Growing up in the hills east of San Francisco Bay in the 1990s, Lauren McNulty learned about wildfire early in life. Her family kept go-bags by the door during fire season, typically in the month of October. But with climate change making wildfires bigger and stronger, fire season now requires[…]
All posts under Deep Dive
Are dry summers to blame for out-of-season flowers?
While visiting his parents’ New Jersey home in late September, Andrew Goldman noticed something strange: Their crabapple tree was blooming. Goldman, who works with edible plants and lives in Rhode Island, said that the tree typically blooms in April. In the 20 years his family has lived in the house,[…]
Natural disasters cause millions of displacements each year in the U.S. Some people don’t return.
In the fall of 2015, the Valley Fire tore through Lake County in Northern California. Gina Waldon watched from her home in Middletown as the fire raged through the canyons and forests nearby. By the time the fire was contained, Waldon’s home had burned down and her husband’s business was[…]
How can riverside communities prepare for climate-changed flood risk?
Living near the Mississippi River means keeping an eye trained on the water level. That’s something DeAnna Bell in O’Fallon, Illinois, knows all too well. Bell, who was trapped by floodwaters during the record-breaking flood of 1993, has watched again and again as water engulfed her area. In the spring[…]
Boston residents and the Museum of Science map a warming city
Fershid Aspi spent many summer days waiting to cross the street at an intersection in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood. He described the intersection as “barren.” With no trees, but plenty of pavement, the wait became unbearably hot. Barren intersection in Chinatown. Hot spot to wait at the signal. — Fershid Aspi[…]
ISeeChange coastal communities look for answers after a year of record-breaking flooding
In the early 1940s, Suzanne Hornick’s family bought a bit of land in Ocean City, New Jersey where Hornick herself now lives. I’ve been sitting on this same couple square grains of sand my whole life,” she said. “I don’t like any other beach, I’m attached to my own little[…]
How extreme weather threatens people with disabilities
It took Kathlean Wolf a few extra minutes to get ready. She had to put the braces on her feet that allow her to walk. But once ready to go, she was winding through tall grasses of the marshy stormwater swale across from her apartment on the east side of[…]
As allergy seasons worsen, children face increased health risks
This spring, tree pollen season in Spring Hope, North Carolina, hit harder than any Vicky Autrey can remember. Large clouds of green pine pollen drifted past her front porch, over-the-counter allergy medicines failed to quell symptoms, and her 1-year-old grandson had trouble breathing. “His allergy attack was so bad, he[…]
How a wet 2018 primed the central U.S. for flooding this spring
From his home in Hudson, Iowa, Zach Van Stanley watched as the snow-covered cornfield in his backyard flooded on March 14. “It basically turned into a river in just that afternoon,” he said. Flooding, from a combination of near-record snowfall melting and from rain. — Zach Van Stanley Van Stanley[…]
Year in Review 2018: From droughts to floods
In many ways ISeeChange in 2018 was either a story of precipitation or lack thereof. Floods, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires impacted communities across the globe. In the U.S., ISeeChangers revealed a widening gap between east and west. In the winter, western states were warm and dry, while east of the[…]
Searching for the city trees of the future in Southern California
When the Santa Ana winds start gusting in Southern California, the air blows hot and dry and the risk of wildfire skyrockets. But in Tesia Villegas’ neighborhood in Covina, California the wind’s first blast in mid-October was startling and unusual, with trees and branches crashing to the ground. “One of[…]
The race to slow stormwater and predict future rain
High on a hill above the village of Cross Plains, Wisconsin the rain came down in sheets against the windows of the house where I was staying. As I listened to the wind thrash tree branches, I’d never been more grateful to be on high ground. After a few hours[…]
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