risk
Top Story
Credit: MSPhotographic/Big Stock Photo
Millions of Californians face wildfire risks near oil wells
Millions of Californians live near oil and gas wells that are increasingly in the path of wildfires, raising concerns about explosions, pollution and infrastructure damage.
In short:
- More than 100,000 oil wells in the western US, mainly in California, are at high risk of wildfires.
- Nearly 3 million people live within 3,200 feet of these wells, facing heightened health and safety risks.
- Historic and projected data show a significant increase in wildfire threats to oil infrastructure.
Key quote:
“One of the things that surprised me was just the extent of how many oil wells had been in wildfire burn areas in the past, and how much this was impacting people in California — and is likely to in the coming century.”
— David J.X. González, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at UC Berkeley
Why this matters:
Wildfires near oil wells pose serious health risks and environmental hazards. With climate change intensifying wildfires, protective measures and regulations become increasingly urgent.
Keep reading...Show less
Newsletter
Image by PublicDomainImages from Pixabay
As U.S. insurers stop covering prescribed burns, states and communities step up
Prescribed fires are a positive land management method, but when the flames occasionally escape control, the resulting damage to land and private property also hurts this conservation tool’s reputation.
Big Stock Photo
Coastal New Jersey homeowners lack flood insurance despite rising seas, report says
A gap in flood insurance coverage leaves millions at risk as the frequency and severity of extreme weather events increase across the Northeast, the report notes.
Newsletter
Big Stock Photo
Extreme heat pushes more farmworkers to harvest at night, creating new risks
Working in the dark may help agricultural workers keep cool, but safety advocates worry the trend could also be causing more accidents and compromising worker health.
Newsletter
Photo by Kostiantyn Li on Unsplash
As climate shocks grow, lawmakers investigate insurers fleeing risky areas
Faced with growing losses from hurricanes, floods and wildfires, major insurance companies are pulling out of California, Florida and Louisiana — a shift that threatens to undermine the economies of those states.
Newsletter
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash
Armine Yalnizyan: We should listen to insurance industry on climate change
Whatever happened to ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ asks Armine Yalnizyan. Instead we spend billions to help people side-swiped by natural disasters.
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash
Armine Yalnizyan: We should listen to insurance industry on climate change
Whatever happened to ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’ asks Armine Yalnizyan. Instead we spend billions to help people side-swiped by natural disasters.
ORIGINAL REPORTING
MOST POPULAR
CLIMATE
