Climate Point: Grim news from Libya, US cemeteries
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and environment news. From Palm Springs, I'm Janet Wilson. There's grim news this week, from the streets of Libya to U.S. cemeteries.
The death toll from massive floods in Libya could hit 20,000, with drowned people washing up on beaches and along streets. "Absolutely harrowing" is how one disaster aid official described the losses to Paste BN's Kim Hjelmgaard. And most of the deaths could have been avoided, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization said Thursday, if an effective emergency warning system had been in place in the war-torn nation.
The assertion came as Libyan health officials confirmed 5,500 deaths and said 9,000 people are still missing after an unusually strong Mediterranean storm named "Daniel" on Sunday caused deadly flooding in towns in eastern Libya, causing two dams to burst. The torrents swept away families as they slept and whole neighborhoods.
Grave situation Climate change is now coming for our dead. Fresh grief is striking families with increasing frequency, as the graves of relatives they thought they'd buried are flooded, ripped apart or otherwise dislodged from what were supposed to be final resting places. Paste BN's Dinah Voyles Pulver has a special package chronicling the surging problem. For centuries, people have buried their dead in peaceful, scenic spots, she writes, meant to comfort the living and the spirits of the dead. Today many of those burial grounds, which also hold community and tribal histories, rest in precarious positions, subject to rising seas and storm surge, swollen streams, wildfire and a litany of natural disasters, made worse by the steady march of a warming climate.
Lora Ann Chaisson, principal chief of the United Houma Nation, Louisiana's largest Native American tribe, said, “The saddest thing after a hurricane is not losing your home or anything. It’s having to rebury your loved ones.“
Here too, experts warn that adequate planning, must be done to better protect what are in many locations already neglected cemeteries.
No end in sight. From storms to wildfires, it's already been a record catastrophic year for weather and climate disasters across the nation, and we've still got nearly four months to go. As of Monday, the U.S. has endured a whopping 23 separate weather and climate disasters that have each led to at least $1 billion in damage, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. That breaks the record of 22 set in 2020.
Batten down the hatches. Coastal New England communities were bracing Thursday evening for the arrival of Hurricane Lee, expected to bring a nasty mix of heavy rain, strong winds and high seas to the region from late Friday into Saturday, forecasters said.
In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency as the storm approached. The state was under its first hurricane watch in 15 years. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, a tropical storm warning along the coast of New England was extended northward to the U.S./Canada border, with tropical storm conditions expected within 36 hours.
How to prepare your home for a hurricane: Take these steps to help prevent damage
There are a few bright spots this week, with a hard-won victory for trees in Arizona, and a surprising reuse for old, broken hockey sticks. Read on for more.
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