Hurricane Katrina ripped into the Gulf Coast in August 2005, devastating entire cities and hitting Black communities like those in low-lying New Orleans parishes especially hard.

Officials estimated that 3,000 people died in the aftermath of the catastrophic storm that dropped nearly a quarter of the Puerto RicoвЂ™s annual rainfall in one day and unleashed maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. In the future, we can expect to see more hurricanes along the lines of Hurricane Laura and 2017вЂ™s Hurricane Maria, which devastated the islands of Dominica, the U.S. The Category 4 storm caused catastrophic damage to structures and suspected chemical fires among the region's petrochemical plants. Hurricane Laura rapidly gained strength over the nearly 90вЏ waters of the Gulf of Mexico. One of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States struck the Gulf Coast in August 2020. Hurricanes are growing more powerful as global temperatures rise because these storm systems draw their energy from warm ocean water. Experts are warning that widespread drought across the West will fuel another dangerous fire season in 2021. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have also seen explosive fires that have forced thousands to evacuate, claimed lives, and destroyed homes and businesses. The Camp Fire in 2018 - CaliforniaвЂ™s most destructive, and deadliest, wildfire in history - destroyed an average of one football field worth of land every three seconds and killed 68 people, according to Cal Fire.ДЄnd itвЂ™s not just California. The five largest fires on record in California have occurred in the last three years. With record dry, hot conditions across the state, seasonal high winds (known as Diablo in Northern California and Santa Ana in the southern part of the state) caused destructive wildfires to grow and spread at an unprecedented rate.Д¬alifornia wildfires burned more than 4 million acres in 2020 - an area larger than Connecticut - making 2020 the biggest fire season in state history. In recent years, California has become ground zero for meteorological turmoil. However, as this region grows hotter and drier, wildfires are growing in size, ferocity, and speed. Wildfires have always been a natural part of life in the western United States. Read on to learn more, find out what Earthjustice is doing to help the planet change course, and how you can help. Experts warn that we are running out of time to dramatically cut pollution to avoid climate catastrophe. That spike in global temperatures is fueling climate disasters that will only get worse unless we take action. Over the past century, massive increases in carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions have caused the temperature on our planet to rise. When fossil fuels are burned for electricity, heat, and transportation, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation, is released into our atmosphere. Human activity is causing rapid changes to our global climate that are contributing to extreme weather conditions. Across the globe, extreme weather is becoming the new normal.ДЇrom season to season and year to year, weather events that were once rare occurrences are now increasingly commonplace.

Easy weather change