Nation Aug 05 Health care workers battle Louisiana’s COVID-19 surge, low vaccination rates Right now, Louisiana has the nation’s highest per-capita infections, driven in large part by the extremely contagious delta variant. At the same time, Louisiana also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, and this week Gov. John…
Nation Jul 29 Idaho ranchers torn between hunting and deterrents for gray wolves harming their livestock The grey wolf was once nearly hunted to extinction in the U.S. until the federal government put it on the endangered species list in 1974. 20 years later, it was successfully reintroduced to Idaho and Yellowstone. As pack numbers grew,…
Nation Jul 20 West U.S. wildfires are so extreme that they’re creating lightning, fire whirls More than 80 large fires are burning in 13 states across the U.S. currently, impacting nearly 1.3 million acres. One of the worst remains in Southern Oregon — the Bootleg Fire. It has been burning for two weeks and has…
Nation Jul 20 Californians scramble for fresh water as taps, wells run dry The severe drought across the Western U.S. is already causing long term problems, exacerbated by the warming atmosphere driven by climate change. As William Brangham reports from California’s San Joaquin Valley, the demand for water has threatened the drinking supply…
World Jul 16 Climate models predicted extreme weather fluctuations. Can the damage be reversed? In western Germany this week, whole cities seem to be underwater after days of heavy rainfall filled rivers to capacity and quickly turned into flash flooding. As parts of Europe dig out of this latest weather disaster, the European Union…
Nation Jul 13 Oregon Bootleg Fire, nation’s largest, keeps doubling in size National Interagency Fire Center reports more than 65 major fires in Western U.S. states that have burned close to a million acres so far. Thousands have fled their homes. The largest fire in the country is in Southern Oregon, and…
Health Jul 12 Is the Pfizer booster shot necessary to beat the delta variant? An expert weighs in Pfizer's recent push to add a booster shot to its COVID-19 vaccination protocol seems to be at odds with what many people understood about the drug's effectiveness. And, as William Brangham reports, it has also prompted real concern among healthcare…
Nation Jul 09 Heatwaves are becoming more common. Here’s how the U.S. must plan for them Extreme heat and drought are baking the Western U.S. and Canada again this week, following hundreds of heat-related deaths in the Pacific Northwest last week. Record-breaking temperatures are expected to return to California over the weekend, including in the San…
Nation Jul 06 Surfside investigator on uncovering the collapse’s ‘trigger’ and what earlier reports mean There are still many questions about what happened at the Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida. Earlier warnings regarding needed repair work are prompting questions about the original design and construction, and whether cost concerns eclipsed risk concerns. William Brangham discusses…
Nation Jun 29 Highly contagious delta variant on path to become dominant strain in the U.S. The U.S. is in a far better place this summer than many other countries witnessing new COVID cases. But the delta variant of the virus — now expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S. — is posing serious…