Climate in Crisis

More than 60 million people are under ‘heat alert’ with cities in the Northeast seeing their warmest temperatures in a decade. Dallas has now topped triple digits 40 times this year; double the annual average. With the ever-changing climate, more communities are being displaced like those of the Chocktaw Nation who received $50 million in a federal grant to help more to higher ground.

“A lot of people are going primitive,” a survivor said. “They’re just sitting on their porch, hoping somebody’s coming to save them.”

"We did not anticipate massive amounts of rainwater, nor were we prepared as a community," the coroner said.

California is in a state of emergency as the McKinney Fire rips through the Klamath National Forest and expanded rapidly over the weekend. It is now the largest wildfire in California in 2022 and is raging towards the Oregon border. Firefighters are struggling to save anything they can as homes and trees are being destroyed. The fire spans more than 85 square miles and has already claimed two lives.

Kentucky is recovering following a historic flash flood catastrophe. Rescuers are still uncovering the layers of death and misery as they continue to search the area. The death toll is now at 37 and is expected to increase, according to officials. Many in the area still have no power or drinkable water. Since last week, eastern Kentucky has received five to ten inches of rain and tonight more heavy rain is in the forecast.

Union representatives around the country say they’re worried about the number of UPS workers who have needed medical treatment for heat illness this summer.

A week of extreme weather events – including wildfires, a heatwave and deadly floods – is spurring discussions of climate change's impact on natural disasters. One expert says that the magnitude of these extreme events goes beyond what we anticipated. The Earth has warmed almost two degrees since 1880, with most of the warming happening since 1975.

“This new era of heat is particularly dangerous because most homes are not equipped for it there,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

A storm that soaked St. Louis this week is now causing flash flooding and mudslides in much of Kentucky. The area is now filled with total devastation and the death toll is expected to hit double digits. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is declaring a state of emergency. Recovery efforts have been complicated by the storm’s strength. Over 25,000 people lost power and cell coverage was wiped throughout the region.

As Kentucky experiences devastating flooding, Governor Andy Beshear tells NBC News’ Lester Holt that at least eight people have died and that they are expecting the death toll to rise to double digits. The governor went on to say that “hundreds of Kentucky families are going to lose everything.”

The legislation, called the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” provides $369 billion for climate and clean energy provisions, the most aggresive climate investment ever taken by Congress.