Where the sea wall ends | Interactive Feature – the Washington Post
At a time of fast-rising seas, the ocean is eating away at this barrier island and others like it. But humans, who have held their ground here for over a century, are planning new condos…
The surprising reasons thunderstorms are more destructive than ever – the Washington Post
There were a record-setting 28 billion-dollar disasters last year, causing $94 billion in damage. Thunderstorm events accounted for 19 of those disasters, and more than half of the costs. A decade earlier, seven thunderstorm events topped $1 billion in damage…
Brutal heat swells across Texas as many remain without power in Houston – the Washington Post
Heat-related illness is a growing danger for those without air-conditioning after last Thursday’s violent storms. South Texas will also see extreme heat….
Venice Isn’t Alone: 7 Sinking Cities Around the World – How Stuff Works
Many big cities sit near the ocean. They became cities in the first place because their ports facilitated trade and travel by sea.
Coastal cities all over the world are sinking — a geological process called subsidence — and it’s happening at a rate that makes scientists nervous. If these bits of land didn’t have important cities on them, it’s likely nobody would notice, or, in some cases, that they wouldn’t be sinking at all…
The ‘Ike Dike’ is the Army Corps of Engineers’ largest project ever. It may not be big enough – Grist Magazine
In September 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, Texas, as a Category 4 storm with around 20 feet of storm surge…In the aftermath of the storm, Texas officials searched for a way to protect Houston from similar events in the future, and they soon settled on an ambitious project that came to be known as the “Ike Dike” …
Shelter from the Storm – Science
A plan to wall off Houston and nearby industry from flooding caused by hurricanes will cost tens of billions of dollars. Will it be enough?
Plans for one of the world’s biggest and most expensive flood barriers were born in a second-floor apartment here in this city on the Gulf of Mexico, as water 4 meters deep filled the street below. In September 2008, Bill Merrell, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University, Galveston, was trapped with his wife, daughter, grandson, and “two annoying chihuahuas…”