Today in one sentence: California, Arizona, and Nevada agreed to reduce their water use from the Colorado River to help keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from falling to critically low levels; the World Meteorological Organization reported that weather- and climate-related disasters have killed more than 2 million people and caused economic damage of $4.3 trillion over the last half-century; a third of the global population will live in dangerously hot conditions by 2080 if average global temperatures remain on track to rise 2.7C in the last two decades of the century; the NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida; the FBI violated their own standards more than 278,000 times when using a warrantless surveillance program to investigate people; and 35% of Americans said their financial situation was worse off compared to a year ago.

1/ California, Arizona, and Nevada agreed to reduce their water use from the Colorado River to help keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from falling to critically low levels. Under the agreement, the states will voluntarily conserve 3 million acre-feet of water until 2026 – about 13% of those states’ total allocation from the river – in exchange for $1.2 billion in federal funding. The deal comes as the water levels in the Colorado River, Lake Mead, and Lake Powell have declined to their lowest levels on record during the 23 year megadrought. The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people, 30 tribal nations, and roughly 5.5 million acres of farmland across seven states. The electricity generated by dams at Lake Mead and Lake Powell also provide power to millions of homes and businesses across eight states. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Los Angeles Times / NPR / ABC News / CNBC / Wall Street Journal)

2/ The World Meteorological Organization reported that weather- and climate-related disasters have killed more than 2 million people and caused economic damage of $4.3 trillion over the last half-century. 90% of the those 2 million deaths occurred in developing countries. The WMO tallied nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate, and water-related events during that time. (NBC News / Axios)

3/ A third of the global population will live in dangerously hot conditions by 2080 if average global temperatures remain on track to rise 2.7C in the last two decades of the century, according to researchers from Exeter University’s Global Systems Institute. Under the current projections, India, Nigeria, and Indonesia would suffer the worst impact, with 600 million, 300 million and 100 million people respectively living in dangerously hot areas. However, if global warming is limited to 1.5C, it would reduce the number of people affected to 90 million in India, 40 million in Nigeria, and 5 million in Indonesia. (Bloomberg)

4/ The NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida, warning that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s “aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools” have turned the state into an “openly hostile” place for people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The travel advisory comes four months after Florida rejected the College Board’s new Advanced Placement course in African American studies and warns travelers that “the governor and the state of Florida have shown that African Americans are not welcome in the state of Florida.” (NPR / Washington Post / New York Times / USA Today / Associated Press / Politico)

5/ The FBI violated their own standards more than 278,000 times when using a warrantless surveillance program to investigate people suspected of participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection, the George Floyd protests, and donors to a congressional candidate whose campaign was a possible “target of foreign influence.” The candidate involved was not elected to Congress. FBI officials, however, say they’ve already fixed the issue by tightening restrictions to the warrantless surveillance program. The improper searches were blamed on a misunderstanding between FBI analysts and Justice Department lawyers about how to properly use the program. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires at the end of this year unless Congress reauthorizes the surveillance tool. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NBC News / CBS News / Politico)

poll/ 35% of Americans said their financial situation was worse off compared to a year ago – the highest level since 2014. 73% said they were doing okay financially in 2022 – down 5 percentage points from 2021. (Axios)

poll/ 33% of Americans said they approve of Biden’s handling of the economy. (Associated Press)

Three years ago today: Day 1219: "Petulant child."
Four years ago today: Day 853: Cover-up.
Five years ago today: Day 488: Too inconvenient.