Deadly flooding in Texas prompts hard questions
Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to news about climate, energy and the environment. I'm Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent with Paste BN.
Floods devastated Texas Hill Country on Independence Day, leaving a path of devastation and death; a crushing mix of unanswered questions and blame; and stories of heroic rescues and hope.
The flooding was caused by several factors that came together at once – in one of the worst possible locations. Terrain and timing take much of the blame, said Victor Murphy, a recently retired National Weather Service meteorologist in Texas.
Thunderstorms that began on July 3 and continued through the morning of July 4 dropped as much as 10.33 inches of rain near Ingram, Texas, and over three days delivered as much as 20 inches of water in a few locations.
Could more have been done to warn people in harm's way? That question will be asked again and again as rescue efforts turn to recovery.
Although the warnings arrived less than 24 hours before the flooding started, long-time weather service veterans and regional experts say that's not all that unusual in this region. It's a known shortcoming of the localized rain models forecasters use. They can't yet pinpoint exactly where intense rain might fall and when in an individual community.
One thing that was clear: climate change is making such flooding events more common. Warming temperatures over land and especially in the Gulf are stoking extreme rainfall events more often in an arc across the United States, from Texas up into the Northeast, extreme storm experts told Paste BN. The region has always seen occasional extreme rains, but today they occur more often, according to weather service data.
"As has been shown time and time again, event after event, climate change is leading to wetter, more extreme precipitation events," Kevin Reed, an associate provost for climate and sustainability programming at Stony Brook University, previously told Paste BN.
Summer heat grips the globe
Sweltering heat gripped much of the globe as the second half of 2025 began.
In Phoenix, the high temperature broke a daily record on June 30, reaching 116 degrees. In the U.S., extreme heat in Rochester, New York, caused roads to buckle. Video of a car going airborne after a road buckled in the heat in Missouri went viral. In Michigan, utilities are asking for rate hikes.
More than three dozen all-time record highs for warmest overnight temperatures were set across the United States in June, according to the National Weather Service. Such warm overnight lows don't give people, wildlife or buildings and roads a break from relentless heat.
In South Carolina, a family is warning others of heat risks after a beloved umpire, Mitchell Huggins, died in his nephew's arms after suffering heat stroke as temperatures reached 92 degrees.
While warm temperatures are always expected in the summer, world officials warn climate change is playing a role in the continued heat records being broken and in a rise of heat-related illnesses and deaths.
In the United Kingdom, sports fans tried to keep their cool at Wimbledon and Ascot, but it wasn't easy. The tennis championships set a record for warmest opening day in its history, when temperatures topped out at over 90 degrees. Wide brimmed hats, lots of fluids and Wimbledon's uniquely crafted ice towels for the competitors were in big demand. See a photo gallery here.
The WMO attributes much of the heat to a high pressure system trapping hot air from Northern Africa, but notes some of the warmth can be blamed on the heat wave blanketing the Mediterranean, where water temperatures are well above normal.
Dangerously warm conditions are becoming "more frequent, more intense” as a result of the global warming caused by burning fossil fuels," said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization. “It’s something we have to learn to live with."
Money may dry up for utility bill assistance
In California, agencies that helped low-income people pay their utility bills are stretching their funds after the passing of the far-reaching domestic policy bill, dubbed the "Big Beautiful Bill." A provision in the bill will cut all funding for the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program, reported Janet Wilson of the Desert Sun.
'Big Beautiful Bill' expected to hit clean energy industry hard
Energy and climate research groups circulated dire statistics showing the damage the bill would do to the clean energy industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested nationwide in solar, wind, battery storage and other pollution-minimizing projects.
Arizona has been a leader in welcoming clean energy progress incentivized by Biden-era programs, writes the Arizona Republic. Now it stands to lose more than most states after President Donald Trump’s tax and policy bill was approved. The Republic looked at how much is at stake for the state’s clean energy economy, installations and jobs but that remains difficult to calculate.
The Republic attempted to pinpoint the risk by identifying which projects are most vulnerable. But neither the research groups nor the companies themselves were willing to share details or a breakdown of what is on the line. The broader disruptions to the industry from Trump's executive orders and funding pauses since January add layers of uncertainty that most project operators were unwilling to discuss.
In a final bit of climate news, researchers in the Southern Ocean have reported dramatic and "unexpected" shifts, with saltiness rising and sea ice in steep decline. "If this salty, low-ice state continues, it could permanently reshape the Southern Ocean – and with it, the planet," said study lead author Alessandro Silvano of the University of Southampton in a statement.
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