Natural Disaster

The Himalayas, often called the “Third Pole,” are the lifeblood of South Asia. Home to some of the world’s largest glaciers, these mountains supply fresh water to rivers that sustain nearly two billion people. But climate change is accelerating the melting of Himalayan glaciers, threatening the region’s water supplies, agriculture, and energy systems. The warming climate is also making the mountain environment increasingly unstable.

With rescue efforts underway and casualty numbers increasing by the day, many Nepalis in the Capital Region, much like the Nepalis back in Kathmandu, say there is an air of worry and sadness as they watch and wait.

Disasters are big business. Decades ago, meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration started tracking the number of natural disasters in the US – the ones that incurred at least a billion dollars in damages. The numbers have gone up and up. FEMA used to handle 25 major disasters per year on average; in the past decade, the number is 63. FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund averaged $3.4 billion a year in the 90’s and the early years of the new century. Now, annual spending is closer to $16 billion.

The Trump administration decided this year to stop updating a federal database that tracked the cost of extreme weather, compiling an annual list of hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage. The government had maintained that database since the 1990s, with data going back to 1980. Evidently, this information was deemed to be unimportant, or at least inconvenient.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in western Massachusetts history. Late in the afternoon of June 1st, 2011, a…

Disasters are by their very nature hard to predict. Pandemics, earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises, and wars are not normally distributed; there is…

Monumental sculptures representing natural disasters caused by human activity create a forceful presence in the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute…

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the “hot” moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan often…

Our Falling into Place series spotlights the important work of -and fosters collaboration between- not-for-profit organizations in our communities;…

The 13th Annual Berkshire International Film Festival will showcase 80 of the latest independent feature, documentary, short and family films from 28…