Center News

Tell us about your mental health struggles amid COVID-19, other disasters

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We’re digging into the stressful toll of wildfires, hurricanes and floods — and now COVID-19 on top of them. We need your help. Every year, weather-related disasters ravage communities across the United States, creating scenes traumatic and, increasingly, familiar. Deadly firestorms throughout the West. Historic floods in the Farm Belt. Catastrophic hurricanes with record rains in the South and along the East Coast.

Iowa flooding

News Quiz: Flooding Trends In Iowa

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An analysis of rainfall patterns in Iowa, revealed in a 2014 White House National Climate Assessment report, showed a significant increase in the number of days with heavy rainfall, despite no increase in total annual precipitation. This was before heavy rainfall across the state and Midwest in 2019 but already showing cities across Iowa sustaining multi-million dollar losses from floods over the past two decades. This U.S. Geological Survey map has up-to-date information on flooding across the country. The map showed multiple spots for flooding in the Midwest in June 2019. We’ve revived and updated a news quiz about Iowa’s flooding history because of its pertinence in summer 2019.

climate change

Report: Public Filings Lack Enough Information On Climate Change Risks

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Investors may not know the risks climate-related events could have on companies based on public filings, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found. The Securities and Exchange Commission reviews filings to make sure that companies follow federal securities laws in disclosing information to investors. In 2010, the SEC issued guidance on how climate-related information should be disclosed in public filings. But the oversight office cannot fully review the climate-related risks companies disclose in public filings because of inadequate information, according to the independent report publicly released March 22. “When companies report climate-related disclosures in varying formats and specificity, SEC reviewers and investors may find it difficult to compare and analyze related disclosures across companies’ filings,” the GAO reported.

Antarctica

News Quiz: Perspectives on Climate Change

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According to a Pew Research Center survey, 22 percent of U.S. adults say climate change is due to natural patterns and one-quarter believe there is no solid evidence Earth is getting warmer, despite a large consensus in the scientific community. A recent national survey and an informal state survey conducted by IowaWatch, working with the Cedar Falls High School Tiger Hi-Line, show this conflict also plays out in the classroom. Check your knowledge of recent research on climate change and how climate change is taught.

News Quizzes

News Quiz: Iowa Flooding

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According to a 2014 White House National Climate Assessment report, an analysis of rainfall patterns in Iowa shows a significant increase in the number of days with heavy rainfall, despite no increase in total annual precipitation. Major cities across Iowa have suffered multi-million dollar losses from floods over the past two decades. Do you know some of the history and facts behind flooding in Iowa?