Tag Archive for: Wildfires

A Drier Future Sets The Stage For More Wildfires

/in , , /by /Science Daily (Rockville, MD)

November 8, 2018 was a dry day in Butte County, California. The state was in its sixth consecutive year of drought, and the county had not had a rainfall event producing more than a half inch of rain for seven months. The dry summer had parched the spring vegetation, and the strong northeasterly winds of autumn were gusting at 35 miles per hour and rising, creating red flag conditions: Any planned or unplanned fires could quickly get out of control.

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Wildfire Panel Recommends Extending Safeguards to Water Agencies

/in , , /by /Ventura County Starby Arlene Martinez

When the Thomas Fire reached Ventura city limits early on Dec. 5, 2017, a critical tool to help curb the flames quickly disappeared: water.

Some of the more than 500 people who ultimately lost their homes sued Ventura over that lack of water, though they later directed their energy at Southern California Edison, which investigators found caused the fire.

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Liability Law Could Burn Water Districts

/in , /by /CALmatters (Sacramento)by Dan Morain

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is in bankruptcy largely because of wildfire costs. Now, water districts are seeking protection against California’s fire-related liability law, believing their financial stability is at risk even if their actions and operations had nothing to do with causing a fire.

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California Areas Torched By Wildfires Face New Dangers—Flooding and Mudslides

/in , /by /Time Magazineby Tara Law

The rain that’s forecasted for later this week may give California some much-needed relief from the deadly and destructive wildfires plaguing the state. But too much sudden rainfall may pose its own dangers for land that has been burned. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the Butte County area, which is fighting the Camp Fire, for Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning. The warning states that there’s a chance of heavy rain which could trigger “flash floods, rockslides and/or debris flows” in a areas near the fire.

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California Fires, Floods, Droughts: “It’s Getting More Real Now” Jerry Brown Says In Climate Interview

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Paul Rogers

California Gov. Jerry Brown has made renewable energy and climate change a centerpiece of his final term, which ends in January. This week, he co-hosts the “Global Climate Action Summit”in San Francisco. Thousands of scientists, political leaders, business representatives and celebrities from around the globe are arriving all week for the event, which is designed to continue momentum at local levels — despite indifference from the Trump administration — to expand renewable energy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say are warming the planet and leading to more wildfires, heat waves, droughts, floods and other problems. Brown discussed the issues in an interview with Paul Rogers, resources and environment writer for the Bay Area News Group.

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Fire, Water And Trump’s Tweets

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, Calif.)by Scott Soriano

On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump made his first Twitter statement on California’s summer fire season, which started on June 1. Unlike his statement on last year’s Wine Country fires, when the president tweeted condolences to victims of the fires and support for the firefighters, Trump used these latest natural disasters to troll California with nonsense. At 10:43 a.m., Trump tweeted, “Governor Jerry Brown must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Can be used for fires, farming and everything else. Think of California with plenty of Water –Nice! Fast Federal govt. approvals.”

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This NASA Image Shows How California’s Wildfires Are Affecting The Atmosphere

/in , /by /CNBCby Catherine Clifford

As wildfires continue to burn in California, NASA has released a visualization that illustrates one of the ways in which the fires are affecting the atmosphere. NASA’s Earth Observatory, the arm of the space agency that shares with the public images of the Earth and its climate, created the map (embedded above, and below with captions) which shows aerosols in the atmosphere. Aerosols are the solid particles and liquid droplets in the air. “If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire, ash erupting from a volcano, or dust blowing in the wind, you have seen aerosols,” says a blog post accompanying the image.

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Expert Views: Managing Wildfires To Protect Water Resources

/in , /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Lindsay Abrams

It’s wildfire season in the American West, and this one has already been setting records: the second-most destructive conflagration in Colorado, the largest-ever wildfire recorded in California and the worst air quality on record in smoky Seattle. Multiple fires continue to ravage the region, threatening homes, lives and, in many cases, water supplies.

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Climate Change Report: California To See 77 Percent More Land Burned

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

This year’s wildfire season is not the worst that California will see. The number of large fires across the state will likely increase by 50 percent by the end of the century while the amount of land that burns annually will rise 77 percent, according to a new, far-reaching state report that seeks to document the impacts of climate change.

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Behind Most Wildfires, A Person And A Spark: ‘We Bring Fire With Us’

/in , /by /The New York Timesby Tim Arango

In the summer of 1965, Johnny Cash was living in the wilderness of Southern California when — possibly high on drugs — he sparked a wildfire with his overheated truck that blazed through more than 500 acres and threatened the lives of endangered condors. When asked by a judge if he started the fire, he said, “my truck did, and it’s dead, so you can’t question it.” (Mr. Cash ended up settling the case for $82,000, or about a half a million in today’s dollars.)

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