A team of experts recommended increased effort, coordination and engagement by San Diego agencies and researchers to build climate resilience with attention to disadvantaged communities.
Those areas are particularly susceptible to climate change impacts, according to a report released Thursday.
With a worsening drought gripping the West and wildfire season looming, California is bracing for the most severe heat wave of the year — one that promises to tax the state’s power supplies while also offering a grim preview of challenging months to come.
The heat wave will bring triple-digit temperatures to the valleys and inland regions of Southern California as well as many parts of the rest of the state, heightening fire risks. It comes as parts of Northern and Central California are turning to water restrictions as the drought rapidly alters the landscape.
Rosa Villegas woke up at two in the morning on a late August Monday to make her way to the lettuce fields in California’s south Salinas Valley, where she was scheduled to start bagging heads of romaine at 4 a.m. The sky overhead wasn’t its usual dark, star-dotted self as she walked to her car. Instead, it glowed a sickly red, colored by the fires burning on the flanks of the Santa Lucia mountains, just a few miles west.
California was caught flat-footed by the climate-driven challenges it has faced last week: extreme temperatures, unseasonable lightning strikes, diminishing water supplies and red flag fire conditions. As a result, CalFire was short on firefighters to battle the blazes and the electric utilities had too little power to serve all of their customers at the same time.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved an inaugural automatic aid agreement between its fire department and the San Diego County Fire Authority, under which each agency will lend a hand during wildfires and other emergencies within a few miles of the county line.
It has been a week since a devastating fire ripped through Niland, demoralizing a poor community already suffering from a pandemic quarantine. Douglas Kline, principal of Grace Elementary, Niland’s only school, spoke about the onslaught.
Parts of the West are already in extreme drought ahead of wildfire season, and officials in some areas are worried about an uptick in fire action as more people emerge from coronavirus-related lockdowns and resume outdoor activities like hiking and camping.
On Monday, California fire officials gathered to launch the state’s annual Wildfire Preparedness Week. The message they delivered was clear: Summer 2020 would not mimic summer 2019, when wildfires mostly remained small and manageable into August.
People love the Golden State because of the coastline. There are all sorts of songs about the vibe California embodies — think “California Gurls” by Katy Perry, “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and “California Love” by 2Pac.
But the ocean’s response to climate change is threatening that very identity.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
