives and portends a new climate reality
Unprecedented rain and snowmelt destroyed roads and washed away bridges outside the national park.