For the first time since its construction in the 1930s, the federal government has formally declared a water shortage at Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir by volume, on the Colorado River.
Why it matters: The declaration, issued by the Bureau of Reclamation, sets in motion a series of water allocation cuts to downstream states along the Colorado River.
An intensifying Tropical Storm Fred struck the Florida Panhandle Monday afternoon, making landfall at 3:15 p.m. ET, with a damaging coastal storm surge, high winds and heavy rains that could extend all the way north into the Mid-Atlantic region.
The big picture: Meanwhile, poorly organized tropical depression Grace continues to dump rain across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, complicating earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. It appears destined to enter the Gulf of Mexico.
The death toll from last week's severe flooding and mudslides in northern Turkey has risen to at least 70, with 47 people still unaccounted for, AP reports.
The big picture: Torrential rains in the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday caused flooding and mudslides that destroyed homes and buildings — prompting more than 2,400 people to be evacuated across the region.
"The climate is f’d. Even worse than it seems." That's from the opening page of a 12-page letter sent by venture capitalist Chris Sacca to potential investors in Lowercarbon Capital, the climate-focused firm he launched last year after a brief retirement.
What's new: Lowercarbon, which initially funded more than 50 startups via money from Sacca and his wife Crystal, last week announced that it raised $800 million in outside capital.
Corporate action to tackle climate change ranked among the top themes on S&P 500 companies’ Q2 earnings calls.
Why it matters: July was the hottest month on record. Last week’s UN-sponsored climate report projected the Earth will potentially cross a crucial temperature threshold less than a decade from now.
Luxury cars of the future will give you the choice: Drive or sit back and let the car do the driving.
Driving the news: Audi introduced this fascinating concept car last weekend at Monterey Car Week at Pebble Beach.
The skysphere — spelled with a lowercase "s" — is an electric roadster that transforms into a self-driving vehicle at the push of a button.
In Sport mode, it's an exhilarating sports car — with rear-wheel steering offering added control.
In Grand Touring mode, the steering wheel and pedals swivel out of sight and the chassis actually grows by almost 10 inches, freeing up passengers to stretch out and enjoy the ride.
What's next: It's the first of three autonomous concepts the German luxury carmaker says could arrive this decade. The grandsphere and urbansphere will follow the skysphere.
Grace weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but the threat of flooding and mudslides remains for earthquake-devastated Haiti.
Threat level: Grace was forecast to bring up to 10 inches of rainfall to Haiti and the Dominican Republic by Tuesday, per a National Hurricane Center advisory Monday morning. Its effects were expected to bring heavy rainfall to Florida later this week — which also faces the threat of a restrengthened Tropical Storm Fred.
The death toll from a fuel tank explosion in the Akkar region of northern Lebanon Sunday morning climbed to at least 28 by afternoon, with 79 wounded, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The latest: The Health Ministry declared a state of emergency Sunday to deal with the fallout from the tank explosion. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, per the Wall Street Journal.
Heavy rains across Japan triggered a mudslide and flooding on Sunday, as almost 2 million people were under evacuation orders, per the BBC.
Details: Rescuers found three of the eight people the mudslide had buried in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano on Sunday, but three others were presumed dead, AP reports.
