Texas just recorded its second hottest summer on record
The average temperature in Texas this summer was 85.3 degrees, putting it behind only 2011 for summer misery. Full Story
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Erin Douglas is the climate reporter for The Texas Tribune based in Austin where she covers the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, drought and hurricanes. Since joining the Tribune in 2020, she has reported on the toll flooding takes on mental health, investigated a chemical fire at an industrial facility, and covered the collapse of Texas’ power grid that led to widespread blackouts across the state. Her coverage of the Texas blackouts in 2021 was recognized by the Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Erin was previously a business and economy reporter at the Houston Chronicle where she covered labor, energy and the environment. She studied journalism and economics at Colorado State University, and her first newsroom job was interning at The Denver Post, her hometown newspaper.
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![Tumbleweeds cling to a barbed wire fence approximately 10 miles north of Brownfield on the Lubbock Road. High winds kicked up a dust storm that blanketed parts of West Texas on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Q&A: How can Texans deal with extreme heat?
We know you’re tired of the heat at this point. Here’s how much longer you can expect it to last and reminders on how to stay safe and cool. Full Story
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![Geoff Bell, a HVAC technician with Texas Pride Air Conditioning and Heating, tests the refrigerant levels in an air conditioning unit during a heat wave Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023 in Houston.]()
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Texas eighth graders will soon be required to learn about climate change. But not without a showdown over textbooks.
Texas is one of the few states that don’t already require eighth graders to be taught about climate change. That’ll change next fall. Full Story
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![State Board of Education Member District 6 Will Hickman poses a question to Commissioner of Education Mike Morath during a hearing Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 at the William B Travis Building in Austin.]()
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One in five Texans lives in a floodplain, state’s first-ever analysis shows
As it prepares a statewide flood prevention plan, the state found that almost 6 million Texans live in an area susceptible to floodwaters. Full Story
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![Sean and Corie Thomason take their sons Carson and Bradly back to their home via kayak on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2017, in Houston. The family stayed with their grandmother after their neighborhood was flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas has already seen 25 chemical emergencies this year. Here’s how to protect yourself during the next one.
Preparing for a chemical incident means knowing which industrial facilities are near you, creating a disaster supply kit and signing up for alerts from local emergency managers ahead of time. Full Story
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![An overhead view of an explosion at a Shell USA Inc. facility on May 5, 2023 in Deer Park.]()
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This summer is on track to be among Texas’ most extreme
June was only the 16th-warmest on record in Texas, but a mid-month heatwave brought an unusually high number of 100-degree days. Full Story
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![TxDOT employee Brad Shepard sweeps the road shoulder clean of the asphalt cold mix he put down while doing edge repairs on Interstate 35 in Austin on August 19th, 2013.]()
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Emergency room visits surge, Texans die amid dangerous heat wave
After weeks of extreme heat, health officials have reported numerous deaths, while emergency departments across the state are seeing record numbers of people seeking treatment for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Full Story
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![Firefighter EMT William Dorsey lifts a migrant woman suffering from heat exhaustion onto a stretcher in the border community of Eagle Pass, Texas on June 26, 2023.]()
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Climate change has sent temperatures soaring in Texas
Hotter days and nights. More record highs. Climate change has shifted the entire range of Texas heat upwards. Full Story
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![Cotton plants grow in a field while a dust storm blows ahead of a late summer thunderstorm Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Terry County, Texas. (Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune)]()
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As Texas swelters, local rules requiring water breaks for construction workers will soon be nullified
Gov. Greg Abbott approved a law this week that will eliminate city and county ordinances like Austin’s and Dallas’ mandated water breaks. Full Story
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![Construction laborers work in Downtown Austin on June 29, 2021.]()
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Abbott appointee resigns as chair of power grid regulator
Public Utility Commission chair Peter Lake had spearheaded a plan to help the state’s power grid withstand weather disasters, but the plan lacked support in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![Public Utility Commission of Texas Chairman Peter Lake speaks at a press conference at the PUCT Headquarters in Austin, on Nov. 29, 2022. The conference spotlighted grid reliability and readiness as Texas approaches winter.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune