Shutterstock“I smell burning. Are you grilling?”
Last summer, record high temps across the country unleashed the Horsemen of the Apocalypse on the country — mostly in the form of catastrophic wildfires, droughts, and superstorms. Hold on to your butts: This summer could be worse. In an effort to know the enemy, we’ve created this Google disaster map to track the scars.
But we’ve only scratched the surface: That’s where you come in. We’ve deliberately left this map open to the public so you, the informed Grist reader, can log heat-related mishaps in your ‘hood. A few rules: Add links, sources, and photos where you can — and keep it clean. (Your soaked underwear tally does not count as a national emergency.) Never mucked with a Google Map before? Learn more about how here.
(Illustrations by Susie Cagle.)
Susie Cagle
We’ll resurface this map as notable incidents hit — and when things cool down in autumn (oh, Decemberish). We hope to have a complete, geolocated picture of every incident that made this The Awful Summer That Was (or Wasn’t, if this climate thing blows over).
