Trees toppling onto above-ground power lines
spark wildfires, more than 1,000 of them in the
last decade in California alone. The wires snap
in blizzards and hurricanes, causing dayslong
outages. Everywhere, power poles topple in all
kinds of disasters, blocking escape routes.
Around the U.S., dealing with the vulnerability
of overhead power lines — one of many
problems that experts say will only get worse as
the climate deteriorates — by burying them or
strengthening them is spotty and disorganized
ona nationallevel,andpainfullyslow,atbest.ABOVE-GROUND POWER LINES GROW IN RISK AS CLIMATE CHANGES
Image: Mark Ralston