Washington Post (September 12)
“After decades of relying on the U.S. security umbrella, many European policymakers are aware that an investment in Ukraine’s security is a down payment on their own. Their efforts are accelerating, but not fast enough to negate the potentially catastrophic fallout of a U.S. withdrawal.”
Tags: Accelerating, Catastrophic, Europe, Fallout, Investment, Policymakers, Relying, Security, Security umbrella, U.S., U.S. withdrawal, Ukraine
New York Times (June 29)
The twin threats of “dangerous heat baking…the Southeast” and “the wildfire smoke filling the skies” in the Midwest “aren’t connected directly. But a common factor is adding to their capacity to cause misery. Human-caused climate change is turning high temperatures that would once have been considered improbable into more commonplace occurrences. And it is intensifying the heat and dryness that fuel catastrophic wildfires, allowing them to burn longer and more ferociously, and to churn out more smoke.”
Tags: Catastrophic, Climate change, Dangerous, Dryness, Heat, Human-caused, Improbable, Intensifying, Misery, Smoke, Temperatures, Wildfire, Wildfires
Reuters (April 25)
The U.S. “standoff over the debt ceiling is a white swan, or an entirely predictable, very frequent event that has the potential to be as catastrophic as its darker sibling.” Arriving at the “deadline without a congressional fix would lead to a calamitous default,” which could “exacerbate the very risks that sparked last month’s bank failures.”
Tags: Bank failures, Calamitous, Catastrophic, Congressional fix, Deadline, Debt ceiling, Default, Exacerbate, Predictable, Risks, Standoff, U.S., White swan
Market Watch (June 27)
“Stock futures are inching higher at the start of the week as investors seemingly cling to newfound optimism that a bond rout is ending, and the Fed’s rate-hike plans will get pruned due to a global slowdown.” There are, of course, no shortage of issues like surging inflation, but Brynne Kelly suspects “the next black swan for markets could be failing power grids and electricity shortages.” These could prove “catastrophic” as we move into the “height of the summer cooling season amid rising temperatures.”
Tags: Black swan, Bond rout, Catastrophic, Electricity, Fed, Inflation, Investors, Kelly, Markets, Optimism, Power grids, Rate hike, Shortages, Slowdown, Stock futures, Summer
Boston Globe (April 25)
“Say it loud, say it clear: Donald Trump needs to resign over his handling of the coronavirus.” With about 4% of the world’s population, the U.S. has so far “had about one-third of all global coronavirus cases and one-quarter of the fatalities.” The “catastrophic failure” is largely due to President Trump. This is “not just the catalog of screw-ups…. It’s that Trump represents an ongoing danger to the health and well-being of the American people.”
Tags: Catastrophic, Coronavirus, Failure, Fatalities, Health, Ongoing danger, Resign, Screw-ups, Trump, U.S., Well-being, World
The Guardian (June 11)
“The worst possible Brexit, a potentially catastrophic no-deal, now looks increasingly possible—just at the very moment when the G7 debacle shows the vital importance of international cooperation. The Brexit project is like a clapped-out car wobbling and wheezing towards the finishing line next year with wheels and bits of bodywork falling off as the line approaches…. There is still time to dump the car.”
Tags: Brexit, Catastrophic, Cooperation, G7 debacle, No-deal, Wheezing, Wobbling
Washington Post (May 11)
“Lord save the world…. President Trump is making rash and risky moves that promise either brilliant success or catastrophic failure. The odds aren’t great, “given that it’s Trump we’re dealing with.”
San Francisco Chronicle (October 9)
“California’s fire season took an apocalyptic turn for too many Sunday as fierce winds and hot, dry air fanned more than a dozen Wine Country fires…. At least 1,500 structures and 10 lives were lost, scores were injured and tens of thousands evacuated, and smoke settled thickly over the Bay Area and beyond.” While containment remains the most urgent matter, “the latest catastrophic wildfires are also a policy problem that should motivate redoubled prevention and mitigation measures.”
Tags: Apocalyptic, California, Catastrophic, Evacuated, Fire, Mitigation, Prevention, Smoke, Wildfires, Winds, Wine Country
New York Times (March 28)
“The recent attacks in Belgium and elsewhere would have been catastrophic if the terrorists had gotten their hands on nuclear weapons or even a primitive ‘dirty bomb,’ which combines nuclear material with conventional explosives. International efforts to prevent access to such weapons have made significant progress in recent years, but there is still a long way to go.”
Tags: Attacks, Belgium, Catastrophic, Dirty bomb, Explosives, Nuclear weapons, Progress, Terrorists, Weapons
USA Today (December 16)
“For 22 years, the nations of the world have been discussing ways to prevent catastrophic damage to the Earth’s climate caused by emissions of greenhouse gases…. About the best that can be said for the accord announced in Peru on Sunday, after two weeks of talks among nearly 200 nations, is that even a weak deal is better than no deal.”
Tags: Accord, Catastrophic, Climate, Damage, Deal, Earth, Emissions, Greenhouse gases, Peru, Prevent, World
