Blackout

A man is shown in shadow walking past darked machinery.

Blackouts threaten death blow to Venezuela’s industrial survivors

For the past month, unprecedented nationwide blackouts in Venezuela have paralyzed the country’s industrial sector. The number of companies based in Venezuela has fallen to a tenth of the 5,000 there were two decades ago. The blackouts have only made it worse.

A demonstrator stands shirtless nex to a mostly burned rectangular frame during a protest .

Venezuelans set up burning barricades over lack of power, water

Conflict & Justice
Two days after Hurricane Irma, an elderly resident stand in a dark hallway at Cypress Run, an assisted living facility without power, food, or water, in Immokalee, Florida, U.S., September 12, 2017.

How to avoid blackouts in hurricanes? Model power grids after the internet, says one expert.

Technology
New York

When the lights went out in New York City: A tale of two nights

Culture

The Implications of Internet Shutdowns

The Living on Earth Almanac

Facts about… The 20th anniversary of the New York City electricity blackout

Almanac/Lights Out

This week, we have facts about the biggest blackout in the history of the United States. On November 9, 1965 much of the northeast was plunged into darkness when one electrical line near Niagara Falls shut down, starting a massive chain reaction.