drought News

$1.6B Trial Starts Against Utility over Fatal 2020 Wildfires

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A trial connected to a $1.6 billion class action lawsuit against utility PacifiCorp over the catastrophic Labor Day 2020 wildfires in Oregon started Tuesday in Portland. The fires in 2020 killed nine people, burned more than …

Extreme Weather is Nearly Universal Experience: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — An overwhelming majority of people in the United States say they have recently experienced an extreme weather event, a new poll shows, and most of them attribute that to climate change. But even as many across the …

Spain’s Barcelona Faces Drought ‘Emergency’ in September

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Authorities in Spain’s parched northeast warned Tuesday that Barcelona and a wide surrounding area that’s home to some 6 million people could face even tighter restrictions of water use in the coming months. Samuel Reyes, head …

Firefighters Battle France’s 1st Major Forest Blaze of 2023

PARIS (AP) — France’s government sounded the alarm Monday about the growing risk of forest fires because of climate change, as hundreds of firefighters in the country’s parched south wrestled with their biggest woodland-destroying blaze so far this year. The …

El Nino Watch Called as Odds Grow of Weather-Shifting Event

US government forecasters issued an El Nino watch as the odds increased that the weather-changing phenomenon will arise over the Pacific Ocean, raising the prospects of a below-average Atlantic hurricane season as well as heavy rains and searing heat across …

Drought will Cause Crop Failures in Spain, Farmers Warn

MADRID (AP) — Drought now affects 60% of the Spanish countryside, with crops like wheat and barley likely to fail entirely in four regions, the main Spanish farmers’ association said on Thursday. Spain’s long-term drought is causing “irreversible losses” to …

Wildfire Threat Grows as Florida Drought Gets Steadily Worse

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The threat of wildfires is growing in Florida over the coming weeks as more than half the state is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions likely to persist until rainy season resumes around mid-May, state …

At Least 21 Dead in Somalia’s Flash Floods, Says U.N. Agency

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least 21 people including six children have died in Somalia’s flash flooding over the last week, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency. Nearly 100,000 people have been affected by the heavy rains and flash floods …

Spain: Long-Term Drought to Bring More Heatwaves, Wildfires

MADRID (AP) — Spain has officially entered a period of long-term drought, owing to high temperatures and low rainfall over the past three years, and likely faces another year of heatwaves and forest fires. The country’s Aemet weather agency said …

Confirmed: Global Floods, Droughts Worsening with Warming

The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren’t merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop …