Some of the wealthiest people in America—in Silicon Valley, New York, and beyond—are getting ready for the crackup of civilization.

Over the weekend, the Thomas fire reemerged with a vengeance, pushing into Santa Barbara County and destroying more homes. By Brittny Mejia, Alene Tchekmedyian, Ruben Vives, Joseph Serna.

The U.S. excels at delivering international humanitarian relief. But FEMA has a different mission.

More than a week after the Thomas fire ignited in Ventura County, firefighters are in a race to protect the pristine coastal communities of Santa Barbara County before a shift in powerful winds forecast for this weekend. By Joseph Serna, Javier Panzar, Matt Hamilton.

The Skirball fire, which destroyed homes and forced the evacuation of a large chunk of Bel-Air, has put the homeless issue at the forefront of community debate. By Makeda Easter and Gale Holland.

When a Trillion Locusts Ate Everything in Sight. By Caroline Fraser.

Over the thousands of miles traversed on a weeks-long road trip that started in Nova Scotia and passed through Simi Valley, Florida ret...

Molly Crabapple spent a week in Puerto Rico, documenting grassroots efforts by communities to rebuild. Here are excerpts from her sketchbook.

Data sheds light on violent chain reactions started by volcanic eruptions 2,200 years ago. By Annalee Newitz.

In this article, Stuart Cosgrove reflects upon the Meethotamulla garbage dump disaster in Colombo, earlier this year. It was, he argues, the consequence of rampant capitalist development that pays little heed to environmental consequence, and which presents as much danger as it does opportunity to the world’s poor. 

The Tanaf base in Syria’s southeastern desert had been, in some tellings, a key front in the U.S. campaign to roll back Iranian influence in the Middle East. By Sam Heller. (Nov. 20, 2017)

More than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has yet to reach consensus on what to do with a million tons of radioactive water, stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks that could spill should another major earthquake or tsunami strike.

Two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, aid remained a bureaucratic quagmire, mismanaged by FEMA, the FBI, the US military, the laughably corrupt local government. The island looked like it was stuck somewhere between the nineteenth century and the apocalypse. But leftists, nationalists, socialists—the anarchist and feminist Louisa Capetillo’s sons and daughters—were stepping up to rebuild their communities. Natural disasters have a way of clarifying things. They sweep away once-sturdy delusions, to reveal old treasures and scars. By Molly Crabapple.

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed thousands in Japan. Those left behind were haunted by the dead, and some were possessed by them. By Richard Lloyd Parry.

Distressed Puerto Rico is being made to take a loan out to perform constitutionally mandated tasks of the government. By Vijay Prashad.

"We cannot be silent while millions of people continue to endure these conditions."

Two explosions tore through a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital on Thursday, killing at least 47 people and injuring dozens. It was one of Indonesia’s worst industrial disasters and is likely to cast a new spotlight on lax afety standards in the Southeast Asian country, where rules are often ignored or weakly enforced.

Weeks after the island of Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, huge swaths of the territory are still without power, running water, or transportation. But the governor of Puerto Rico is trying an innovative approach… By Joe Zieja. [Satire]

10,000 photos of a charred neighborhood, stitched together. By Samantha Cole.

In 1942 Alfred Hitchcock recruited the author of Our Town, Thornton Wilder, to write the screenplay for Shadow of a Doubt, an innocence-versus-evil thriller set in an ‘idyllic American town’. After considering various candidates, Hitchcock and Wilder selected Santa Rosa... By Mike Davis.