disasters

Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and was twice as costly as any previous hurricane — in addition to more than 1,000 deaths, it caused over $80 billion in damages in the United States. Three years later Hurricane Ike inflicted nearly $30 billion in damages in the U.S. The frequency and size of such storms has raised questions about a possible connection between climate change and economic losses from weather disasters.

As Anglo-American settlers moved across North America, they had a significant impact on the land, clearing trees, expanding agriculture and building towns. As settlement expanded, forest fires — once an integral part of the natural world — were systematically suppressed. This practice had consequences when fires did break out, as they seemed to be increasingly large and severe.