Texas Floods Reveal Limitations of Disaster Forecasting Under Climate Crisis
The Morning Buzz: July 7, 2025
1. Texas Floods Reveal Limitations of Disaster Forecasting Under Climate Crisis
At The Guardian, Eric Holthaus covers the catastrophic flash flooding that struck Texas’s Hill Country in the early hours of July 4, with more than 10 inches of rain falling in just three hours. The flooding has claimed nearly 70 lives, including children attending a summer camp along the Guadalupe River, and hundreds have been rescued from rising waters. Although the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning on Thursday, followed by an emergency alert an hour before waters began surging, the scale and speed of the flooding were far beyond predictions. Experts say the event underscores the growing difficulty of forecasting extreme weather amid the intensifying effects of climate change. According to PRRI data, a little over one-quarter of Americans (27%) say that climate change is a crisis.
2. Musk Says He’s Forming a New Political Party After Split With Trump Over Tax Cuts Law
For The Associated Press, Michelle L. Price reports that Elon Musk has threatened to form a new political party called the “America Party” in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cuts and spending package that was signed into law on Friday. While it is unclear whether Musk has taken the steps to formally create the new political party, Musk took to X on Sunday to discuss how his new party will get involved in the 2026 midterm elections. Musk’s threat to form a political party comes as a reversal from May, when he announced he would be spending a “lot less” time on politics after stepping away from his role in the White House. According to PRRI’s survey on Americans’ attitudes 100 days into the Trump administration, a majority of Americans (58%) have an unfavorable opinion of Elon Musk.
3. Activists, Nashville Christian Music Stars Push to Save PEPFAR
For Religion News Service, Bob Smietana describes a June concert headlined by Grammy Award-winning artist Amy Grant to rally support for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. In 2003, President George W. Bush established the program, which is credited with saving 26 million lives worldwide, with support from a range of Christian leaders. Today, however, as the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid funding threaten PEPFAR, far fewer Christian leaders are speaking out. PRRI’s 2023 survey of mainline Protestant clergy found almost eight in ten (79%) agree with the statement “Congregations should get involved in social issues, even if that means having challenging conversations about politics.”
4. Gen Z Women Are Booking Convents Instead of Beach Houses This Summer
For VICE Magazine, Ashley Fike writes that some Gen Z women are increasingly swapping traditional summer beach trip vacations for silent retreats at convents and monasteries — a new trend that some are calling “vow-of-silence summer.” For many young women, these retreats are providing healing through structure and spiritual solitude, offering relief from burnout, digital life, and the pressures of modern dating. The trend has gained momentum on TikTok, where users are sharing their experiences and inspiring others to seek out these quiet, restorative escapes. PRRI research finds that Gen Z adults score higher than older generations on the negative emotions scale, which measures the emotional state of Americans by focusing on markers of depression, anxiety, loneliness, anger, and hopefulness.
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Read the full Survey Report: The Faith Factor in Climate Change: How Religion Impacts American Attitudes on Climate and Environmental Policy
Also limits of disaster funding!!!!’