Chapter 8 — Climate & disasters (United States)

🌀 Climate & disasters — what strikes AI's infrastructure from outside?

Last updated 2026-09-24 18:01 JST / data confirmed 2026-09-23 / next expected 2026-09-24 (values from /api/health.json)

Earthquakes, hurricanes and extreme heat are the events that can damage data centers, grids and networks all at once — and an AI cannot observe the moment its own facilities fail. This chapter counts those external hazards from official U.S. feeds. Counts of events only: no damages, no casualties, no forecasts.

Latest daily observation: 2026-09-23

UpdatedailyDaily counts and snapshots; same-day values are provisional until the next day's recount

Chapter statusobserving — see why this chapter is not judged

This chapter is observing (no good/bad criterion): observation started 2026-08-30, 3 series, latest confirmed 2026-09-23. Latest final value: active tropical cyclones, TS or stronger 2 (2026-09-23). (Source: USGS; NOAA NHC; NOAA NWS / updated 2026-09-24 18:01 JST)

Latest observations

Active tropical cyclones, TS or stronger (NHC, Atlantic + East/Central Pacific; daily snapshot) Updatedaily

2

Observed 2026-09-23 / retrieved 2026-09-23 18:01 / Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center

provisional Today so far (as of 2026-09-24 18:01): 4 — finalized by tomorrow's recount

Last 26 days / 0-4

Earthquakes M5.0+ per day (UTC; U.S. vicinity bounding box — see definition) Updatedaily

0

Observed 2026-09-23 / retrieved 2026-09-24 18:01 / Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program

Last 29 days / 0-5

Active heat alerts (Excessive Heat Warning + Heat Advisory; daily snapshot) Updatedaily

0

Observed 2026-09-23 / retrieved 2026-09-23 18:01 / Source: NOAA National Weather Service alerts API

provisional Today so far (as of 2026-09-24 18:01): 0 — finalized by tomorrow's recount

Last 26 days / 0-61

A zero means zero events that day; "not yet measured" means missing. Machine-readable: /us/api/disaster_us.json

Observation tables

Question this table answers: what are the values and dates in each row of "Active tropical cyclones, TS or stronger (NHC, Atlantic + East/Central Pacific; daily sn…"? (source or retrieval date on each row)

Active tropical cyclones, TS or stronger (NHC, Atlantic + East/Central Pacific; daily snapshot) (newest first, last 14)

DateValueRetrieved
2026-09-2322026-09-23 18:01
2026-09-2232026-09-22 18:00
2026-09-2132026-09-21 18:01
2026-09-2022026-09-20 18:01
2026-09-1902026-09-19 18:35
2026-09-1802026-09-18 18:01
2026-09-1702026-09-17 18:00
2026-09-1602026-09-16 18:00
2026-09-1502026-09-15 18:01
2026-09-1412026-09-14 18:01
2026-09-1312026-09-13 18:01
2026-09-1212026-09-12 18:00
2026-09-1112026-09-11 18:00
2026-09-1012026-09-10 18:01

Question this table answers: what are the values and dates in each row of "Earthquakes M5.0+ per day (UTC; U.S. vicinity bounding box — see definition)"? (source or retrieval date on each row)

Earthquakes M5.0+ per day (UTC; U.S. vicinity bounding box — see definition) (newest first, last 14)

DateValueRetrieved
2026-09-2302026-09-24 18:01
2026-09-2202026-09-24 18:01
2026-09-2102026-09-24 18:01
2026-09-2012026-09-23 18:00
2026-09-1902026-09-22 18:00
2026-09-1802026-09-21 18:01
2026-09-1712026-09-20 18:01
2026-09-1602026-09-19 18:35
2026-09-1502026-09-18 18:01
2026-09-1402026-09-17 18:00
2026-09-1302026-09-16 18:00
2026-09-1202026-09-15 18:01
2026-09-1112026-09-14 18:01
2026-09-1002026-09-13 18:00

Question this table answers: what are the values and dates in each row of "Active heat alerts (Excessive Heat Warning + Heat Advisory; daily snapshot)"? (source or retrieval date on each row)

Active heat alerts (Excessive Heat Warning + Heat Advisory; daily snapshot) (newest first, last 14)

DateValueRetrieved
2026-09-2302026-09-23 18:01
2026-09-2202026-09-22 18:01
2026-09-2112026-09-21 18:01
2026-09-2042026-09-20 18:01
2026-09-19122026-09-19 18:35
2026-09-1892026-09-18 18:01
2026-09-17142026-09-17 18:00
2026-09-16172026-09-16 18:00
2026-09-15212026-09-15 18:01
2026-09-14202026-09-14 18:01
2026-09-13122026-09-13 18:01
2026-09-12122026-09-12 18:00
2026-09-1152026-09-11 18:00
2026-09-1062026-09-10 18:01

Candidates (not yet observed) — added to this chapter once verification completes

  • Wildfire (NIFC — large incidents / acres burned) — Endpoint reachable; open-data licence text not yet verified. Added to the profile once verified.

Method, scope, and why this chapter is not judged

  • Mechanical counts only: event counts from official feeds. No damage figures, no casualties, no forecasts, no judgment — the status stays "observing".
  • Regional profile: only hazards in this region's profile (earthquake, hurricane, extreme heat) are shown; wildfire is listed as a candidate until its data licence is verified. Seismic scales differ across countries, so no cross-country comparison.
  • Definitions: earthquakes = USGS events M5.0+ per UTC day inside the stated bounding box (lat 18–72, lon −180 to −66 — "U.S. vicinity"); hurricanes = NHC active storms classified TS or stronger (Atlantic + East/Central Pacific), daily snapshot; heat = active Excessive Heat Warnings + Heat Advisories, daily snapshot.
  • Boundaries: cooling degree days (a continuous load measure) live in the data-center chapter; drought belongs to the planned water chapter; grid operations belong to the electricity chapter. This chapter is only the external hazard events.
  • What this chapter can say: how many M5.0+ earthquakes USGS recorded per UTC day inside the stated U.S.-vicinity bounding box; how many tropical cyclones of tropical-storm strength or stronger the NHC listed as active each day (Atlantic and East/Central Pacific), and how many Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories were active (daily snapshots); which days recorded zero events as opposed to days not yet measured, and which same-day values are still provisional.
  • What this chapter cannot say: what damage, casualties or facility impacts any event caused (counts only); whether a hurricane, earthquake or heat wave will occur (no forecasts); wildfire activity (a candidate until the NIFC licence is verified), or how U.S. hazard levels compare with Japan or the EU (different scales and profiles).
  • Sources: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, NOAA National Hurricane Center, NOAA NWS alerts API — all public domain, no keys. Compiled by AI Lifeline.

Frequently asked questions (what this chapter's data can answer)

Answers are generated from the chapter's machine-readable data (https://ai-lifeline.org/us/api/disaster_us.json); every figure carries its confirmation date and source. Generated 2026-09-24 18:01 JST.

How many M5+ earthquakes, active tropical cyclones and heat alerts were counted on the latest confirmed day?

2026-09-23: earthquakes M5.0+ in the stated U.S. vicinity bounding box 0 (USGS, UTC day); active tropical cyclones TS or stronger 2 (NOAA NHC, Atlantic + East/Central Pacific); active heat alerts 0 (NOAA NWS). Zero means zero events.

Are damages or casualties included?

No. Only mechanical event counts are recorded (definition docs/指標定義_第8章_気候災害.md v1.0, fixed 2026-08-30). Same-day values are provisional until the next day's recount; wildfire is a candidate until its licence is verified.

What is the source and how often is it updated?

USGS, NHC and NWS feeds retrieved daily at 18:00 JST (observation started 2026-08-30). Last updated 2026-09-24 18:01 JST. Machine-readable: https://ai-lifeline.org/us/api/disaster_us.json

What can this data not tell you?

What this chapter cannot say (ledger v1.0, approved 2026-09-05; full text in the method section): What damage, casualties or facility impacts any event caused (counts only); Whether a hurricane, earthquake or heat wave will occur (no forecasts); Wildfire activity (a candidate until the NIFC licence is verified), or how U.S. hazard levels compare with Japan or the EU (different scales and profiles).

How to cite

Suggested citation: AI Lifeline, Climate & disasters (United States edition), data confirmed 2026-09-23, https://ai-lifeline.org/us/disaster/

The machine-readable data is also mirrored daily in the ai-lifeline-data repository (https://github.com/smily990604-hub/ai-lifeline-data , CC BY 4.0; upstream data keeps its own terms). Keep the confirmation date and the source with any figure you quote. Corrections are recorded in /api/corrections.json