Historic wildfires have forced over 50% of people living in Canada's Northwest Territories to evacuate this week and are threatening multiple cities in British Columbia's third-largest metropolitan area.
Why it matters: Thousands of people across Canada have been displaced in recent days as the severity of the country's worst wildfire season on record continued to grow.
For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency's list of priority enforcement areas for the years ahead includes climate change.
Why it matters: The inclusion, in the agency's final fiscal 2024-2027 plans, is the latest offshoot of the Biden administration's focus on global warming.
States, cities and counties across the country — led by California — are setting up "clean air centers," where residents can find respite from wildfire smoke and other airborne pollutants.
But traveling to them could expose people to the very hazards they're escaping.
The U.S. electric grid is outdated and overtaxed, and it's only growing more vulnerable under the pressures of soaring demand, extreme weather and climate change.
A "dangerous," intensifying heat wave was forecast to bring numerous daily high record temperatures in the Central and Southeast U.S. from Friday and expand to much of the Lower 48 states by next week.
The big picture: An estimated 67 million-plus people were under extreme heat alerts Friday, as the NWS' Weather Prediction Center warned the Central Plains and Texas were at greatest immediate risk of experiencing record temperatures Friday and Saturday.
Maui Emergency Management Agency's top official resigned Thursday after facing criticism over the response to Hawai'i's catastrophic wildfires that have killed at least 111 people.
Driving the news: Herman Andaya cited "health reasons" as he resigned as the agency's administrator with immediate effect, per a Maui County statement.
Wildfires burning around Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, forced the city's government to order the evacuation of thousands of people on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Why it matters: The blazes around Yellowknife were among more than 1,000 fires burning across Canada on Thursday morning during its worst wildfire season on record.
Power companies and grid operators increasingly risk financial calamity from natural disasters, with challenges intensified by operational hurdles, soaring costs and the effects of climate change.
Why it matters: The utility industry was once thought of as virtually impervious to financial disaster — a surefire investment bound to deliver steady returns.
In the wake of the devastating Hawai'i wildfires, many businesses that typically cater to the islands' tourism sector have pivoted to focus on relief efforts for locals.
Wildfires in Northern California near the border with Oregon have triggered evacuation orders and road closures in rural communities, as a record heat wave envelopes the Pacific Northwest.
The big picture: Red flag warnings and heat alerts were in effect as firefighters battled 20 wildfires that lightning from thunderstorms ignited Monday in the Klamath National Forest, as Redding, Northern, Calif., hit a daily record high of 112°F Wednesday.
