• Weather

The Hottest Olympic Competition

• extreme heat
• olympics

It was well known that the Tokyo Olympics would be very hot, but it’s now shaping up to be the hottest games in history, and athletes are paying the price. Athletes have had to be routinely treated for heat exhaustion. A Russian tennis star said he could “die” in the suffocating heat and humidity and a […]

• Weather

One Cool Thing: UAE Launches Cloud-Zapping Drones

• cloud seeding
• UAE

The United Arab Emirates has developed a new solution to mitigate heatwaves and drought. Cloud-zapping drones could be the key to manufacturing rainfall, and testing has already begun. Previous methods of cloud-seeding using salt flares have raised questions about environmental safety, but this new method doesn’t use chemicals. Instead, it zaps clouds with electricity, triggering rain production.   Cloud-seeding has been employed in the […]

• Weather

Flooding in Central China Kills 33, Damages Cultural Heritage Sites

• China
• Flooding
• rain

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer After over a week of sudden natural disasters across the globe, at least 33 people have now died in catastrophic floods in central China. The Henan province is currently facing millions of dollars of damage, and 200,000 evacuees are looking for an end to the nightmare. As the army mobilizes to prevent further flooding, […]

• Weather

Over 45 Dead, 1300 Missing In Catastrophic Western Europe Floods

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Severe flooding in Western Europe has now led to the deaths of 46 people, with 1,300 presumed missing in Germany. The unprecedented floods prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel, currently visiting Washington, DC, to call the event a catastrophe. “Here in Washington, my thoughts are also always with the people […]

• Weather

Wildfires Sweep Western U.S. as Unprecedented Heat Waves Continue

• Forests
• heat dome
• heatwave
• Pacific Northwest

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Wildfires are raging across the Western United States as the summer’s third major heatwave begins sweeping the region. Many of these fires have been burning since early June and are now snowballing, some even doubling in size in a matter of days. Officials say that firefighting teams are competing for resources, and although […]

• Weather

Pacific Northwest Heatwave Threatens Infrastructure, Lives

• heatwave
• Infrastructure
• Oregon
• Portland

In case you're wondering why we're canceling service for the day, here's what the heat is doing to our power cables. pic.twitter.com/EqbKUgCJ3K — Portland Streetcar (@PDXStreetcar) June 27, 2021 by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest took a hit from the record-breaking heatwave sweeping the region. Temperatures in Portland, OR, reached a […]