Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI (but can be posted at other times). This week it appears just after midnight (EDT) Wednesday morning.
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
- 13 Sep 2020 – Coronavirus Disease Weekly News 13September 2020
13 Sep 2020 – Coronavirus Economic Weekly News 13September 2020
Summary:
New COVID-19 cases in the US were down more than 10%, and US deaths were down slightly week over week. New cases globally are rising again, though, led by India, which has been reporting more than twice the number of the US daily. Last week there were 340 thousand new cases worldwide on Friday, a new record.
Calculated Risk continues to track US testing. The decline in positive test results over July and August may be ending this month. The 15 September graphic:
Meanwhile, I have no new insights into what happened this week regarding covid policy or economic impacts, cause I’ve been pretty distracted by watching the west coast burning, Africa’s deserts flooding, and the half dozen new tropical disturbances in the Atlantic. (See https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/cyclones/.) All these environmental disturbances are covered below:
White rice linked to diabetes, especially in South Asia, says 21-nation study done over 10 yrs – An analysis of over 1,30,000 adults from 21 countries over nearly a decade has indicated a high risk of diabetes linked with the consumption of white rice. The risk is most prominent for the South Asian population, according to findings from a new, large-scale, long-term study.The study was an international collaboration between researchers from various countries – including India, China, and Brazil – in Asia, North and South America, Africa and Europe.Led by Bhavadharini Balaji of the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Canada, the study was a part of the institute’s Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) project.The findings were published in the Diabetes Care journal in its September issue. White rice is milled rice that has its germ (the part that sprouts), bran (hard outer layer), and husk (outer covering) removed. The polishing of rice further results in a bright and shiny appearance. While white rice has an appealing appearance and can be stored longer, the milling and polishing process remove nutrients such as vitamin B. White rice has been linked to an outbreak of beriberi in Asia, caused by vitamin B-1 deficiency. It also causes the blood sugar levels to spike upon consumption due to its high glycemic index.Globally, 42.5 crore people currently have diabetes, and this number is expected to increase to 62.9 crore by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
‘Bubonic Plague Warning’ Issued In Lake Tahoe After Fleas Test Positive – After new cases of the bubonic plague were found in Los Angeles, Colorado, and in Mongolia near the Russian border this summer, it appears the infamous plague strain responsible for killing tens of millions of Europeans during the 14th Century continues to surface, this time, in South Lake Tahoe, California. The US Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, issued a “plague warning” on Thur. (Sept. 3) ahead of Labor Day weekend, informing the public that fleas in the area tested positive for the bubonic plague. “Visitors should take the following precautions when visiting areas where active Bubonic Plague has been found. Remember to stay on trails, and if you must bring your pet, keep them on a short leash and do not let them investigate rodent burrows,” the Forest Service wrote in a recent Facebook post. [Forest Service warning embedded] The post continued, “Bubonic Plague is naturally occurring in many parts of California, including the Sierra Nevada, and can be transmitted through bites from infected fleas.” Forest Service’s Lisa Herron told CBS13 Sacramento that people throughout the Lake Tahoe “should be on the lookout for unusual things like a rodent acting unusual, or a rodent that is dead with no visual signs of trauma.” The California Department of Health confirmed to CBS13 that fleas tested positive for the plague in the resort area of the Sierra Nevada mountains, more specifically, around the Tallac Historic Area and the Taylor Creek Visitor Center.To mitigate the spread, the area has been treated for “active plague,” the California Department of Health told ABC7 News. Fears of the plague have shown up in US internet search results, hitting record highs this summer. A handful of cases of the plague have surfaced this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the world.
Tear gas sprayed on Portland protesters revealed to contain toxic metal compounds – The city of Portland recently sent the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) information they requested about the chemicals contained in the crowd control agents that have been sprayed on Black Lives Matter protesters by law enforcement since May – and their documents reveal that the tear gas contains chemicals that are apt to pose a health risk to those exposed, particularly given the high quantities sprayed. The documents provide insight into the potential health and environmental hazards posed by the tear gas that has blanketed protesters in the streets of downtown Portland nearly every night for months. The documents also confirm that the city of Portland sources its tear gas from Safariland, LLC, a “security products” manufacturer that has faced scrutiny for its role in supplying tear gas used by law enforcement to suppress protests over the death of George Floyd. The documents sent to DEQ by Portland include a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for “Flameless Tri-Chamber Grenade, CS” and a Safety Data Sheet for “Skat Shell 40 mm Multiple Projectile Round, CS,” both manufactured by Defense Technology, a subsidiary of Safariland, LLC. These types of technical documents are required to be written for industrially produced chemicals and substances, and explain the hazards that said substances pose to human health as well as environmental health. CS gas refers to the active ingredient in tear gas, 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, the incapacitating agent that causes tearing and burning sensations in the eyes, mouth, nose and sinuses.The material safety data sheet for the brand of tear gas used by Portland Police reveals that the chemicals in Safariland’s “Flameless Tri-Chamber Grenade, CS” (meaning containing CS gas)” include barium chromate, manganese powder, lead chromate, nitrocellulose, red iron oxide, titanium powder, zirconium powder, potassium chlorate, sugar, magnesium carbonate and CS gas itself. Barium chromate is known to be toxic; upon heating, lead chromate releases toxic lead fumes.
How Chemicals Like PFAS Can Increase Your Risk of Severe COVID-19 – Nearly a year before the novel coronavirus emerged, Dr. Leonardo Trasande published “Sicker, Fatter, Poorer,” a book about connections between environmental pollutants and many of the most common chronic illnesses. The book describes decades of scientific research showing how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, present in our daily lives and now found in nearly all people, interfere with natural hormones in our bodies. The title sums up the consequences: Chemicals in the environment are making people sicker, fatter and poorer.In the U.S. and abroad, the chronic disease epidemic that was already underway at the start of 2020 meant the population entered into the coronavirus pandemic in a state of reduced health. Evidence is now emerging for the role that environmental quality plays in people’s susceptibility to COVID-19 and their risk of dying from it.Endocrine-disrupting compounds, or EDCs, are a broad group of chemicals that can interfere with natural hormones in people’s bodies in ways that harm human health. They include perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, flame retardants, plasticizers, pesticides, antimicrobial products and fragrances, among others.These chemicals are pervasive in modern life. They are found in a wide range of consumer goods, food packaging, personal care products, cosmetics, industrial processes and agricultural settings. EDCs then make their way into our air, water, soil and food.Research has shown that people who are exposed to EDCs are more likely than others to develop metabolic disorders, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol, and they tend to have poorer cardiovascular health.EDCs can also interfere with normal immune system function, which plays a critical role in fighting off infection. Poor immune function also contributes to pulmonary problems such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease; andmetabolic disorders. Many EDCs are also associated with different cancers.Researchers are only just beginning to paint a picture about how environmental quality contributes to COVID-19 susceptibility, and there is much we still don’t know. However, scientists suspect that EDCs can play a rolebased on clear scientific evidence that EDCs increase people’s risk of developing chronic diseases that put people at greater risk from COVID-19.
Paint: The Big Source of Ocean Microplastics You Didn’t Know About – Until recently, microplastics that enter the ocean from paint have not received a lot of attention. There has been very little focus on the fact that unless paint residuals are collected during surface preparation and the maintenance process, they will largely end up in the ocean as microplastics. The most quoted source of data on how much microplastics from paint enters the ocean each year gives a figure of 60,000 tons per annum. While this is still a big figure – the equivalent of six billion empty plastic bottles being dumped in the ocean every year – it falls short of the real size of the problem. This is because:
- It only includes marine coatings, representing 4% of all paint volume, and does not include Industrial Maintenance (IM) and Protective Coating (PC) which represent another 11% of all global paint volumes sold;
- It works with the 2009 OECD estimate that assumes 1 % of paint applied falls off each year (meaning an average paint life of 100 years), while industry experience shows that, in fact, industrial and marine paints have an average life of approximately 20 years or about 5% of paint falls off each year.
For these reasons, the real level of paint microplastics entering the environment and ocean each year could be much, much higher than 60,000 tons. Other reports also conclude that paint is the second-largest source of microplastics in the ocean. What are the risks from all of these paint microplastics? Ingested microplastic particles can physically damage organs and leach hazardous chemicals – from the hormone-disrupting bisphenol A (BPA) to pesticides – that can compromise immune function and stymie growth and reproduction. Both microplastics and these chemicals may accumulate further up the food chain, potentially impacting whole ecosystems, including the health of the soils in which we grow our food. Microplastics in the water we drink and the air we breathe can also hit humans directly.
Mosquitoes Driven From Louisiana Swamps by Hurricane Laura Kill Cattle and Horses – Thick swarms of mosquitoes pushed out of southwestern Louisiana’s marshes by Hurricane Laura are killing cattle and horses.”The population just exploded in the southwest part of the state,” Jeremy Hebert, a Louisiana State University AgCenter agent in Acadia Parish, said in a news release.Dr. Craig Fontenot, a large-animal veterinarian based in Evangeline Parish, told the Associated Press 300 to 400 head of cattle have been lost since Laura hit the state on Aug. 27.The hordes of mosquitoes bite the animals so many times the horses and cows are left anemic and bleeding under their skin, Fontenot said. The animals also become exhausted trying to get away from the swarms, he told the AP.”They’re vicious little suckers,” Fontenot said. Vince Deshotel, a regional livestock specialist with LSU’s AgCenter, said cattle deaths from mosquitoes are widespread.”I lost a bull Friday night,” he said.He met four other cattle producers over the weekend who were having to dispose of carcasses.Fontenot said the deaths are happening in a five-parish area east and northeast of the area where the hurricane came ashore.He said only a few deaths have been reported among horses, which often are kept in stalls that can be sprayed with insecticide. Fontenot said a rancher who raises deer lost about 30 of his 110 animals.Some parishes have begun mosquito-spraying programs, Hebert said.”The spraying has dropped the populations tremendously. It’s made a night-and-day difference,” he said.Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis parishes are still seeing problems, the AP reported. Fontenot said mosquitoes have killed livestock before, including after Hurricane Lili in 2002 and Hurricane Rita in 2005. He also said Florida and Texas saw similar problems after hurricanes.
‘That’s the Way It Is’: Trump’s Dismissal of Hurricane Laura and Climate Crisis Echoes Remarks on COVID-19 Deaths – At an August 30 briefing in Orange, Texas, during a visit to tour damage from Hurricane Laura, President Trump answered a question about climate change and hurricanes. Texas has had big storms for a long time, he said, and “that’s the way it is.”The phrase carried echoes of his remarks on COVID-19 – made at a time when the coronavirus had killed over 156,000 and infected over 4.7 million in the U.S. – that the virus’s death toll “is what it is.”In the month since Trump spoke those words to Axios, over 26,600 more people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19,federal numbers show. Each death represents its own specific tragedy for those close by and, for those tasked with responding to the pandemic, each one represents another difficult reminder that the novel virus’s death toll yesterday is not what it is today.Similarly, when it comes to the climate crisis, the questions the world faces aren’t only about what natural hazards like droughts and hurricanes looked like yesterday. Nor are they simply about how those hazards, now worsened by the climate crisis, are affecting us today – as wildfires continue to blaze in California and forecasters keep tabs on tropical storms Nana and Omar. The question President Trump was asked in Texas was about the risks that stronger hurricanes pose to the fossil fuel industry and the ways that climate change is beginning to endanger the oil refineries and petrochemical plants clustered along the U.S. Gulf Coast, that is, the industry responsible for a sizable contribution to the climate emergency itself. “Mr. President, one question about Laura,” a reporter can be heard asking off-camera in press conference footage aired by C-SPAN. “So, in June of this year, NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] issued a report indicating that climate change is at least in part responsible for increasing sea temperatures, which then, in turn, lead to storms like Laura and Harvey. In an area where petrochemicals and the energy industry are so critical, how do you balance that with, at the same time, attacking climate change so that storms like this don’t continue to ravage the Gulf Coast?”The President’s answer was short. “Well, I tell you, you’ve had tremendous storms in Texas for many decades and for many centuries, and that’s the way it is,” he said. “We handle them as they come. All I can do is handle them as they come, and that’s what we do, and nobody has ever done a better job of it.”
Shorter lifespan of faster-growing trees will add to climate crisis, study finds – Live fast, die young is a truism often applied to rock stars but could just as easily describe trees, according to new research. Trees that grow rapidly have a shorter lifespan, which could spell bad news for tackling the climate crisis. Trees grow faster in warmer conditions, and this should act as a natural brake on global heating, as they take up and store more carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. But the new study casts doubt on this beneficial cycle, finding that the faster trees grow, the sooner they die – and therefore stop storing carbon. Some fast-growing trees, including conifer species in cold regions, have long been known to show shorter lifespans, but what was not known was the impact of warmer conditions that can spur growth as global heating accelerates. An international team of researchers, publishing their work on Tuesday in the peer-review journal Nature Communications, has found that the relationship between faster growth and shorter lifespan appears to hold good across tree species and latitudes. “We started a global analysis and were surprised to find that these trade-offs are incredibly common. It occurred in almost all species we looked at, including tropical trees.” Trees growing faster in warmer conditions reach their maximum size sooner, and that appears to increase their chance of dying. Trees that grow more quickly may also be more vulnerable to factors such as drought, disease and pests. When trees die, they give up their stored carbon gradually, in the form of methane, a greenhouse gas. This means that many standard climate change models of how we can use forests as carbon sinks, to absorb the carbon dioxide we produce from fossil fuel burning, are likely to overestimate the benefits. This study suggests that although the forests of the future might grow faster as temperatures increase, they could also store less carbon as the trees die off sooner. “Our findings indicate that there are traits within the fastest-growing trees that make them vulnerable, whereas slower-growing trees have traits that allow them to persist,” said Steve Voelker of the department of environmental and forest biology at Syracuse University New York, a co-author of the study. “[The] carbon uptake rates of forests are likely to be on the wane as slow-growing and persistent trees are supplanted by fast-growing but vulnerable trees.”
Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report – Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth. On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.. The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was complied by 134 experts from around the world. It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded. Experts said the LPI was further evidence of the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, with one million species at risk because of human activity, according to the UN’s global assessment report in 2019. Deforestation and the conversion of wild spaces for human food production have largely been blamed for the destruction of Earth’s web of life. The report highlights that 75% of the Earth’s ice-free land has been significantly altered by human activity, and almost 90% of global wetlands have been lost since 1700. A separate study released today by Newcastle University and BirdLife International says that at least 28 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented by conservation efforts since the UN Convention on Biological Diversity came into force in 1993.
Colorado Wildfires: Latest Updates On Active 2020 Fire Season – Four major wildfires have burned an area of more than 217,000 acres across Colorado in recent weeks, causing evacuations, highway closures and potentially hazardous levels of smoke and other forms of air pollution in many parts of the state.Amid hot, dry weather that has left 100% of the state under an official drought classification for the first time in seven years, the 2020 wildfire season is on track to be among the most active in state history.
- The Pine Gulch Fire has burned an estimated 139,007 acres in an area north of Grand Junction. It was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31, and is 87% contained.
- The Grizzly Creek Fire has burned an estimated 32,464 acres along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River east of Glenwood Springs since igniting on Aug. 10. Its cause remains officially undetermined, though officials suspect it was caused by a passing vehicle on the interstate, and the fire is 83% contained.
- The Cameron Peak Fire has burned an estimated 34,289 acres near Chambers Lake in western Larimer County since igniting on Aug. 13. Officials say the fire is human-caused, and it is 5% contained.
- The Williams Fork Fire has burned an estimated 12,125 acres near the Williams Fork Reservoir in Grand County since igniting on Aug. 14. Officials say the fire is human-caused, and it is 10% contained.
Colorado’s changing climate has increased the risk of dangerous wildfires. Rising concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the earth’s atmosphere – mostly the result of fossil-fuel combustion – have caused many parts of the state, especially on the Western Slope, to warm by an average of more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels. All of Colorado’s 20 largest wildfires on record have occurred since 2002, during a 20-year “hot drought” that scientists say is driven largely by higher temperatures.
One of the Earliest Snowstorms on Record to Blanket Front Range of Rockies With September Snow, Including Denver –An unusually early September snowstorm will blanket the Rockies and Front Range through Wednesday from Montana to northern New Mexico, including Denver, followed by an abrupt change to widespread record cold through the Plains following searing record heat this past weekend. A deep southward plunge of the jet stream will bring in a sharp drop in temperatures to the Rockies and Plains over the next few days. There will be a disturbance diving through that jet stream, which will allow snowfall or a mix of rain and snow to spread southward through the Rockies and Front Range now through Wednesday.That front has already plunged out of Canada into the northern Rockies, changing precipitation to snow in Glacier National Park and along the Rocky Mountain Front. This lead to the bizarre sight of fire and smoke in southwest Montana, and snow in northern Montana on Labor Day morning.The National Weather Service has issued the winter weather alerts in the map below for this early-season snowfall, including winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories, from the Canadian border with Montana to the high country of northern New Mexico.These winter alerts include the entire Denver metro area, Cheyenne and Casper, Wyoming. Snowfall or a mix of rain and snow will begin in the northern Rockies on Monday. By Monday night, snow or a mix of rain and snow will expand southward into much of Wyoming, northern Colorado, western South Dakota and western Nebraska. This precipitation will arrive with rapidly dropping temperatures and gusty winds.
Significantly colder temperatures are setting the stage for the first heavy snow of the 2020 – 2021 winter season, U.S. – Significantly colder temperatures are setting the stage for the first heavy snow of the 2020-2021 “winter” season, NWS Weather Prediction Center reported early September 8, 2020. These conditions are caused by a powerful cold front plunging into the south-central Plains, producing a number of hazards, including an early-season snowstorm for the Central Rockies. Expect significant accumulations with gusty winds in the higher elevations of Wyoming and Colorado. Snow has already been reported across much of Wyoming. A highly dramatic shift in weather conditions will sweep through the northern to central portions of the country during the next couple of days as the persistent record heat over the western U.S. to the central High Plains will be drastically replaced by a surge of extremely cold air mass from Canada for this time of the year, NWS forecaster Kong noted at 20:00 UTC on September 7. “The most dramatic changes will transpire during the next 12 hours over the central High Plains where record high temperatures in the 90s to around 100 °F (32 – 38 °C) will plunge all the way to near freezing Tuesday morning behind an ‘arctic’ cold front,” Kong said. “The Dog Days of Summer this afternoon will literally turn into Old Man Winter Tuesday morning with blustery northerly winds and areas of snow squalls possible from Wyoming down into central Colorado!” Snow is forecast to accumulate for 150 mm (6 inches) or more at many locations with the highest totals reaching 610 mm (2 feet) possible on the highest elevations. “Temperatures are forecast to stay in the 30s (-1 to 4 °C) on Tuesday in these areas, which are as cold as 28 °C (50 °F) below normal at the coldest spots,” Kong said. In addition to the cold and snow, a swath of heavy rain can be expected across the upper Midwest north of the sharp front. The strong dynamics associated with the front will also trigger heavy rain and thunderstorms Tuesday night into Wednesday across western to central Texas.
Cameron Peak fire update: 14 inches of snow dampened wildfire’s growth – The Cameron Peak fire remained static overnight Tuesday, as the late-summer snowstorm dampened the wildfire’s growth after days of uncontrolled expansion.The fire is still burning 102,596 acres – or 160 square miles – with 4% containment, said Paul Bruggink, spokesman for the fire response.Areas of the fire received as much as 14 inches of snow, Bruggink said, though it’s still smoldering underneath the powder. “This is not a season-ending event by any means,” he said. “We need a succession of these to do it.” But the dampened activity will allow fire crews Wednesday to assess hot spots and plan courses of action for later in the week, when the weather is expected to warm and dry out, Bruggink said.An assessment of damage from the fire’s growth over the weekend still has not been completed, he said, as roads remain impassable in some areas. The Cameron Peak fire remains the fifth-largest in Colorado’s recorded history. All 10 of the largest fires in the state have come since 2002.
Thanks to snow and additional resources, firefighters can launch ‘more direct’ attack on Cameron Peak Fire – Between 8 and 14 inches of heavy, wet snow fell on the Cameron Peak Fire Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, according to fire officials. Cass Cairns, spokesperson with the Cameron Peak Fire, said Wednesday morning the snow had accumulated at the fire, keeping the ground and most fuels damp. The fire has not grown since the snow started Tuesday, she said. It’s currently 102,596 acres and 4% contained. The fire won’t likely grow much in the coming days as the snow melts. It’s not clear how the snow affected the fire’s perimeter since, for the most part, crews were not able to get near the fire Tuesday and aerial crews couldn’t fly over it. Cairns said flurries will fall over the fire Wednesday, but they won’t see the dumping that happened Tuesday. Winds will stay relatively calm in the area as well, though there is some concern about snags coming down, she said. Fire crews weren’t able to get close to the fire on Tuesday, so that is the goal today – to get an idea of where the fire’s hottest areas are, Cairns said. This will include planning containment lines on the northern and eastern edges of the fire, including the Green Ridge, Highway 14, Pingree Park Road and Buckhorn Road areas. She said there’s a strong possibility firefighters will be able to get right up to the fire’s perimeter in some of those places. The wet snow made travel on the roads difficult on Tuesday. Crews are preparing for warmer temperatures that will arrive Friday into next week, and are taking full advantage of this cold, wet weather, she said. In a Tuesday evening update on the fire’s Facebook page, Planning Operations Section Chief Tom Barter said because the three other large wildfires in Colorado have started to decline, resources are being diverted from those areas to the Cameron Peak Fire. Prior to that, fire officials had to rank priorities and possible success rate to determine where to send the resources, Barter said. Cairns said they gained a “surge force” of 48 engines and two more hand crews. There were 1,057 personnel working the fire as of early Wednesday afternoon. “We’re now getting more resources, we’re getting some moderate weather and this fire is in some other terrain that’s a little more favorable for us to get to,” Barter said. “So we will be looking at other areas where we can get more direct on this thing.”
Record Heat and Fire, Cold and Snow Blanket the West — In the past 48 hours, the region has swung through a series of record-setting weather extremes. The West Coast is a fiery mess as toxic smoke blankets California and Oregon. But residents of the interior parts of the West from Wyoming to Colorado are waking up to record-setting cold and snow, as well as some areas still on fire from this weekend’s heat onslaught. The source of the multifaceted misery is a huge whip in the jet stream, which we’ll get into more in a bit. But the real shock is what’s happening on the ground. In brief, the West had itself a weekend with unprecedented heat across every square inch of the region. We’re talking all-time records in California, where temperatures reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.4 degrees Celsius) in Chino, located roughly 35 miles east of Los Angeles. That’s an all-time record west of the San Bernardino Mountains. Even areas normally insulated from heat along the coast reached blistering new heights; San Luis Obispo, for example, cracked 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius). The heat shows how even the seemingly minor boost in the global average temperature driven by the climate crisis can play out in regional extremes.Heat provided the backdrop for fires, which exploded across California. The Creek Fire is the largest out-of-control fire in the state, raging over 135,000 acres. The blaze spurred one of two unprecedented helicopter evacuations of people trapped by flames at Mammoth Pools Reservoirs. The image below gives you a sense of the scale of the evacuation and the reality that the Creek Fire sprung up so quickly, leaving more than 200 people stranded. Flames also lapped up huge swaths of land in Washington, engulfing 80% of a town in the eastern part of the state. An estimated 300,000 acres burned in the span of a day as winds stirred up some of the most extreme fire behavior imaginable. I mean seriously, look at the black streak in eastern Washington on this satellite loop: And in Colorado, record heat helped the Cameron Peak Fire double to 60,000 acres in a day. But things shifted gears in Colorado overnight on Monday into Tuesday. Temperatures plummeted from record highs in the 120s (yes, you read that right) to lows in the teens as Arctic air plunged into the region. Record-setting snowfall followed there and across other parts of the Mountain West and Northern Plains. Lead, North Dakota, has picked up a record 10 inchesof snow already, and 18-24 inches of snow have fallen in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, according to National Weather Service data. More than a foot of snow is expected in the Colorado foothills outside Denver and Boulder alone as the storm drops into the area.
Record-early winter storm brings much below-average temperatures and record snow from Montana to New Mexico, U.S. – One of the earliest snowstorms on record swept through parts of the United States, from Montana to New Mexico on September 8 and 9, 2020, bringing record-early snow and record-cold temperatures to much of the region. The weather system hit the region after record-breaking heat, producing a drastic 33 °C (60 °F) drop in temperatures within just 24 hours.The slow-moving mid to upper level low that has been responsible for the early season winter storm through the Rockies and Central High Plains is winding down on Thursday, September 10.”Winter weather will be confined to the Central Rockies tonight into Thursday where additional heavy snows are possible,” NWS forecaster Oravec said.The much below-average temperatures that this system has also been responsible for, from the Rockies into the Plains, will continue to moderate over the next two days.The weather started shifting in Montana as early as Sunday, September 6. Before the event was over, the city of Red Lodge – a gateway to Yellowstone National Park — received 266.7 mm (10.5 inches) of snow.Some of the greatest snow totals were recorded in Wyoming, where up to 431.8 mm (17 inches) of snow fell just south of Casper, Natrona County. Casper recorded 58.4 mm (2.3 inches) on snow on September 7, and 132 mm (5.2 inches) on September 8, breaking its previous earliest measurable snow by one day (September 8, 1962).Rapid City, South Dakota recorded 25.4 mm (1 inch) on September 7, breaking its previous record early snow by 4 days (September 11, 2014). On September 8, Cheyenne, Wyoming tied its earliest measurable snow with 27.9 mm (1.1 inches).Earliest-snow records were also broken in Ft. Collins, Colorado, Pueblo, Colorado, North Platte, Nebraska; Goodland, Kansas; Yuma, Colorado; and Las Vegas, New Mexico.Aside from the snow, this storm brought strong winds and very cold to record-breaking low temperatures throughout the region.Denver, Colorado registered 25.4 mm (1 inch) of snow, just days after the city hit an all-time September high of 38.3 °C (101 °F) on September 5.The city tied a record-low temperature of -0.5 °C (31 °F) on September 8 and 9. The last time it was this cold in the city on September 8 and 9 was in 1962.
National Guard rescues 200 from California wildfire –More than 200 people were rescued by the National Guard from a wildfire in a recreational area in California, officials said Sunday. The Madera County Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that officials had rescued people sheltering-in-place at Mammoth Pool, a reservoir on the San Joaquin River about 45 miles north of Fresno, during the wildfire which was named the Creek Fire. Twenty of those rescued have been transported to area hospitals and “any others in need of medical attention are being treated,” the sheriff’s office said. A National Guard spokesman told CBS San Francisco a Chinook helicopter airlifted the first 50 to 60 evacuees to Fresno Airport, adding that some had “been injured by the flame of the fire.” “A Blackhawk helicopter is also involved in the rescue,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma said in an email to the outlet. “At the airport, emergency response, fire and medical elements from the 144th Fighter Wing are on hand to assist. Both rotary wings are returning to the fire site to evacuate more people immediately.” The California National Guard tweeted photos and video of the evacuees on and exciting the helicopter. The Creek Fire started Friday and by Saturday afternoon head spread to 56 square miles. It cut off the only road into the Mammoth Pool Campground, national forest spokesman said, according to KTLA 5. Tune said campers were told to shelter in place until fire crews could gain access to the site, KTLA 5 reported.
California faces record-setting ‘kiln-like’ heat as fires rage, causing injuries – Heat and red-flag warnings are in effect statewide into the coming week as the heat will continue to fuel the fires already burning and could cause any new blazes to rapidly grow out of control.The most serious wildfire situation developed with the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest, about 290 miles north of Los Angeles, which was first detected Friday night and rapidly grew to at least 45,500 acres by Sunday morning.That fire trapped about 1,000 people near Mammoth Pool reservoir as flames crossed the San Joaquin River, including about 150 people who became stranded at a boat launch, the Associated Press reported.According to the AP, 200 people were rescued from the Mammoth Pool Campground by military helicopters. Two of them were severely injured, 10 had “moderate injuries” and others had minor or no injuries. According to the California Air National Guard, this was the largest wildfire-related air evacuation in recent memory. On Sunday, the National Weather Service office in Sacramento tweeted that more than 99 percent of California’s population was under an Excessive Heat Warning or Heat Advisory. In addition to the Creek Fire, firefighters are still battling the second-, third- and fourth-largest fires in state history that erupted during a mid-August heat wave and unusual thunderstorms north of San Francisco. Although those fires are better contained, the heat, dry weather and shifting, strong offshore winds are causing an uptick in their activity.Since Aug. 15, the state has seen more than 1.6 million acres burned, 900 new fires started, along with eight deaths and nearly 3,300 destroyed structures. In an average California fire season, about 310,000 acres are burned, according to Cal Fire, the state firefighting agency. Daniel Swain, a climate researcher at UCLA, said the state may set a record for the “most acres burned in the modern era” as soon as Monday. In a sign of the heat to come, temperatures did not drop below the 90s on Saturday night and into early Sunday in some locations from the San Fernando Valley to parts of L.A. County. Two temperature stations in the L.A. area were still hovering above the century mark [100F] at 3:02 a.m. local time, the Weather Service said. High temperatures in Southern California on Sunday ranged from 105 to 115 degrees near the coast to up to 120 degrees in inland areas, which would edge past all-time-high temperature records in some locations. Some noteworthy temperature records that have already fallen include:
Creek Fire Explodes To 73K Acres, Triggers Dramatic Evacuations – An explosive brush fire in the Sierra National Forest cut off evacuation routes near a popular reservoir Saturday, forcing multiple dramatic rescues. The blaze had ripped through 73,278 acres as of 8:41 p.m. Sunday night according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.The Creek Fire exploded from 2,000 acres to 36,000 acres Saturday, trapping 207 people at the Mammoth Pool Reservoir. At one point, they expected to have to ride out the flames by diving into the reservoir, but the California National Guard flew in using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to airlift people to safety, according to the National Guard. Two people suffered major injuries, and at least 10 others were hurt.It continued to rage out of control overnight, growing to 45,500 acres by Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Forest Service. “The fire burned actively overnight,” according to a statement by the U.S. Forest Service. “Crews will be challenged today by steep rugged terrain, heavy fuel loading and high temperatures.” The fire broke out Friday evening near the communities of Big Creek and Huntington Lake and exploded Saturday amid intense heat, eating up dense and parched trees and brush in steep terrain. By Sunday morning, the fire was still at 0% containment. A second dramatic rescue was underway Sunday night. Two military Chinook helicopters were headed to China Peak near Huntington Lake early Sunday evening to rescue about 120 people early Sunday evening trapped by the blaze, GV Wire℠ reports. The publication cited a person on ground, who said the air rescue was needed because the fire was burning on both sides of Highway 168. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“Wildfire Crisis” – Record-Breaking Heat Sparks 23 Fires, Rolling Blackouts Across Golden State — As of Monday morning on the West Coast, at least 15,000 firefighters were battling 23 wildfires raging across the Golden State, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). Of these, three were deemed “major blazes”, burning in Fresno, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties. On Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in San Diego, San Bernardino, Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa countries, the worst-affected by what’s shaping up to be another brutal wildfire season, exacerbated by a shortage of prisoners to press into service fighting the blazes. But in his speech, Newsom prattled on about “the realities of climate change”. “California has always been the canary in the coal mine for climate change, and this weekend’s events only underscore that reality,” Newsom said. “Wildfires have caused system failures, while near-record energy demand is predicted as a multi-state heatwave hits the West Coast for the second time in a matter of weeks.”Newsom also spoke about the record-high temperatures on Saturday, which were piling on the pressure to the state’s power grid. “Californians are rising to the occasion to meet these unprecedented challenges for our energy grid, and I want to thank all of the businesses and individuals who are conserving energy. Californians should heed (California Independent System Operator’s) warnings and flex their power to shift energy consumption to earlier in the day.” The heatwave added fuel to the wildfires and strained electrical grids, though rolling blackouts weren’t as massive as the ones seen in August. As of Monday morning, 50,000 homes and businesses had no power, according to Poweroutage.US. The California Independent System Operator (CA ISO), which operates a large chunk of the state’s power grid, announced a Stage 2 Emergency on Sunday, where it took steps to ‘defend the grid, manage transmission loss and avoid outages’. CA ISO said it “has taken all mitigating actions and is no longer able to provide its expected energy requirements. A Stage 2 warning requires ISO intervention in the market, such as ordering power plants online.” The Stage 2 Emergency is expected to be reissued on Monday from 3 p.m. through 9 p.m. as wildfires and hot temperatures persist.
Wildfires burn through record area in California as blazes continue to spread – BBC News — Wildfires have burned through a record number of acres in California this year as firefighters continue to battle several large blazes across the state.The state’s department of forestry and fire protection, Cal Fire, says more than two million acres have burned, more than the size of Delaware.One fire, El Dorado, which has spread over 7,000 acres, was started by a gender reveal party, officials say.California is currently experiencing a record heatwave.Los Angeles County reported its highest ever temperature of 49.4C (121F) on Sunday. Although temperatures are expected to drop from Tuesday onwards it may bring strong winds which could fan the flames, the National Weather Service warns.More than 14,000 firefighters continue to battle 24 fires across the state, Cal Fire said. The largest blaze, known as the Creek Fire, has burned more than 78,000 acressince it broke out in the Sierra Mountains on Friday, and the authorities said none of it had been contained. The fire has burned at least two dozen dwellings in the town of Big Creek, the Los Angeles Times reports. More than 200 hikers had to be airlifted out of the popular Mammoth Pool Reservoir after becoming trapped by flames on Saturday.Valley Fire in San Diego County has burned through more than 10,000 acres, and prompted the evacuation of the remote town of Alpine; while Bobcat fire in Angeles National Forest has destroyed nearly 5,000 acres and saw the evacuation of the Mount Wilson Observatory. Cal Fire blamed a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party” for starting the The El Dorado fire in San Bernadino County. Gender reveal parties are celebrations announcing whether expecting parents are going to have a girl or a boy. In recent years, several large-scale parties have gone wrong, even resulting in the death of a woman in 2019. “Cal Fire reminds the public that with the dry conditions and critical fire weather, it doesn’t take much to start a wildfire”, the tweet read. People who cause fires “can be held financially and criminally responsible”, it added.
California Wildfires Scorch Land the Size of Delaware During Record Heat -On a Labor Day weekend when the temperature hit 121 degrees in Los Angeles County, fire crews around California struggled to contain ongoing and growing blazes that have so far consumed more than 2 million acres this summer. That’s equal to the entire state of Delaware going up in flames, according to the BBC.The record heat coupled with dry and windy conditions is making the 22 fires in the state difficult for crews to contain. In a preventive measure, the state’s power authority shut off electricity to 172,000 homes and businesses in 22 counties in Northern California. The power will not be fully restored until Wednesday evening, according to CNN.The small mountain town of Big Creek in the Sierra Nevada mountain range saw trapped campers airlifted to safety while the fire burned through the town, destroying roughly two dozen homes, according to NBC News.While a hydroelectric plant owned by Southern California Edison was destroyed, three propane tanks with 11,000 gallons of the flammable gas exploded and an elementary school caught fire.The school’s superintendent, Toby Wait, evacuated with his family, but his home was destroyed after they fled.”Words cannot even begin to describe the devastation of this community,” he said to The Fresno Bee, as NBC News reported.The fire started on Friday and grew to burn nearly 80,000 acres Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It is zero percent contained.”This one’s in a class by itself,” said U.S. Forest Service Supervisor Dean Gould during a Monday night press briefing, as CNN reported.Farther south, Los Angeles and Ventura county are under a red flag warning as the cooling temperatures after the weekend’s record heat are expected to usher in high winds, which may fan the flames of ongoing fires.The state’s fire authorities are currently battling 24 fires across the state, according to the BBC.
2 million acres burned by wildfires in California, surpassing all-time record set in 2018 – This season’s wildfires in California, U.S. have burned more than 809 000 million ha (2 million acres) of land by September 7, 2020, surpassing the all-time record of 793 180 million ha (1.96 million acres) set in 2018. Cal Fire began tracking the numbers in 1987. “We haven’t even got into the October and November fire season and we’ve broken the all-time record,” Cal Fire Capt. Richard Cordova told CNN on Sunday, September 6. In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 14 000 firefighters are currently battling two of the three largest fires in the history of the state. However, these are just 2 of dozens of currently active fires across the state.On September 7, the U.S. Forest Service announced it was closing all 8 national forests in the southern half of the state. In addition, campgrounds at all national forests in the state were also closed. The decision will be re-evaluated each day, officials said. “Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire,” said Randy Moore, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region. “The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously.”Lynne Tolmachoff, Cal Fire spokeswoman, told AP that it’s ‘unnerving’ to have reached a record for acreage burned when September and October usually are the worst for fires because vegetation has dried out and high winds are more common. On Saturday, September 5, National Guard rescuers in two military helicopters airlifted 214 people to safety after flames trapped them in a wooded camping area near Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Two people were seriously injured and were among 12 hospitalized. On September 6, Chinooks airlifted dozens of people trapped by the Creek Fire near Lake Edison. Injured people filled up both helicopters on the first airlift. This season’s wildfires in California, U.S. have burned more than 809 000 million ha (2 million acres) of land by September 7, 2020, surpassing the all-time record of 793 180 million ha (1.96 million acres) set in 2018. “We haven’t even got into the October and November fire season and we’ve broken the all-time record,” In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 14 000 firefighters are currently battling two of the three largest fires in the history of the state. However, these are just 2 of dozens of currently active fires across the state. On September 7, the U.S. Forest Service announced it was closing all 8 national forests in the southern half of the state. In addition, campgrounds at all national forests in the state were also closed. Since August 15, California witnessed more than 900 wildfires, most of them started by an intense series of thousands of lightning strikes. To date, 8 people have been killed and more than 3 300 structures destroyed.
A Gender-Reveal Party Started a Wildfire That Burned Nearly 10,000 Acres -A couple hosting a gender-reveal party on Saturday set off a smoke bomb to reveal the baby’s gender when the device lit the nearby dry grass and sent partygoers scrambling. That mishap has now led to the El Dorado wildfire in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, according to The Washington Post.According to a statement from CalFire, the fire started in El Dorado Ranch Park, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. On Monday, official said that it had burned 9,671 acres and was only 7 percent contained, accordingCNN. Officials added that it’s “one of the most dangerous fires” they’ve seen in the area. The family and partygoers tried in vain to put out the fire with water bottles, but the rapid spread in the four-foot tall dry grass was too much for the small amount of water they had. The family did call 911 to report the fire and shared photographs with investigators, according to The New York Times. Captain Bennet Milloy of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection added that no decision had been made yet as to whether or not the family will face criminal charges. A decision will wait until after the fire is extinguished. In the meantime, though, as firefighters battle the blaze, evacuations were ordered, including in parts of Yucaipa, a nearby city of nearly 54,000, according to The New York Times.”In my 30 years as a citizen in Yucaipa, I have never seen such a large fire,” Yucaipa Mayor David Avila said during a Monday news conference. “As a retired firefighter with 32 years of experience, I can assure you I witnessed one of the most dangerous fires that we can have in this area.” This actually isn’t the first time a gender-reveal stunt led to a dangerous and costly wildfire. Three years ago, in 2017, a similar event led to a fire that burned through 47,000 acres in Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains. That event caused millions of dollars in damages, when an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent shot a high-powered rifle at a target packed with an explosive to reveal the baby’s gender, according to CNN. The patrol agent pled guilty and was fined $8.2 million in restitution.Similarly, a gender-reveal party ignited a Florida brush fire last year. Others claimed the life of a grandmother when shrapnel hit her. Another caused a plane crash in Texas, as The Washington Post reported.
Thousands lose power in Northern California amid roll out of PG&E blackouts Some Northern California schools have canceled classes due to planned blackouts from PG&E.While some decisions are still being made, others were decided on Monday. Two districts in El Dorado County, Camino Union School District and Placerville Union School District, announced school closures for Sept. 8.”We will need… to make tomorrow a no school day,” said Eric Bonniksen, Placerville Union School District superintendent. “This is more of an issue since we have students attending class on site and they will be missing one of their on-campus days.” The Plumas County Office of Education told parents to plan for school closures in Chester and Greenville. Officials don’t know if portions of Quincy will lose power, but they intend to have schools open in Quincy until they hear differently. More information can be found on their website.In Nevada County, Twin Ridges Elementary School District also announced a closure for Sept. 8.Up to 172,000 customers across 22 counties in Northern California are expected to be impacted by the PG&E power outages through the night.The utility plans to restore power on Wednesday once weather conditions improve.Community resource centers will be available during the planned blackouts, where people can charge their items, get information, get water, snacks, and other essentials. A full list of community centers is available on the PG&E website.View the map below to see what areas could be impacted by the blackouts. Click HERE to see if your address is in the affected areas. To download a full list of locations, click HERE.
New Blackouts Darken California – WSJ – PG&E Corp. said late Monday it started cutting power in parts of Northern California to reduce wildfire risks, a day after the state narrowly averted rolling blackouts to relieve strain on its electric grid during a heat wave. The San Francisco-based utility, which serves 16 million people in Northern and Central California, said the outages will affect about 172,000 customers in 22 counties, stretching from wine country to the Sierra foothills. “PG&E will be able to use temporary generation and islanding to enable about 69,000 customers and several medical facilities to stay energized,” the company said. The exact number of people potentially affected is uncertain but would likely top more than 500,000, based on census data on people per household in California. PG&E said the progressive shutoffs started about 9 p.m. Monday in some areas. The company said the decision was based on forecasts of widespread, severely dry conditions and strong, gusty winds that create critical fire weather with high ignition risk. The outages could last through Wednesday in all affected areas. California utilities in recent years have resorted to public safety power shutoffs in which they cut off electricity to certain areas to reduce the risk of their power lines sparking wildfires when wind speeds pick up. PG&E last year relied on such measures after its equipment sparked a series of deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018. Last October, it pre-emptively cut power to more than two million Californians across 34 counties, some for days at a time. It is the only U.S. utility to have ever initiated a weather-related shutoff of such size and duration. The Monday shutoffs were the first of their kind since California wildfire season began earlier this summer. PG&E has been working to reduce the scope of its safety-related outages by installing technology to limit their size and improving its ability to detect weather threats.
Surreal Photos As San Francisco Sky Turns Orange — Eerie, dark orange clouds enveloped San Francisco and the Bay Area on Wednesday as a result of nearby wildfire smoke entering the atmosphere. Stunning photos were posted by SF Gate on Wednesday showing what looks like a Martian sky, which was yellow on Tuesday, but darkened in color overnight to orange as a result of smoke being pushed inland off the Pacific Ocean. According to the, at 10:45 AM local time, “it looked as if it were dawn”.UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said on Twitter: “Extremely dense & tall smoke plumes from numerous large wildfires, some of which have been generating nocturnal pyrocumulunimbus clouds (‘fire thunderstorms), are almost completely blocking out the sun across some portions of Northern California this morning.”Another user responded: “I don’t remember orange skies growing up in in the Bay Area, California. Now we have days of not being able to walk outside.”Jan Null, a meteorologist, said that north winds were “bringing lots of smoke from Oregon.” Oregon had declared a statewide emergency on Tuesdy as a result of the fires many of which were also causing smoke in Northern California. In some spots, soot and falling ash were reported to be hitting the ground. National Weather Service forecaster Roger Gass said: “They reported a significant amount of ash. Almost to the point where it looked like moderate to heavy snow.” Chinatown, San Francisco 09.09.20 pic.twitter.com/tZFL2gEn09 The haze in the East Bay got the worst of it, while the rest of the Bay Area had air quality “ranging from good to moderate” on the ground. The fire is actually getting further from the area, but the smoke was pushed inland by a marine layer over the Pacific Ocean. “That’s the reason it doesn’t smell smoky but the sky is a different color,” Gass commented.
Western US ravaged by catastrophic fires, record heat – Fires are raging across the US west coast states and in the Canadian province of British Columbia, triggered by a combination of lightning storms, high winds and extreme heat. On Monday, a wind-driven fire destroyed the community of Malden, Washington, home to 200 people. About 100 homes, nearly every house in the town, along with the downtown area, was consumed by flames. The fire station, post office, city hall, the municipal library and other downtown structures were destroyed. “The scale of this disaster really can’t be expressed in words,” Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said in a statement. “The fire will be extinguished, but a community has been changed for a lifetime. I just hope we don’t find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time.” As of Tuesday, there were no reports of fatalities or injuries. Elsewhere in Washington, and the neighboring state of Oregon, blackouts affected nearly 250,000 households, as trees, knocked down by the high winds, toppled electrical cables. Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz tweeted that “we’re still seeing new fire starts in every corner of the state.” East of Oregon’s Willamette River Valley, a wildfire swept through the communities of Blue River and Vida on Monday. Hundreds were evacuated, and 150 homes were burnt, and at least one person was reported killed. Both communities were reported to be a “total loss,” according to report by local news station KVAL. Evacuations also took place east of Salem, the state capital, where residents were evacuated from many of the small communities in the foothills of the Cascade Range. The air above the city of Portland was covered by a thick layer of smoke and ash. Residents with respiratory problems were strongly advised to stay in their homes. As of Tuesday, the Doctor Creek wildfire in southeast British Columbia, not far from the Idaho-Montana border, had burned 7,937 hectares (19,613 acres) and was out of control. High winds and steep terrain make this wildfire difficult to control.
Oregon wildfires destroy five towns, as three fatalities confirmed in California (Reuters) – An unprecedented spate of fierce, wind-driven wildfires in Oregon have all but destroyed five small towns, leaving a potentially high death toll in their wake, the governor said on Wednesday, as initial casualty reports began to surface. Hundreds of miles away in northern California, three fatalities were confirmed on Wednesday from a lightning-sparked conflagration that raged with renewed intensity this week after firefighters had made significant headway containing it. While more than two dozen major blazes continued to wreak havoc across wide swaths of California, the neighboring state of Oregon bore the latest brunt of wildfires plaguing much of the western United States over the past week.Winds of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) sent flames racing tens of miles within hours, engulfing hundreds of homes as firefighters fought at least 35 large blazes in Oregon with a collective footprint nearly twice the size of New York City. Several Oregon communities, including the town of Detroit in the Santiam Valley, as well as Blue River and Vida in coastal Lane County, and Phoenix and Talent in southern Oregon, were substantially destroyed, Governor Kate Brown told a news conference. “This could be the greatest loss in human lives and property due to wildfire in our state’s history,” Brown said, without providing details.
‘Unprecedented’ Wildfires Scorch Oregon and Washington, Force Thousands to Flee – Wildfires raged through Oregon and Washington Monday and Tuesday, prompting evacuations, blanketing Seattle in unhealthy levels of smoke and destroying nearly all of a small Washington farming town.The town of Malden in eastern Washington lost 80 percent of its structures including its fire station, post office, City Hall and library after a fast-moving blaze roared through on Monday, NPR reported.”The scale of this disaster really can’t be expressed in words,” Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said in a statement reported by NPR. “The fire will be extinguished, but a community has been changed for a lifetime. I just hope we don’t find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time.” As of early Tuesday, there were no reports of injuries from the fire.In the rest of Washington state, fires consumed more than 330,000 acres in a 24-hour period, fueled by strong winds and dry vegetation, NBC News reported. “More acres burned yesterday than in 12 of the last entire fire seasons in the state of Washington,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a Tuesday press conference, as NBC News reported. The two largest fires burning in the state are the 174,000-acre Pearl Hill Fire, in Douglas County, and the 163,000-acre Cold Springs Fire near Omak. Neither was contained at all as of Tuesday’s press conference. The Babbs-Malden Fire, the blaze that destroyed Malden, had spread to 8,943 acres and was also not contained.West of the cascades, a fire burned through Graham, Washington Monday, destroying six homes and forcing around 100 people to evacuate, The Seattle Times reported.”You didn’t have time to pack clothes, it was like, get out, now,” 55-year-old construction worker Tim VanBrocklin told The Seattle Times. “It was pretty nasty here, embers flying around our faces.”The wind that drove the fires also carried their smoke into the Seattle area Monday night and Tuesday morning.”It was so smoky you couldn’t see across the water, you couldn’t see the ferry boats coming across until the last few moments,” Andy Lipscomb, who works in Seattle, told KOMO News Tuesday.Puget Sound Clean Air Agency scientists predict that air quality in the area will remain at “unhealthy” or “unhealthy for sensitive groups” levels through Wednesday and possibly into Thursday as easterly winds continue to blow. In neighboring Oregon, wildfires have prompted thousands to flee their homes, ABC News reported. “Fire on both sides, winds blowing, ash flying – it was like driving through hell,” Evans told NewsChannel 21. “Did you lose everything, or is the only thing you saved yourself?” There were 35 active fires burning more than 367,279 acres in the state, ABC News reported early Wednesday morning. The fires prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to issue an emergency conflagration declaration. This frees up state resources to battle blazes too big for local crews to handle on their own, USA TODAY explained.
‘Unprecedented’ wildfires force evacuations and emergency responses throughout Oregon (videos) Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a wildfire emergency on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, after raging wildfires forced evacuations and burned through at least two towns. State officials said they’ve never seen conditions so conducive to destructive fires. This is proving to be an unprecedented and significant fire event for our state, Brown said in a news conference on Tuesday afternoon (LT). “We do not have context for this amount of fire on the landscape,” said Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry. Strong wind gusts on Monday afternoon, September 7, gave new life to wildfires in central and eastern Marion County for weeks, creating what officials are now calling the Santiam Fire, OPB reports. The fire quickly swept through canyons west of the cascades, forcing evacuations in a number of communities east of Salem. Elsewhere across the state, intensifying wildfires near Eugene, Ashland, and along the coast prompted evacuation orders in towns and state prisons. Lane County officials said wildfires have caused ‘catastrophic loss’ in the town of Blue River where the Holiday Farm fire destroyed between 80 and 100 buildings. When you combine strong winds, some of the driest conditions in decades and a cold front sweeping across the area, you have a supreme alignment for destructive wildfires, said Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry. “That’s exactly what we’ve seen… Seeing them run down the canyons the way they have carrying tens of miles in one afternoon and not slowing down through the evening. There’s absolutely no context for this environment,” Grafe said. “Both Santiam and the Lionshead fires have together burned more than 200 000 acres [80 940 ha] so far and we’re seeing over 30 000 acres [12 140 ha] burned by the Holiday Farm fire. Thousands of Oregonians have been evacuated from their homes and many more are at risk,” Gov. Brown said.
Nearly 100 Large Wildfires Burning Across the West; Tens of Thousands Evacuated in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho – Hundreds of homes, businesses and other buildings have burned to the ground, a firefighter was critically injured and tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate as hot, dry and windy weather across the West left parts of California, Oregon and Washington under siege from what’s being called an unprecedented fire season.More than 96 large wildfires are currently burning over 5,400 square miles of land, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About half of the fires are in Oregon, Washington and California.Residents in and around Medford, Oregon, fled their homes in darkness as fire burned through the towns of Talent and Phoenix.Daylight video showed some of the destruction left behind by the blaze, known as the Glendower or Almeda Fire.Many of the blazes started on Monday and Tuesday amid record heat, drought and sometimes windy conditions. “It took an extreme confluence of weather factors to lead to the magnitude of this latest wildfire siege,” weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman wrote Wednesday. Those factors include worsening drought and the hottest August since 1895 in some western states, including California. Then came the extreme heat over Labor Day weekend, followed by high winds that created red-flag fire conditions and fueled the flames of both new and existing fires. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown called the fires “a once-in-a-generation event. “This could be the greatest loss of human life and property due to wildfire in our state’s history,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown told reporters Wednesday. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted that more than 500 square miles of land burned in his state in a single day, more than the total consumed during 12 of the last 18 fire seasons.In California, at least 20,000 people were told to evacuate Wednesday morning after the Bear Fire exploded in size Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Sacramento Bee reported. The fire is burning near Oroville in Yuba and Butte Counties, not far from Paradise and other areas destroyed by the Camp Fire two years ago. Here’s a look at some of the major fires raging in parts of the West:
Wildfires in California, Oregon, Washington turn deadly: ‘I never want to see California again’ – Wildfires raced through more than a dozen Western states Thursday, incinerating homes, forcing hundreds of thousands of evacuations, and burning a swath of land almost the size of New Jersey.At least 23 people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed by more than 100 major fires that have consumed nearly 7,000 square miles. Authorities in Oregon say more than 500,000 people statewide have been forced to evacuate because of wildfires – over 10% of the state’s 4.2 million population.”Unprecedented weather conditions have created emergency situations near wildfires throughout California, Oregon, Washington and other states,” the National Fire Information Center warned. “Almost half of the large fires reported today have evacuation orders in place.”Nineteen deaths have been reported in California, three in Oregon and one in Washington state. In Northern California’s Butte County, Sheriff Kory Honea said at least 10 people have died, including seven more added to the death toll Thursday. Dozens are missing and hundreds of homes were feared destroyed by a series of blazes 125 miles northeast of San Francisco called the North Complex fires.Several people have been critically burned and thousands more homes were threatened. At least 20,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings in Plumas, Yuba and Butte counties. John Sykes, a 50-year resident, fled with his car and some clothes. He watched the town of Berry Creek burn from about a mile away. “The school is gone, the fire department’s gone, the bar’s gone, the laundromat’s gone, the general store’s gone,” Sykes told the Sacramento Bee. “I’ll never go back. … I never want to see California again.”The fire also threatened Paradise, a town devastated in 2018 by the deadliest inferno in state history, the Camp Fire. More than 80 residents died and almost 20,000 buildings were destroyed in that blaze. In the Sierra National Forest, authorities say it will likely be at least a week, and possibly a month, before the Creek Fire is controlled sufficiently to permit residents to return. The fire has displaced tens of thousands of Californians, and the Red Cross was helping evacuees find hotel rooms because group shelters are prohibited during the coronavirus outbreak.
Oregon Faces “Greatest Loss Of Life In State History” From Wildfires As La Nina “Threatens Bigger Blazes, Storms” – As wildfires move north from California, the state of Oregon is being engulfed in dangerous wildfires – some of the most destructive in its history – as La Nina conditions drive some of the worst wildfires seen in the American West in years. The weather pattern has also been blamed for the latest string of hurricanes that have hammered Gulf Coast and East Coast states over the past several months. As of late Wednesday, 47 active fires have burned 374,522 acres in the Beaver State, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Gov. Kate Brown said the communities of Blue River and Vida in Lane County had been devastated by wildfires this week, while Phoenix and Talent, in the southern part of the state, have reported “significant damage,” the Portland Tribune reported.Brown said, “this could be the greatest loss of life and structures due to wildfire in state history. “The state’s fires remain largely unchallenged Thursday morning as emergency personnel continues to evacuate thousands of people to safety. Doug Grafe, with the Department of Forestry, said the fire situation in the state is “zero percent containment.” “The largest blaze is the Santiam/Beachie Creek Fire, at 132,450 acres burned east of Salem. It is zero percent contained. The Lionshead Fire has burned 109,222 acres. Fire officials said they expected the fires in the Santiam River area to combine into one large blaze about 3,000 firefighters are deployed,” The Tribune said. The wildfires burning on Oregon come as “historic” wildfires burn out of control across California. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that as many as 3,400 building structures had been destroyed with at least 2.3 million acres burned. As the following chart shows, air quality across California and Oregon is at an extremely dangerous level… Volatile U.S. weather this summer could be explained by an ultra-cool water pattern in the Pacific known as La Nina. The U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) confirmed La Nina in the Northern Hemisphere was formed in August.La Nina “triggers an atmospheric chain reaction that stands to roil weather around the globe, often turning the western U.S. into a tinder box, fueling more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and flooding parts of Australia and South America,” Bloomberg said. The CPC said La Nina produces broad changes to weather patterns that create ‘bigger wildfires’ and more tropical activity in certain parts of the Northern Hemisphere. “We’re already in a bad position, and La Nina puts us in a situation where fire-weather conditions persist into November and possibly even December,” said Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger LLC. “It is exacerbating existing heat and drought issues.”
500 000 forced to evacuate as massive wildfires rage through Oregon, U.S. -The number of people forced to evacuate their homes in Oregon rose to an estimated 500 000 by Friday, September 11, 2020. This is more than 10% of the state’s 4.2 million people and the number keeps growing.
- The fires have so far consumed a record 364 000 ha (900 000 acres) of land.
- The public is urged to check local county websites for information on evacuation orders, which may include email, cell phone text messages.
Governor Kate Brown said Thursday they have never experienced this amount of uncontained fire across the state.”These fires are unprecedented,” Brown said, adding that the state has seen an average of 202 000 ha (500 000 acres) burned each year. “We’ve [now] seen nearly double that in three days.”37 fires remained active as of Thursday evening, September 10, down from about 50 earlier in the week. Office of Emergency Management Director Andrew Phelps said the extensive number of fires, and their severity, have tapped out statewide resources. The agency is reaching out to emergency management agencies across the country for resources, assistance, and support. A state of emergency has been declared in Portland on Thursday, September 10, closing city parks and activating evacuation sites. At least 3 people have lost their lives – one in the Almeda Drive Fire, which devastated the towns of Phoenix and Talent. According to the Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler, the body was found near the fire’s point of origin. The cause of death is under criminal investigation.Two people died in Marion County where a complex of fires has burned whole canyons east of the Willamette River. According to local media reports, the victims were a 13-year-old boy and his grandmother. The boy’s mother is reportedly in a critical condition.
Death toll jumps to 15 as record wildfires continue raging in California, Oregon, and Washington, U.S. – At least 15 people have been killed in record-breaking wildfires burning through the western U.S. as of Friday, September 11, 2020, with California, Oregon, and Washington bearing the brunt of the blazes. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), there are 102 active large fires burning across over 1.6 million ha (4.3 million acres) of land.There are 24 massive fires reported in California, 16 each in Washington and Oregon, 11 in Idaho, 9 in Montana, 7 in Arizona, 6 in Colorado, 5 in Utah, 4 in Alaska, 2 in Wyoming, and 1 each in Nevada and New Mexico.Authorities retrieved seven bodies in Northern California on Thursday, September 10, raising the total number of fatalities in the state to 10. However, authorities feat the death toll in the state will rise as there are 16 people still missing.The August Complex Fire– one of the blazes in the area– is now considered the largest in the state’s history, according to Cal Fire.It has so far devoured over 190 000 ha (470 000 acres) of land and has only been 24 percent contained since it was triggered by lightning in mid-August.
Apocalyptic Scenes In Several States As Skies Turn Blood Red Like Mars — (video, pictures) Fires in Oregon, Washington, San Fransico, and other western states have caused the skies to be blood red giving off an apocalyptic glow across the Pacific states. Photos and videos shared across social media show the nightmarish conditions that the record-breaking fires have been causing in states including California, Oregon, and Washington: A Youtube video of a drone shows footage depicting areas destroyed by the fires with a red sky in San Francisco Bay, California. Drone Footage of California Wildfires Smoke 2:30pm San Francisco Bay Area CA – 9/9/20 – YouTube Another picture shows Oregon with a similar red tint in its skies hazy from the fires and smoke. Many are comparing the skies to the planet Mars, as thousands upon thousands of firefighters work to fight the thousands of fires, CBS News reported. Parts of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah are currently under critical and elevated risk according to the National Weather Service. Air quality in some regions has even reached hazardous levels. The New York Times reported on the fires, too: “In Oregon, thousands of people have evacuated their homes. In Washington State, a fire hit the town of Malden so quickly that deputies drove through the streets screaming for residents to leave. In Colorado, a 100,000-acre blaze was slowed only by a rare September snowstorm. And in California, residents are coping with the worst wildfires on record. Smoke blotted out the sun yesterday in San Francisco, and ash fluttered down from the sky. ‘The sky had a faint orange glow that some said evoked a nuclear winter,’ , ‘The smoke and the poor air quality are just oppressive.” According to NASA, the skies painted with a tint of red are a result of smoke particles, which block certain wavelength colors from the sun. “The smoke particles from the fires allow sunlight’s longer-wavelength colors like red and orange to get through while blocking the shorter wavelengths of yellow, blue and green,” NASA said. “Those longer wavelengths give the sky a red or orange tinted appearance. Similarly, during sunrise and sunset times when the sun is near the horizon, sunlight has to travel through more of Earth’s atmosphere to get to you. The additional atmosphere filters out the shorter wavelengths and allows the longer wavelengths to get through, providing reds and oranges during those times.” A regional air pollution control organization the Bay Area Air District. collaborated NASA’s claims stating that the apocalyptic skies are due to light being filtered through smoke from California’s worst fire season on record. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, shared a video on Twitter that shows what he guesses to be a “smoke cyclone.” Swain called it “a meteorological feature I don’t think I’ve seen before.” Wildfires have already burned a record 2.3 million acres in the state of California, making this wildfire season the most severe in modern history. Several other areas, including Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, also continue to experience uncontrollable blazes. According to data from the National Fire Interagency Center in an update posted on September 10th, there are currently, 102 large fires that have burned 4.4 million acres of land in 12 states. For a full list of large fires see the National Fire Interagency website here.
Wildfire burning ‘out of control’ at Vancouver Island ecological reserve — Firefighters are battling a wildfire that has erupted in an ecological reserve south of Nanaimo on Tuesday. The fire was discovered Tuesday afternoon in the Woodley Range Ecological Reserve. As of approximately 5:45 p.m., the fire was roughly 0.15 hectares large and considered “out of control,” according to Coastal Fire Centre information officer Donna MacPherson. MacPherson says that seven BC Wildfire Service firefighters and three helicopters are at the scene, as well as local fire departments. At this point, there is no estimate as to when the fire may come under control. Firefighters are expected to be “working until dusk” at which point they will reassess the situation, said MacPherson. The BC Wildfire Service suspects that the fire was human-caused. No structures are threatened because of the fire, said MacPherson.
Beirut Residents Warned Toxic Smoke Has Settled Over City Following New Port Fire – Coming a little over a month after the deadly Aug.4 ammonium nitrate blast which destroyed Beirut’s busy port and leveled entire neighborhoods in the surrounding downtown area, Thursday’s fire reportedly centered on an oil and tire storage depot at the same location sent residents panicking as they thought they were in for a repeat of the earlier blast which left over 190 dead and more than 6,000 injured.As of early Friday, Lebanese military and firefighting units have put out the blaze, but health organizations are now warning that the black smoke which thickly settled over the city is likely toxic. Residents are being told to protect themselves, and avoid venturing outdoors until the fumes clear. “Burning tires produce a lot of fine particulates, visible smoke and ash but also a lot of volatile organic pollutants that can be inhaled even outside the smoke plume,” the environmental Greenpeace said, according to local media.”The smoke can include highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds, black carbon and other particulates and acid gases,” the statement warned.The Beirut fire still not under control. The toxic fumes wrap around the city, 180 degrees, then head out to sea pic.twitter.com/tiCPv4Ldm5 – Liz Sly (@LizSly) September 10, 2020The Washington Post’s Liz Sly also observed that “the toxic fumes wrap around the city, 180 degrees, then head out to sea.”Lebanese atmospheric chemistry specialist Najat Saliba is also warning residents that given continued storage of unknown chemicals in the port area, the air is now potentially dangerous. Found at the port are explosives, highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid and “unknown” chemicals stored in open spaces without any high safety measures. Who is the person responsible and why did ministries of industry, environment and health allow this to happen? @khadditbeirut pic.twitter.com/nOLqxlRuBj
La Niña forms, could worsen hurricanes and wildfires – La Niña, the cooler sibling of El Niño, has arrived.And it could provide an additional boost to the already active Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters said, as well as extend the disastrous fire season in the West.The La Niña climate pattern – a natural cycle marked by cooler-than-average ocean water in the central Pacific Ocean – is one of the main drivers of weather in the U.S. and around the world, especially during the late fall, winter and early spring.Federal government forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced La Niña’s formation Thursday. NOAA said this year’s La Niña (translated from Spanish as “little girl”) is likely to persist through the winter. It’s the opposite pattern of El Niño (little boy), which features warmer-than-average ocean water. “La Niña can contribute to an increase in Atlantic hurricane activity by weakening the wind shear over the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Basin, which enables storms to develop and intensify,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.“The potential for La Niña development was factored into our updated Atlantic hurricane season outlook issued in August,” he added. In that outlook, forecasters predicted that as many as 25 storms could form in the Atlantic. Already, 17 have formed, including Hurricane Laura, which ravaged portions of southwestern Louisiana in August. As for its impact on the western fires, La Niña tends to bring dry weather across portions of California and much of the Southwest. “We’re already in a bad position, and La Niña puts us in a situation where fire-weather conditions persist into November and possibly even December,” Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger LLC, told Bloomberg News. “It is exacerbating existing heat and drought issues.” Already, over half of the state of California is in a drought, according to Thursday’sU.S. Drought Monitor. A typical La Niña winter in the U.S. brings rain and snow to the Northwest and unusually dry conditions to most of the southern tier of the U.S., according to the prediction center. The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic also tend to see warmer-than-average temperatures during a La Niña winter. Globally, La Niña often brings heavy rainfall to Indonesia, the Philippines, northern Australia and southern Africa.
New York City Residents Document Flooding for Community Project – Many of New York City’s coastal residents are plagued by flooding – during storms and on sunny days.”There are certain times of the year associated with the new and full moons where it brings higher-than-normal high tides. And with that, those tides can bring flooding into communities,” says Helen Cheng, a former coastal resilience extension specialist with New York Sea Grant and with the Science and Resilience Institute.She says in the Jamaica Bay watershed, flooding can block access to the subway station that people need to get to work from day to day.”Even services, sometimes – you know, the delivery of mail – can get impacted by water on the streets.”Cheng says tidal flooding is getting worse as sea levels rise, and it’s important to know how people are affected. So as part of the Community Flood Watch Project, residents document and report flooding.”There’s a lot of value in on-the-ground information and community data, right? Because they’re living in these places and experiencing these events 24/7,” she says. Cheng says the data improves flood warnings and sea-level-rise predictions, and it helps city leaders understand how flooding affects people’s lives.
River Nile in Sudan at highest levels since records began – A 3-month state of emergency has been declared in Sudan amid severe flooding described by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok as “catastrophic and painful.” More than 100 people have died, over 100 000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, and about half a million residents have been displaced since the start of the rainy season. On the island of Tuti, where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet to form the main Nile, water levels reached 17.57 m (57.6 feet) last week — the highest since records began more than 100 years ago. Sudan minister of labor and social development Lena el-Sheikh reported Saturday, September 5, that aside from more than 100 fatalitiesdue to severe flooding this year, around 46 people were injured and more than 100 000 houses partially or totally collapsed. Among the worst affected areas is the Eltomaniat Village in Khartoum, which has been completely submerged in floodwaters, according to the National Council for Civil Defense. The village had about 350 households, and all residents have been left homeless. “This isn’t the first time the Nile has flooded its banks, but those affected say it’s the worst they’ve ever seen,” Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said, adding that almost half a million residents have been displaced as a result.The Defense and Security Council was prompted to declare a three-month national state of emergency, designating Sudan a “natural disaster zone” due to the devastating floods. Meanwhile, PM Hamdok, who called the floods “catastrophic and painful,” said his administration is proactively working on how to deal with the floods in the future. Heavy rains are forecast to continue in Sudan through the month of September, as well as in neighboring Ethiopia.
At least 21 dead, thousands of homes destroyed or damaged after severe flooding hits Nigeria – At least 21 people have lost their lives while around 51 000 families have been displaced after severe flooding struck Nigeria following last week’s heavy downpours, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) reports. Heavy rains struck the state of Jigawa last week, damaging or destroying thousands of homes and displacing 51 000 families. The death toll has risen from 16 to 21, SEMA executive secretary Yusuf Sani reported Monday, September 7, noting that most of the victims were children. “We were providing all the necessary emergency reliefs to the affected victims, including, food, medicine, sugar, canoes, and temporary shelter,” he added. 17 of 27 local government areas of the state have been affected, with Gwaram, Birnin Kudu, Kirikasamma, and Gumel as the worst-hit. Wide swaths of farmlands were also washed away, and the crops that have been lost were worth billions of naira. At least 21 people have lost their lives while around 51 000 families have been displaced after severe flooding struck Nigeria following last week’s heavy downpours, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) reports. Heavy rains struck the state of Jigawa last week, damaging or destroying thousands of homes and displacing 51 000 families. The death toll has risen from 16 to 21, SEMA executive secretary Yusuf Sani reported Monday, September 7, noting that most of the victims were children. “We were providing all the necessary emergency reliefs to the affected victims, including, food, medicine, sugar, canoes, and temporary shelter,” he added. 17 of 27 local government areas of the state have been affected, with Gwaram, Birnin Kudu, Kirikasamma, and Gumel as the worst-hit. Wide swaths of farmlands were also washed away, and the crops that have been lost were worth billions of naira. “Even though we are yet to ascertain the extent of damage by the flood to the farmlands, we have on record that the farmers at the affected areas incurred colossal of their crops,” said Sani. “We have already deployed our assessment teams who are working round the clock to assess the extent of the loss incurred by our farmers and to report back to our office for further action.” Authorities assured that the state government has accommodated many victims in camps, and relief materials are being provided on a regular basis. The items include food, blankets, rubber mats, tents, clothes, buckets, and cooking utensils.
Deadly floods hit Burkina Faso and Ghana, West Africa (video) Severe flooding struck parts of Burkina Faso and Ghana this week, resulting in extensive property damage and at least 8 fatalities. Heavy rainfall has been affecting the West African countries since mid-August, displacing many residents. In Burkina Faso, heavy rainfall from September 4 triggered flooding in Kaya, Center-Nord, killing at least four people. Earlier flooding affected Ouagadougou following heavy downpours from August 30, which damaged numerous houses and properties. In Ghana, flooding swept through roads, bridges, homes, and farmland in the Northern and North East regions due to heavy rainfall and spillage from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso around mid-August. Electricity company SONABEL, which manages Bagre Dam, said the releases were necessary due to high water levels. Residents near the banks of the Black and White Volta rivers in Ghana were urged to evacuate. Floods from heavy rains around September 5 to 6 have caused property damage and at least four deaths in the North East. Two of the casualties were reported in the Bunkpurugu District and one each in the municipalities of West Mamprusi and East Mamprusi. Areas of Mamprugu Moagduri District have also been severely affected.
Deadly flash floods paralyze north Algeria, more than 800 homes inundated – Heavy rains from September 7 to 8, 2020, triggered flash floods in Algeria’s northern provinces, killing at least one person and leaving more than 800 homes inundated. A number of road accidents were also reported, causing major traffic disruption in at least five municipalities.One person, who was believed to be a child, died after being swept away by floodwaters in Mila, according to the Algeria Civil Protection.The flooding came as torrential rains hit the north, with Baraki recording 63 mm (2.5 inches) of rain in a 24-hour period.Elsewhere, rescue teams saved three people from a stranded vehicle in an inundated tunnel in Oum El Bouaghi. The civil protection also rescued several others trapped in floodwaters in Batna. Around 800 houses were affected by flooding in Boumerdes and 40 in Khenchela.In the capital Algiers, numerous road accidents were reported, paralyzing traffic across the city. Local media said torrential rains led to “congestion across Algiers’ main roads network.” Tunnels, residential buildings, and shops were flooded, “restricting people’s movement around the city.” Severe traffic disruption impacted at least five municipalities, including Sidi M’Hamed where two buildings partially collapsed.
200 000 people homeless after severe floods hit Far North, Cameroon – About 200 000 people remain homeless as of September 10, 2020, after severe floods struck the Far North Region of Cameroon. At least five fatalities have been reported, livestock and crops have been affected, and thousands of houses have been damaged or destroyed. Flood victim Souley Amadou told Koaci that the affected people have no shelter and sleep outside on the ground, asking the government to come to their aid. Another victim said they have nothing left to eat, and children were suffering the most. Some locals had to build their own makeshift camps. “We’re losing people, animals, onions, grain, the chickens, everything. The floods just take everything. We are left with nothing here in Merem.” Flooding has swept away livestock and damaged plantations. An embankment along the Logone River has also been washed away. Many bridges have collapsed, isolating some residents. Around 200 000 people have been left homeless as floods destroyed thousands of houses. Electricity has also been disrupted for days. “Today, we ask the public authorities to help the population of Merem, which is underwater and flooded. We even have displaced people, some of them have been resettled in Youma, Congeleo, Wideo, even in Kairoum,” local Issa Nassifou appealed. Further heavy rains are expected in Cameroon this week.
Exceptional rainfall and record floods hit African Sahel – Exceptionally heavy rains and record floods across West, Central, and East Africa have affected millions of people in recent weeks, with more than 200 people dead and hundreds of thousands left homeless. Unprecedented rainfall has destroyed homes and crops, adding to the already extremely difficult situation caused by historic locust outbreak and violent conflicts. Among that worst-hit this year by severe flooding are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Congo Republic, Sudan, and Senegal. At least 110 people were killed in 11 countries of West and Central Africa, and more than 760 000 affected. Of those, 71 have been killed in Niger. The worst affected country is Sudan, with at least 102 fatalities and tens of thousands of houses damaged or destroyed, the interior ministry reported. The Eltomaniat Village in Khartoum has been badly hit as floodwaters completely submerged the area. Around 350 families resided in the village, who have all been left homeless when the flooding struck. “There has never been so much destruction,” said one resident from the state.
Widespread floods affect 2.5 million people, over 1 million acres of crops in Sindh, Pakistan – (video) Record rainfall and resulting floods in Pakistan’s Sindh Province have affected nearly 2.5 million people and over 405 000 ha (1 million acres) of crops since the start of the rainy season. In total, 15 000 villages were inundated, more than 77 000 homes destroyed and over 137 000 damaged.According to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the most affected district in the province is Mirpurkhas, with 931 901 people affected, followed by Umerkot, with 697 900 people. Mirpurkhas is dependent on agriculture and livestock, with most of the population living in extreme poverty.Heavy rains caused the Chenab and Indus rivers to burst their banks, forcing residents in districts such as Khaipur, Jamshoro and near the Guddu Barrage to evacuate. In Rahim Yar Khan, more than a dozen villages were submerged after the Indus River became swollen.In Khairpur, more than 1 000 people were trapped and forced to help themselves as government aid reportedly did not reach the area on time. People in Jamshoro also suffered the same situation. Provincial management officials warned that floods in Guddu Barrage are expected to increase on September 10. “A high alert has been issued, camps have been formed, and patrolling in these areas has been increased,” said engineer Aftab Khoso.It’s not just that people’s homes have been destroyed,” Jahangir Junejo, a landlord in the Sindhri tehsil of Mirpurkhas district, told Dawn.com.”Standing crops on thousands of acres have been wiped out. Now, the landlords have suffered heavy losses and the farmers have no work,” he explained, adding that villagers were literally dying of hunger.In addition to floods, the region is now battling huge mosquitos. “They are killing our livestock,” another resident said. “They are unlike any you may have seen. They are bigger than the house fly and don’t even move when you shoo them away.” “This is a sorry sight,” said a resident of Abu Bakr Junejo village, Mirpurkhas. “The people of this region always buried their dead, even the livestock. But now they are dying in such numbers that they are forced to abandon the bodies on the roadside.”
Tropical Storm “Rene” moving across Cabo Verde Tropical Storm “Rene” formed at 21:00 UTC on September 7, 2020, as the 17th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Rene is also the earliest forming 17th Atlantic named storm on record, breaking the old record set by Rita on September 18, 2005. The storm is moving across Cabo Verde today, bringing locally heavy rain and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. At the time Rene was officially named, its center was located about 180 km (115 miles) E of the Cabo Verde. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h (45 mph) and was moving WNW at 19 km/h (12 mph). Tropical Storm Warning was issued for the entire state.
Seven ‘Disturbances’ Swirl In Atlantic As Experts Brace For Active Late Season – On Thursday, we outlined the La Nina weather pattern has likely been the culprit behind dangerous wildfires in the western U.S., and, as we highlighted as early as Aug. 13, the ‘super active‘ hurricane season. As Bloomberg describes, La Nina “triggers an atmospheric chain reaction that stands to roil weather around the globe, often turning the western U.S. into a tinder box, fueling more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and flooding parts of Australia and South America.” While we have covered the wildfire situation in the western U.S. – it’s now time to turn our attention back to a meteorological dilemma developing in the Atlantic basin. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is tracking seven systems – yes – seven systems – which were highlighted in their Thursday morning tropical update: “This is what September 10, the peak of the hurricane season, looks like! We are monitoring 7 systems in the Atlantic, including Tropical Storms Paulette and Rene. The tropical waves in the eastern Atlantic have the highest chances of formation,” NHC said in a Twitter post.Two of the disturbances are named storms, called Paulette and Rene, are both traversing the central Atlantic Ocean heading west-north-west. The other five systems are described as disturbances that have yet to become storms but should be watched carefully over the next five days. Three of the disturbances, located on the map below, are highlighted in yellow, situated near the U.S. The Atlantic hurricane season tends to peak around Sept. 10, but with La Nina conditions formed, it suggests the back half of the season could remain very active. “Typically, what ends Atlantic hurricane seasons is that vertical wind shear gets too strong,” said Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University, who spoke with CNN. “So, El Niño, via its impacts on vertical wind shear, has a stronger impact on September and especially October hurricanes than it does on August hurricanes. With La Niña, vertical wind shear tends to be lower, and consequently, we end up with more active late seasons. Some are likening this year’s La Nina as the ‘La Nina from hell.’
Hurricane Watch Issued for Parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as T.S. Sally Leaves Florida — Tropical Storm Sally is moving through the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Florida and the Gulf Coast through the weekend and into next week, potentially as a hurricane. A hurricane watch has been issued from southeastern Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and metropolitan New Orleans. Hurricane conditions are possible in this area by early Tuesday. A tropical storm watch has also been expanded westward to the Alabama/Florida border and currently includes the Florida panhandle eastward to the Ochlockonee River in the Florida Big Bend, including Apalachicola and Panama City. Tropical-storm-force winds are possible there by Sunday night or Monday morning. Tropical storm watches also are in effect for portions of central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. Sally has been producing scattered showers and thunderstorms over central and southern Florida with bands of rain expected through the evening and overnight hours. Lower Matacumbe Key in the Middle Florida Keys has received 8-12 inches of rain since early Saturday morning. Marathon, Florida set a new September daily rainfall record by 5 p.m. Saturday with more than 6 inches of rainfall. The record has been in place for more than 60 years. Key West set a daily rainfall record dating back to 1924. These bands of rain are bringing gusty conditions to South Florida. Wind gusts of 40-55 mph were recorded from Boca Raton to Miami Beach Saturday morning.
New Tropical Depression Forms in an Active East Atlantic Ocean- Two areas in the eastern Atlantic also being watched for the possible formation of a tropical depression this week. One of them may cross the Atlantic and become a threat to the northeastern Caribbean We’re watching a new tropical depression and one other tropical wave moving westward from the coast of Africa. Tropical Depression 20 formed Saturday evening around 2000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It is expected to intensify but will move into the open Central Atlantic over the next five days. When this system becomes a tropical storm, it will gain the name “Teddy.” Another tropical wave is located near the Cabo Verde Islands, which will get drenched over the next day or two as the wave moves through.Conditions may be favorable for some gradual development of this system as it moves slowly northwestward over the far eastern Atlantic early next week. We’re also watching Tropical Storm Sally in the Gulf of Mexico. The forecast for this potential hurricane threat for the Gulf Coast can be found here.. The 2005 hurricane season previously held the record earliest “P”, “R”, “S” storms, Philippe on Sept. 17 and Rita on Sept. 18 and Stan on Oct. 2, respectively. After Sally, only three names are left in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season names list. Additional storms after “Wilfred” would be named after letters in the Greek alphabet starting with “Alpha”. That has happened only once before, in the 2005 hurricane season.
Think 2020’s disasters are wild? Experts see worse in future – A record amount of California is burning, spurred by a nearly 20-year mega-drought. To the north, parts of Oregon that don’t usually catch fire are in flames. Meanwhile, the Atlantic’s 16th and 17th named tropical storms are swirling, a record number for this time of year. Powerful Typhoon Haishen lashed Japan and the Korean Peninsula this week. Last month it hit 130 degrees in Death Valley, the hottest Earth has been in nearly a century. Phoenix keeps setting triple-digit heat records, while Colorado went through a weather whiplash of 90-degree heat to snow this week. Siberia, famous for its icy climate, hit 100 degrees earlier this year, accompanied by wildfires. Before that Australia and the Amazon were in flames. Amid all that, Iowa’s derecho – bizarre straight-line winds that got as powerful as a major hurricane, causing billions of dollars in damages – barely went noticed. Freak natural disasters – most with what scientists say likely have a climate change connection – seem to be everywhere in the crazy year 2020. But experts say we’ll probably look back and say those were the good old days, when disasters weren’t so wild. “It’s going to get A LOT worse,” Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb said Wednesday. “I say that with emphasis because it does challenge the imagination. And that’s the scary thing to know as a climate scientist in 2020.” “I strongly believe we’re going to look back in 10 years, certainly 20 and definitely 50 and say, ‘Wow, 2020 was a crazy year, but I miss it,’” Waleed Abdalati, NASA’s former chief scientist, said. That’s because what’s happening now is just the type of crazy climate scientists anticipated 10 or 20 years ago. “It seems like this is what we always were talking about a decade ago,” said North Carolina State climatologist Kathie Dello.
Earth May Temporarily Pass Dangerous 1.5℃ Warming Limit by 2024, Major New Report Finds — The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit global warming to 1.5℃ this century. A new report by the World Meteorological Organization warns this limit may be exceeded by 2024 – and the risk is growing. This first overshoot beyond 1.5℃ would be temporary, likely aided by a major climate anomaly such as an El Niño weather pattern. However, it casts new doubt on whether Earth’s climate can be permanently stabilized at 1.5℃ warming.This finding is among those just published in a report titled United in Science. We contributed to the report, which was prepared by six leading science agencies, including the Global Carbon Project.The report also found while greenhouse gas emissions declined slightly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they remained very high – which meant atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have continued to rise.Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), have all increased over the past decade. Current concentrations in the atmosphere are, respectively, 147%, 259% and 123% of those present before the industrial era began in 1750. Concentrations measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory and at Australia’s Cape Grim station in Tasmania show concentrations continued to increase in 2019 and 2020. In particular, CO₂ concentrations reached 414.38 and 410.04 parts per million in July this year, respectively, at each station. Growth in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel use slowed to around 1% per year in the past decade, down from 3% during the 2000s. An unprecedented decline is expected in 2020, due to the COVID-19 economic slowdown. Daily CO₂ fossil fuel emissions declined by 17% in early April at the peak of global confinement policies, compared with the previous year. But by early June they had recovered to a 5% decline.We estimate a decline for 2020 of about 4-7% compared to 2019 levels, depending on how the pandemic plays out. Although emissions will fall slightly, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will still reach another record high this year. This is because we’re still adding large amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere.
UN report: Increased warming closing in on agreed upon limit – The world is getting closer to passing a temperature limit set by global leaders five years ago and may exceed it in the next decade or so, according to a new United Nations report. In the next five years, the world has nearly a 1-in-4 chance of experiencing a year that’s hot enough to put the global temperature at 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial times, according to a new science update released Wednesday by the U.N., World Meteorological Organization and other global science groups. That 1.5 degrees Celsius is the more stringent of two limits set in 2015 by world leaders in the Paris climate change agreement. A 2018 U.N. science report said a world hotter than that still survives, but chances of dangerous problems increase tremendously. The report comes on the heels of a weekend of weather gone wild around the U.S.: Scorching heat, record California wildfires and two more Atlantic storms that set records for earliest 16th and 17th named storms.Earlier this year, Death Valley hit 130 degrees (54.4 degrees Celsius) and Siberia hit 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius). The warming that has already occurred has “increased the odds of extreme events that are unprecedented in our historical experience,” Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh said.
Svalbard experienced hottest summer on record – Glaciers are melting, permafrost thaws and buildings are sagging. What scares the scientists most is studies of decomposing carbon from beneath the ground being emitted to the atmosphere as CO2 or methane. These greenhouse gases will then contribute to further climate changes, causing more Arctic permafrost to melt. Such self-reinforcing cycle, called the permafrost carbon feedback, is now studied at several locations at Svalbard. “Core samples from Janssonhaugen shows an increase in temperatures of more than 2°C at a depth of 10 meters. Measurements of the temperatures show a steady increase over the last 20 years,” Isaksen tells. The researchers have made one drilling to 102 meters depth and another 15 meters down in the permafrost. “This summer has been extreme,” Average temperatures for June, July and August have varied from year. Until about 1990, this variation was typically 0,5 to 1°C with some single years 1,5°C over or under the normal. In the 1990s, a clear change was observed, and after 1997 the researchers have not registered a single summer with a mean temperature under the normal. The summers are getting warmer and warmer and 2020 was exceptional. New all-time high was measured at Longyearbyen airport on July 25 with 21,7°C. Permafrost at Svalbard has entered the era of megamelt, and together with Russia’s Arctic coast, no other places on the earth warms faster. Also the sea ice in the surrounding Arctic Ocean experiences melting at a rate much faster than previous climate models predicted. As of September 1, Arctic sea ice extent stood at 4,26 million square kilometers, the second lowest extent for that date in the satellite recordings that started in 1979, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center. International climate scientists are following developments on Svalbard with scare. Permafrost contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, and with thawing permafrost, more and more of the CO2 and methane are emitted as the organic material previously frozen start to decompose. Releasing of carbon from the permafrost will contribute additionally to warming climate.
Growing Underwater Heat Blob Is Speeding Demise of Arctic Sea Ice – A recent Science Magazine feature blamed an underwater heat blob for exacerbating sea ice loss as it proclaimed what many Arctic scientists already know: Arctic sea ice is racing toward its demise.Even without the blob, ice levels were already catastrophically low.”There can be little doubt that the vast majority of Earth’s ice loss is a direct consequence of climate warming,” UK scientists from Leeds and Edinburgh universities and University College London researching the massive ice loss wrote in their review paper, The Guardian reported.One study from the University of Copenhagen determined that Arctic sea ice is melting faster than climatemodels had predicted because they use a “slow and steady” temperature increase model for the Arctic, but warming is actually happening at a more rapid pace, reported Barron’s. The Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe, a different study found, and this is speeding sea ice loss.”We have been clearly underestimating the rate of temperature increases in the atmosphere nearest to the sea level, which has ultimately caused sea ice to disappear faster than we had anticipated,” University of Copenhagen professor and researcher Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen told Barron’s.The last time the Arctic Ocean saw such unusually high temperatures was during the previous ice age, Barron’s reported. Christensen warned that scientists had yet to realize the significance of this steep temperature rise, Futurity reported.”We have looked at the climate models analyzed and assessed by the UN Climate Panel. Only those models based on the worst-case scenario, with the highest carbon dioxide emissions, come close to what our temperature measurements show over the past 40 years, from 1979 to today,” Christensen told Futurity.
Monitoring the Arctic Heatwave: Alarmingly High Temperatures, Extreme Wildfires and a Significant Loss of Sea Ice – Over the past months, the Arctic has experienced alarmingly high temperatures, extreme wildfires and a significant loss of sea ice. While hot summer weather is not uncommon in the Arctic, the region is warming at two to three times the global average – impacting nature and humanity on a global scale. The Northern Hemisphere saw its hottest July since records began – surpassing the previous record set in 2019.The Russian town of Verkhoyansk, which lies above the Arctic Circle, recorded a staggering 38°C. Extreme air temperatures were also recorded in northern Canada. On 11 August, Nunavut’s Eureka Station, located in the Canadian Arctic at 80 degrees north latitude, recorded a high of 21.9°C – which were reported as being the highest temperature ever recorded so far north. The image above shows the land surface temperature recorded on 11 August around Eureka. Although heatwaves in the Arctic are not uncommon, the persistent higher-than-average temperatures this year have potentially devastating consequences for the rest of the world. Firstly, the high temperatures fuelled an outbreak of wildfires in the Arctic Circle. Images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission show some of the fires in the Chukotka region, the most north-easterly region of Russia, on 23 June 2020. Wildfire smoke releases a wide range of pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and solid aerosol particles. In June alone, the Arctic wildfires were reported to have emitted the equivalent of 56 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, as well as significant amounts of carbon monoxide and particulate matter. These wildfires affect radiation, clouds and climate on a regional, and global, scale. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report, permafrost temperatures have increased to record-high levels from the 1980s to present. Although satellite sensors cannot measure permafrost directly, a recent project by ESA’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI), combined in situ data with satellite measurements of land-surface temperature and land cover to estimate permafrost extent in the Arctic. The thaw of permafrost is also said to have caused the collapse of the oil tank that leaked over 20,000 tonnes of oil into rivers near the city of Norilsk, Russia, in May.
‘Zombie Fires’ fuel sky-high carbon emissions in the Arctic – “Zombie” wildfires that were smoldering beneath the Arctic ice all winter suddenly flared to life this summer when the snow and ice above it melted, new monitoring data reveals, making this summer’s wildfires the worst on record. In early May, just as the spring thaw was beginning in the northern reaches of Siberia, Mark Parrington spotted something strange on images captured by instruments aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Lots of red dots stood out, indicating some kind of thermal anomaly on a vast white expanse. Thomas Smith, an assistant professor in environmental geography at the London School of Economics, quickly noticed that the hot spots were located in areas that had burned in last year’s epic Arctic fires. “Whatever they are (land clearance? natural?) they were occurring at the same time last year,” Smith wrote, posting a picture of the same location from 2019. “Zombie fires?” Parrington replied. And thus was born a new “catchier” name for what is usually called “holdover or overwintering fires” by fire managers. The name is synonymous with the real danger these fires are causing, though. Once the fires are extinguished at the surface, they can continue to smolder underground, burning through peat and other organic matter. Fueled by methane and insulated by the snow – they can burn all winter long. As temperatures begin to climb in the spring and the soil dries out, the fires can reignite aboveground.This has been the worst year on record for Arctic wildfires, dating back to when monitoring began 17 years ago. In the first half of July, as much carbon was released as a nation the size of C uba or Tunisia releases in a year. The smoke plumes were so large, they covered the equivalent of more than one-third of Canada.”The destruction of peat by fire is troubling for so many reasons,” Dorothy Peteet, a a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said. “As the fires burn off the top layers of peat, the permafrost depth may deepen, further oxidizing the underlying peat.”Copernicus estimates that between January and August of 2020, the fires released 244 megatonnes of carbon. That is more carbon than was released in Vietnam for the whole year in 2017.
Land in Russia’s Arctic Blows ‘Like a Bottle of Champagne’ – A natural phenomenon first observed by scientists just six years ago and now recurring with alarming frequency in Siberia is causing the ground to explode spontaneously and with tremendous force, leaving craters up to 100 feet deep.When Yevgeny Chuvilin, a Moscow-based geologist with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, arrived this summer at the rim of the latest blast site, called Crater 17, “it left quite an impression,” he said.The pit plunged into darkness, surrounded by the table-flat, featureless tundra. As Mr. Chuvilin stood looking in, he said, slabs of dirt and ice occasionally peeled off the permafrost of the crater wall and tumbled in.“It was making noises. It was like something alive,” Mr. Chuvilin said.While initially a mystery, scientists have established that the craters appearing in the far north of western Siberia are caused by subterranean gases, and the recent flurry of explosions is possibly related to global warming, Mr. Chuvilin said.Since the first site was found in 2014, Russian geologists have located 16 more on the Yamal and Gydansk peninsulas, two slender fingers of land stretching into the Arctic Ocean.Mr. Chuvilin said the conditions causing the explosions, which are still not fully understood, are probably specific to the geology of the area, as similar craters have not appeared elsewhere in Siberia or in permafrost zones in Canada and Alaska that are also affected by global warming.The explosions occur underneath small hills or hummocks on the tundra where gas from decaying organic matter is trapped underground.Contained beneath a layer of ice above and permafrost all around, the gas creates pressure that elevates the overlying soil. The explosions occur when the pressure rises or the ice layer thaws and breaks suddenly. Though the Russian government is encouraging oil, natural gas and mining ventures in the far north, the area is still too sparsely populated for the explosions to pose much risk, Mr. Chuvilin said. Reindeer herder communities had passed along tales of such eruptions before 2014, said Mr. Chuvilin, but Soviet and later Russian scientists had not documented any instances in earlier years. They have likely been rare occurrences until recently. Global warming is heating the Arctic faster than the rest of Earth. “The permafrost is actually not very permanent, and it never was,” Mr. Chuvilin said. Within a year or two of erupting, the craters fill with water and appear no more suspicious than small lakes.
Greenhouse gases hit new record despite lockdowns, UN says – (Reuters) – Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere hit a record high this year, a United Nations report showed on Wednesday, as an economic slowdown amid the coronavirus pandemic had little lasting effect. The sharp, but short, dip earlier this year represented only a blip in the build-up of climate-warming carbon dioxide, now at its highest level in 3 million years. “We have seen a drop in the emissions this year because of the COVID crisis and lockdowns in many countries … but this is not going to change the big picture,” Petteri Taalas, head of the World Meteorological Organization, a U.N. agency based in Geneva, told Reuters Television. “We have continued seeing records in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.” While daily emissions fell in April by 17% relative to the previous year, those were still on a par with 2006 – underlining how much emissions have grown in recent years. And by early June, as factories and offices reopened, emissions were back up to within 5% of 2019 levels, according to the report by several U.N. agencies. Even if 2020 emissions are lower than last year’s output by up to 7%, as expected, what is released will still contribute to the long-term accumulation since the industrial era.
IEA calls for ‘dramatic’ scaling up of clean energy tech to meet climate goals –A “dramatic” scaling up of clean energy technologies will be required if the world is to reach its climate and energy goals, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a report published on Thursday, the Paris-based body said that while calls to cut greenhouse gas emissions were “growing louder every year,” emissions were still at levels it described as being “unsustainably high.” “Global CO2 emissions are set to fall in 2020 because of the Covid-19 crisis, but without structural changes to the energy system, this decline will be only temporary,” the IEA added. The Energy Technology Perspectives 2020 report explained that solely focusing on moving the world’s power sector to clean energy sources would not be enough to achieve net zero emissions. Sectors ranging from transport and industry to buildings would also be required to transition toward these types of technologies, it said. A focus on electrification would be needed alongside other technologies such as bioenergy, carbon capture and hydrogen, it added. In a statement issued alongside the report on Thursday, the IEA emphasized the importance of hydrogen. The organization said it was, “expected to play a large and varied role in helping the world reach net-zero emissions by forming a bridge between the power sector and industries where the direct use of electricity would be challenging, such as steel and shipping.” The IEA’s report came on the same day that data out of the United States showed how the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect the renewable energy sector in some parts of the country. The U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2020 report, citing data compiled by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, said 3.5 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity was installed in the second quarter of 2020, a 6% fall compared to installations in the first three months of the year. Breaking the figures down, installations in the residential section of the industry saw a drop of 23%, while the non-residential sector saw a quarter-over-quarter decline of 12%. In an announcement, the SEIA put these drops down to “restrictions and shelter-in-place orders imposed to curb the pandemic.” Austin Perea, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, noted that the impact of the pandemic on residential installations had “varied substantially by geography.” “States with more restrictive stay-at-home orders saw significant declines in quarterly solar additions, whereas states with less restrictive stay-at-home directives – such as Arizona and Texas – saw marginal if any decline in quarterly installations,” Perea added.
Delaware sues Exxon, Chevron and BP for role in climate change -The Delaware attorney general on Tuesday sued 31 fossil fuel companies, including Exxon, Chevron and BP, accusing them of deceiving the public about the role their products play in causing climate change and damaging the state’s environment….Attorney General Kathy Jennings said at a press briefing the companies engaged in a decadeslong coordinated campaign to mislead the public out of greed. The complaint filed by Jennings says the companies have known for more than 50 years that pollution caused by their products would adversely impact the Earth’s climate and sea level. It seeks compensation for current and future damages and penalties of $10,000 for each instance in which the defendants violated the Consumer Fraud Act since the mid-20th century. “This is not about stopping climate change,” Jennings said. “This is about Delaware surviving it.” As the country’s lowest-lying state, Delaware is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change wrought by an increase of greenhouse gas pollution and increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past several decades.
Hoboken, New Jersey Sues Oil Industry for Climate Impacts From its ‘Deceptive Actions’ — New Jersey has now joined the wave of lawsuits seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate impacts. The city of Hoboken today filed a case against major oil and gas companies and the American Petroleum Institute (API), a powerful industry trade group which has played a major role in promoting “uncertainty” about climate science.The lawsuit seeks to recover costs associated with climate impacts like extreme flooding and sea level rise. Like other climate liability lawsuits targeting fossil fuel companies, Hoboken’s suit alleges that the oil and gas companies and their lobbying group not only knew early on about the climate harms resulting from their products, but actively engaged in campaigns of deception to undermine climate science and avoid policy responses.“Here in Hoboken, we are now paying the price for these deceptive actions,” Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla said during a press conference held Wednesday, September 2. “We cannot sit idly by and let Big Oil continue profiting at the expense of Hoboken residents.”Defendants named in the Hoboken lawsuit include BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Phillips 66, plus the largest trade association in the U.S. for oil and gas, API. This lawsuit is the second climate case in recent months targeting API specifically. The Big Oil trade association is also a defendant in a lawsuit filed June 24 by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Hoboken’s lawsuit points to the long history of the oil and gas industry’s knowledge of the potentially damaging impacts of its products on the climate, and the differences between what they came to say about the issue publicly versus privately over time. It cites Frank Ikard, API President in 1965, when he delivered a dire warning about a report on climate change during an oil industry conference: “[T]here is still time to save the world’s peoples from the catastrophic consequences of pollution, but the time is running out.”
Two dozen N.J. elected officials urge Murphy to sue oil companies – – A bipartisan group of two dozen New Jersey elected officials, from a former governor to small town council members, are urging Gov. Phil Murphy to sue oil and gas companies over the impacts of climate change. The group took out a full-page ad in Thursday’s editions of The Star-Ledger in an effort to publicly pressure Murphy into taking action. The ad argues that New Jersey will need $25 billion to protect against sea level rise alone – a figure that comes from the advocacy group Center for Climate Integrity – and pushes for the governor to force oil companies to pay up. “Our state will need to spend $25 billion to protect our families, homes, and businesses from sea level rise – and that’s just the beginning,” the ad reads. “New Jerseyans want Governor Murphy to take oil and gas companies to court to make them pay their fair share.” The message is lead by former Gov. Richard Codey, a Democrat who now represents parts of Essex County in the state Senate, and seven other state lawmakers: […] The state lawmakers are joined by freeholders from Atlantic and Union counties; the mayors of Dunellen, Kenilworth, Roselle Park, Garwood and Fanwood; and local council members from nine different towns. The officials were joined by 68 different organizations, including religious groups and environmental advocates.
CARBON CAPTURE: EPA hands Wyo. authority over CO2 injection wells — Tuesday, September 8, 2020 EPA has granted Wyoming new authority to regulate carbon dioxide injection wells as the state looks for ways to capture emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The Fed Invested Public Money in Fossil Fuel Firms Driving Environmental Racism – Alexis Goldstein -In April, the price of oil fell so far so fast that oil futures contracts went negative. Oil prices have recovered somewhat, but not enough to ever return the industry to its prior state. Analysts predict the U.S. has reached peak oil production and will never again “return to the record 13 million barrels of oil per day reached in November 2019.” ExxonMobil, which has been a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average market index for 92 years, was removed last week and replaced with the software firm Salesforce. But while financial analysts sound the alarm about this dying industry, the Federal Reserve has been buying up the debt of fossil fuel companies through a pandemic emergency program. We the public, together with the Fed, now own over $315 million in bonds of fossil fuel firms, including those with a track record of environmental racism.Among the many Fed rescue programs is the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF), which buys corporate debt of companies. The program is supporting fossil fuel corporations in notably disproportionate numbers: More than 10 percent of the Fed’s bond purchases are fossil fuel companies, even though fossil fuel firms only employ 2 percent of all workers employed by firms in the S&P 1500 stock market index.These bonds are effectively a public investment because the Fed is leveraging $25 billion from the CARES Act as a down payment for the SMCCF’s bond purchases. Together with the Fed, the public now holds the corporate bonds of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Phillips 66 and Noble Energy. And it seems likely the Fed will be holding these fossil fuel bonds until they mature – up to five years into the future for some of them – based on comments Fed Chair Jerome Powell made to Congress.
Governor awaits info on rumored Trump announcement on ethanol – Radio Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds says she cannot confirm what the Trump Administration may be planning to announce regarding oil company waivers from ethanol blending requirements. During a stop in Atlantic this afternoon, Reynolds said she saw the Reuters report on Tuesday evening that indicated Trump has directed the EPA to deny waivers the oil industry requested in previous years. “We’re waiting for verification, so I hope it’s true,” Reynolds said. “It’s good news, but we’re waiting to see.” The EPA has yet to announce its decision on dozens of oil industry requests to be excused from the federal mandate that a certain amount of ethanol be blended into gasoline each year. These so-called “gap year” waivers date back to 2011. The oil industry just filed a request for the U.S. Supreme Court to review a circuit court decision that the EPA has failed to follow federal law when granting past waivers. There’s also a separate batch of ethanol waivers for 2019 and 2020 and Reuters reporting does not indicate the president’s rumored directive would apply to those.
Connecticut weighs options for making electric vehicle rebates more equitable – The new board overseeing Connecticut’s electric vehicle rebate program is grappling with how best to restructure the program to incorporate used vehicles and attract more low- to moderate-income purchasers.A proposal currently under consideration maintains the current point-of-sale rebates of $1,500 for new electric vehicles with a battery range of more than 200 miles, and $500 for all others. For the first time, a supplemental rebate of $1,500 to $2,000 would be available to income-eligible households. But many of the 100-plus public comments submitted last month in response to that proposal argued that the base rebate amounts are too low, especially as compared to neighboring states. “They’re terrible,” said Barry Kresch, one of the leaders of the EV Club of Connecticut. Those levels have been in place since last October, when funding for the program, called the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program, or CHEAPR, was running low. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection decided to lower the rebates to stretch the funding out until 2020.
More Vermont solar companies looking to help pollinators – Vermont’s solar farm developers are becoming more enamored with having sites double as habitat for bees and other pollinators. According to Renewable Energy Vermont, this summer, Green Lantern Solar built its 20th pollinator-friendly site on a 4.5 acre property in New Haven. The company worked with Bee the Change, an organization based around Middlebury that works with solar developers to plant wildflowers and the like around solar farms. “When we started in 2015, there really wasn’t much of a sense that pollinators were important or in trouble,” said Bee the Change founder Mike Kiernan. He said the hardships being faced by well-known “ambassador” species, such as honeybees and monarch butterflies, helped change that, along with studies and surveys backed by the United Nations showing troubling declines in bee populations in North America and Europe. Kiernan said that 25 years ago one could find 17 species of bumblebee in Vermont, the most prevalent among them being the rusty patched bumblebee, which is endangered along with several others. “Of those 17 species we had 25 years ago now we’re down to 10, and of the seven that are endangered four are gone,” said Kiernan. “It doesn’t matter what you build for habitat, they’re not coming back, and that’s an unprecedented rate of loss during the human time on this planet.” Pollinators like bees are considered a “keystone” species, meaning they fill a role that many other species benefit from or depend on. “This U.N. survey indicates this crisis is of equal importance as climate change when you look at the future of our food security and quality of life on the planet,” said Kiernan. He said he’s pleased solar developers are interested in doing this work, since the longer it takes to become widespread, the fewer pollinators there will be to benefit from it.
Ohio sets hearing for $214 million Pickaway Solar Project – The Ohio Power Siting Board has scheduled an Oct. 22 public hearing on a 199.6-megawatt solar farm in Pickaway County in south-central Ohio, Kallanish Energy reports. The $214 million project will occupy about 1,375 acres within a larger 2,276-acre tract for the alternating current facility. The solar farm is being developed by Atlanta Farms Solar Project LLC, a subsidiary of Savion LLC. It will be located in Deer Creek and Perry townships near the village of Williamsport. The facility is expected to begin service in 2022. It will produce enough electricity to power about 70,000 homes. The project will create 575 construction jobs and up to five full-time permanent jobs.
Wisconsin lawmakers seek review of power line impact on Upper Mississippi refuge – Two Wisconsin lawmakers are calling on federal officials to reexamine the impacts of a controversial power line on the Mississippi River and surrounding national refuge. In separate letters, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, questioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plans to grant an easement through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge for the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line.The high-voltage line would use 14 towers – up to 20 stories high – to carry wires along a 260-foot-wide corridor through the refuge from the Turkey River bottoms in Iowa to the site of a former power plant north of Cassville.The project would disturb about 39 acres of the 240,000-acre refuge.Baldwin said her primary concern is the harm to migratory birds and that the chosen route does not minimize the impacts. “The final Environmental Impact Statement notes that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not have a preferred environmental alternative,” Baldwin wrote. “There were no route alternatives in the final selection that would have avoided the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge, so the managers of this natural resource were selecting among options with negative impacts.”Kind noted the refuge’s status as an internationally recognized flyway for migratory birds and its popularity with the public, attracting more than 3.7 million visitors a year.Kind called on the Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a “full and fair analysis” of routes that don’t cut through the refuge.“The purpose of Congress creating Refuges is to provide protection against development and incursions,” Kind wrote. The Fish and Wildlife Service has determined the power line is a “compatible use” of the refuge, and the right-of-way permit is expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
Utilities: Mandating outage fixes within three days would drive up electric rates – Connecticut’s largest electric utilities warned Tuesday that forcing them to pay refunds to customers after prolonged outages would dramatically drive up rates for all households. Eversource and United Illuminating also warned the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee that to restore most major outages within 72 hours would require significant staffing increases – another recipe for higher consumer costs. “It’s going to have devastating cost impacts on customers going forward,” James J. Judge, chairman, president and CEO of Eversource Energy, testified via teleconference Tuesday. “The consequences are very daunting.” And if utilities were forced to reverse most major outages within 72 hours – or face more financial penalties – it would have to add thousands of staffers, also at ratepayers’ expense. Tuesday’s committee hearing was to review a bill drafted in response to Tropical Storm Isaias – the August 4 event that caused nearly 1 million power outages in Connecticut – and the major utilities’ handling of the recovery. The measure freezes electric rates while directing the state’s Public Utility Regulatory Agency to craft new “performance-based regulations” and rates by September 2022.
What’s Ailing California’s Electric System? – California made headlines for all the wrong reasons recently with widespread rolling power outages in the middle of a heat wave and a pandemic. These blackouts were not an accident – they were intentionally scheduled by the grid operator, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), due to a shortage of resources available to keep the lights on.The California blackouts led to a frenzy of hot takes and finger-pointing based on instant diagnoses of the problems. The situation is like a Rorschach test on which people superimpose their preconceptions about energy. Opponents of renewable energy, including President Donald Trump, blame the outages on California’s use of solar and wind to decarbonize their power supply. Others have jumped to the conclusion that this must be a recurrence of Enron-type market manipulation as in the 2001 energy crisis. Still others have offered silver bullets based on whatever they are selling.It is important to diagnose the problem correctly so that we don’t administer the wrong medicine. While a full examination should be done, some causes can preliminarily be ruled out. There is no evidence so far that market manipulation was afoot. There is also no evidence that California’s solar and wind generation did not perform as designed. Wholesale markets in other regions of the country are delivering increasing amounts of renewable energy and keeping the lights on. I think California has four “preexisting conditions” that need to be addressed to avoid this happening again.
- 1. Lack of clear accountability for having the resources to keep the lights on. In California, the roles of the CAISO and the state regulators to keep the lights on are quite tangled. CAISO has the job of dispatching power plants but has little authority to ensure they get built. Lining up enough resources is largely under the supervision of state regulators. In other words, the buck stops nowhere.
- 2. Lack of resources to balance solar and wind power. These “balancing” resources can be gas-fired plants, pumped water or battery storage, hydroelectric power, or the collective actions of homes and businesses to move their consumption to different times of the day. California does not have enough of these resources. See problem #1 – someone needs to be in charge.
- 3. Closing disfavored resources before opening the new ones. California has been decisive about what resources it doesn’t want anymore, including many of its gas-fired power plants and its last nuclear power plant. It has been much slower to actually construct resources to take their place. I
- 4. Operating in a silo. California would benefit from a regional market that took advantage of different weather, time zones, and resources to keep the lights on at least cost. California legislators have repeatedly considered legislation to change CAISO to allow regional operation, but have preferred in-state control. I believe that decision should be reexamined to take California into the future.
Duke Energy plans rapid growth for battery storage across Carolinas – Charlotte Business Journal – Duke Energy Corp. owns a little under 10 megawatts of battery storage on its Carolinas grid now that its 8.8-megawatt battery in Asheville is online. It plans about 300 megawatts within five years. Within 15 years, the company projects it will have anywhere from 1,050 to 5,800 megawatts of battery installed and in operation.“It’s all very doable,” Zak Kuznar, Duke’s managing director for energy storage and microgrid development, says of even the most ambitious plans. “You will just see us deploying batteries that act a lot more like power plants – maybe as large as 500 megawatts in some cases.”The technology, he says, is essentially already available. The most important immediate need is for commercial-scale production of batteries that increase storage capacity from four hours to six. Duke (NYSE: DUK) is currently testing a small six-hour battery at its McAlpine microgrid in south Charlotte. “Everyone in the industry is interested in the R&D going on for long-duration batteries,” he says. “The transition to six hours-plus … that is where you can start supplementing peaker plants.”Duke also has ambitious plans for battery storage in Florida. The immediate plans largely call for using batteries to improve the quality of power on the system, regulating fluctuations and to some degree complementing solar development by offsetting the intermittent nature of solar projects.Current storageDuke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress currently have about 9 additional megawatts under construction. They are a 4-megawatt battery attached to a microgrid for the remote Hot Springs mountain community and a 5-megawatt battery in Anderson County, South Carolina, as part of a microgrid there. All are largely power quality and microgrid related. Duke operates small batteries in pilot projects and has a 95-kilowatt battery in a very small microgrid for a ranger observation tower on Mount Sterling. But in the next few years, Kuznar says, Duke has plans for larger batteries. That includes some that would be attached to the transmission system and large enough to operate as power plants to quickly meet short-term peaks and reduce the need to run traditional turbine gas plants and other peakers.In the Carolinas, the 15-year plan for increased use of storage is included in the Integrated Resource Plans filed in North and South Carolina last week. Duke proposes six scenarios, with a broad range of potential use of battery capacity.Under what is essentially a business-as-usual scenario, Duke would expect to have 1,050 megawatts worth of batteries in the Carolinas by 2035. If the federal or state governments put some kind of price on carbon dioxide emissions – with a tax or cap-and-trade system, for example – Duke would expect to more than double that to 2,200 megawatts by 2035. Duke also would need that much capacity if it were to decide – or be required – to close its remaining coal plants as quickly as possible.
Opponents challenge Duke Energy as it seeks to pass on coal-ash costs to customers – Charlotte Business Journal – Duke Energy Carolinas is seeking what would amount to a 2.1% rate hike for two years. That rate, if no new rate cases are held in the next several years, would eventually rise to 7% as Duke completes repaying customer excess taxes it collected before state and federal governments cut corporate tax rates.
CAMPAIGN 2020: Climate heresy in Wis. as Democrats call for ‘clean coal’ — Thursday, September 10, 2020 — A union leader on Joe Biden’s transition team yesterday pitched the Democratic presidential nominee’s climate plan as an “all of the above” energy strategy, while an additional union official used the same campaign event to tout “clean coal.”
Climate: Natural Gas is the Rich World’s New Coal – Even the cleanest fossil fuel is losing its appeal to rich nations. Just a few years ago, natural gas was hailed as vital for the transition toward an economy that runs on renewable energy. But sentiment is changing and the fuel is going the same way as coal, its dirtier sibling shunned by governments, utilities and investors. The cancellation of the giant Atlantic Coast pipeline in the U.S. and Ireland’s decision to scrap backing for an import terminal this summer are the latest signs that gas is falling out of favor with everyone from regulators to asset managers. As countries intensify efforts to meet climate obligations, the fuel used for heating, cooking and power production is poised to lose out to solar, wind and private and public energy efficiency measures. While natural gas only emits about half the carbon dioxide of coal, flaring and methane leaks have tarnished its reputation across the globe, according to Nick Stansbury, head of commodity research at Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. in London. Many investors are also shying away to instead allocate funds to projects aligned with objectives of the Paris Agreement, he said. “Gas companies have underestimated that the public opinion is changing rapidly,” said Stansbury. “Coronavirus lockdowns have had a role in that change, as investors are also stepping back and rethinking how things should be done.” More than 1,200 institutions managing over $14 trillion in assets have committed to divest from fossil fuels, up from 181 managing $50 billion five years ago, according to a report from Fossil Free, an international environmental movement.
Coal’s Moment in the Sun, Courtesy of Natural Gas – WSJ – Coal is on its way out of the electrical grid, but not without some dying flickers. Cheap, cleaner natural gas had been eating away coal’s market share for some time. But with natural gas prices edging toward $2.5 per million British thermal units, nearly 70% higher than the lowest point this year, the tables are about to be turned. Natural gas prices are being propped up by stronger-than-expected power demand – lots of air conditioners running in homes helped offset losses in commercial usage – as well as muted supply. Energy companies halting production from oil wells due to low oil prices have shut off associated gas in the process. Despite the price rally so far, producers are cautious about ramping up production, having weathered so many lean years. As a result, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that coal’s share of electricity generation will tick up to 22% in 2021 from 18% this year while natural gas-fired power’s share will decline to 35% from 40%. That comes after more than a decade over which coal gradually lost share. What do you see in the near future for the natural gas market? Join the conversation below. RBC analyst Christopher Louney estimates that natural gas burn for electricity could decline 2% year over year in 2021 while coal generation picks up 6% – at the conservative end of his forecast. Despite cheerleading from the White House, the reversal will do little to salvage coal’s bleak future. But it reveals how cutthroat the natural gas business has been in recent years. There have been other surges – in 2018 natural gas prices struck close to $4 and temporary gas-to-coal switching was observed – but those rallies weren’t as sticky as analysts predict this one will be and were never enough to shift the annual share of electricity away toward coal. Luke Jackson, team leader for North American natural gas at S&P Global Platts, expects natural gas prices to average $2.90 for the remainder of 2020 and $3.30 for 2021, while RBC’s Mr. Louney estimates prices will edge up to $2.60 in the fourth quarter and gradually move up to $2.80 by the end of 2021. The shift will vary significantly by region. The Midwestern and Southeastern power markets, which need to bring in natural gas through pipelines, already are seeing signs of natural gas-to-coal switching, according to Mr. Jackson. Pipelines are running at full capacity, leading to regional gaps in natural gas prices. As an example, prices for the Chicago Citygate index in the Midwest averaged $2.05 in August, while the price in Dominion South – a hub close to the gas-producing Marcellus and Utica basins – was $1.21. The Midwest and the Southeast also still rely on coal for a substantial share of their electricity generation: The hydrocarbon accounted for 49% and 44% of electricity generated in the respective markets as of midday Friday. The Northeast, on the other hand, is closer to dry gas basins and hasn’t seen signs of coal switching yet. That could change in winter months when heating demand surges. Yet none of this portends a lasting comeback for coal-fired power. Already, many coal plants are unable to operate enough hours to cover costs and some have evaluated plans to run only during seasons with high demand. This may not be the last time that market forces temporarily reverse the tide. Coal’s fade to black could be a long one.
Residents weigh in on future of Bull Run site – At a recent Zoom conference of the group Bull Run Neighbors, residents of Oak Ridge, Powell and Claxton weighed in on the future of Bull Run Fossil Plant and its coal ash storage. While many expressed a desire to make sure everything stayed safe with the site’s fly ash, bottom ash and gypsum, collectively called coal combustion residuals or CCR, they differed on whether it is safer to keep it in place or move it to another location. At present, these materials are in various places around the plant, including storage areas near the Clinch River and near Claxton Community Park. They also had different ideas on how best to use the area after the plant’s planned closing. New Market resident Axel Ringe, a member of the Harvey Broom Group Sierra Club, as well as Bull Run Neighbors, started the meeting by saying the future ownership and development of the Bull Run Fossil Plant site will depend on “what you as a community want.” TVA has previously stated it plans to close the Bull Run Fossil Plant by 2023. The utility recently presented what it called a “potential” re-development timeline, with decisions on coal ash storage “under the direction” of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation happening in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the demolition and deconstruction would start and the final closure of coal ash, “if stored in place,” would be in 2028. The utility stated this schedule would be longer if TVA decides to ship the coal ash from its current areas to somewhere else, rather than sealing it where it is currently located. TVA has yet to formally commit to any plan for these materials. Bull Run Neighbors, which hosted the Zoom conference, is a group that has, in its newsletter and official statements, been critical of TVA. No representatives from TVA were present at the meeting. However, Adam Hughes a community organizer with Statewide Coalition for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) showed screenshots from the utility’s recent virtual open house on Bull Run’s future, which included TVA statements. Chuck Head, the TDEC Bureau of Environment assistant commissioner, explained at the Zoom conference that TDEC, a state environmental regulatory agency, required that TVA study the effects of these coal-burning byproducts on the environment. He said TDEC is collecting duplicate samples alongside TVA, but won’t make any decisions until the study is complete.
Trump EPA guts tough standards for toxic metals dumped into US waterways by coal-fired power plants, including biggest polluter on Lake Michigan – Chicago Tribune Towering above Lake Michigan north of the Wisconsin border, the Oak Creek coal-fired power plant is one of the largest sources of toxic metals dumped into American waterways.Only six other power plants nationwide released more arsenic, lead, mercury and other metals into lakes and rivers last year, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis of federal records. On the shores of Lake Michigan, no other polluter comes close. By now the coal plant’s owner should have dramatically reduced its pollution. In 2015, theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted stringent limits on metals that stick around in the environment and become more dangerous as they move up the food chain. But President Donald Trump’s political appointees stalled the regulations soon after taking office in 2017, and last week they gutted the Obama-era standards for Oak Creek and other fossil fuel plants. The Trump EPA’s alternative fails to require the most effective treatment methods, pushes back deadlines and exempts many power plants from doing anything at all. Buried in the fine print of the Republican administration’s new regulations is a stunning admission: Benefits for energy companies would come at the expense of more than 20 million Americans who drink water and eat fish from lakes and rivers polluted by coal plant discharges. Low-income Black and Latino communities face disproportionate risks from the pollution, the Trump EPA also acknowledges in its regulatory documents.“There is just no way anyone can justify that trade-off,” said Betsy Southerland, who led an EPA team that drafted the Obama-era rule and became a vocal critic of the agencyafter retiring in 2017.
Illinois House Panel Investigating Possible Disciplinary Action Against Speaker Madigan Will Consult With Feds Before Calling Witnesses (CBS) – An Illinois House committee weighing possible disciplinary action against Speaker Michael Madigan over the ComEd bribery scandal will coordinate with federal prosecutors before calling any witnesses or seeking any documents in the case.The House Special Investigating Committee held its first hearing Thursday in Springfield as lawmakers on the panel consider whether to recommend Madigan face any political sanctions over his dealings with ComEd, which has been charged with a years-long bribery scheme that sought to influence the nation’s longest-serving House Speaker.Republicans who are seeking disciplinary charges against Madigan provided a preliminary list of witnesses they’d would like to testify, but chairman Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) said the committee first will consult with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago to avoid interfering with the ongoing federal investigation.“It is imperative that this committee communicate and consult with the U.S. Attorney’s office,” Welch said. “Before we take any substantive action, we must consult with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District. This committee must avoid taking any action that can be an interference with an ongoing federal investigation.”
Nuclear Bailout Repeal Sparks Debate Over Electric Bill Costs | WOSU Radio – The Ohio House will begin to hold hearings on a possible repeal of a sweeping energy law that bailed out two nuclear power plants, among several other things. Supporters and opponents of the law, which is now at the center of a federal bribery investigation, are fighting over what the final cost would be on electric bills. On Thursday, the newly formed House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight will convene to hear a Republican-backed proposal on how to repeal HB6 and revive the law it replaced. It will include sponsor testimony for HB746, which was introduced by GOP Reps. Laura Lanese and Mark Romanchuk soon after the arrest of former House Speaker Larry Householder. Under HB6, ratepayers will see new monthly charges of up to about $2.35 to pay for the nuclear, coal and solar subsidies. But supporters say electric bills will ultimately be lower due to the roll back of clean energy standards. Opponents of HB6, including Trish Demeter with the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, counter that claim by arguing that the energy efficiency standards ended up saving ratepayers an average of $7 a month, with an average net benefit of about $4. “The numbers that are being presented by HB6 supporters ignores the savings that are being enjoyed by Ohioans as a result of successful energy efficiency programs that were gutted in HB6,” Demeter says. Chris Neme, principal of the Energy Futures Group, explains that the energy efficiency programs are required by law to be cost effective. Before a utility attaches an increased charge on electric bills for efficiency programs, it must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. “The programs are required to be cost effective, so if in fact you actually do reach a tipping point where you can’t get savings that are worth more than the cost of the programs, the programs will be rejected by the commission,” Neme says. The House and Senate are currently holding hearings to repeal HB6, which federal investigators say was the subject of a $60 million bribery scheme allegedly led by the former House Speaker. Householder and four associates have all pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges.
State watchdog seeks probe of utility tied to bribery scheme – Ohio’s consumer watchdog has asked a regulatory agency to conduct an independent investigation of the state’s largest electric utility, FirstEnergy Corp., that federal authorities have tied to a $60 million bribery scheme involving one of Ohio’s most powerful politicians. The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel in a motion filed late Tuesday with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has asked that outside investigators examine whether money collected from consumers “was improperly used for any activities in connection with HB6 instead of for electric utility service.” HB6 is now considered a tainted piece of legislation that, in part, created a $1 billion bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary until early this year. The law requires a charge on all Ohio ratepayers’ electric bills to fund the nuclear bailout. The Consumers’ Counsel also asked that the investigation and a management audit determine whether FirstEnergy violated any state laws or regulations. The investigation should examine FirstEnergy’s corporate governance and its “corporate relationships” with other FirstEnergy subsidiaries, the motion said. HB6 was pushed through the Legislature last year by then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. It also includes a provision potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars to FirstEnergy that customers would pay for.
Ohio House Bill 6 legislative opponents make case for repeal – cleveland.com – Ohio state lawmakers made their case for repealing House Bill 6 on Thursday before a legislative panel, noting the scandal surrounding its passage and questioning whether the owner of two nuclear power plants needs the law’s $1.3 billion public bailout.Republican state Reps. Laura Lanese and Dave Greenspan, as well as Democratic state Reps. Mike Skindell and Michael O’Brien, testified before the Ohio House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight in favor of their respective bills that would repeal the controversial legislation.HB6 has come under severe scrutiny since state Rep. Larry Householder (the former House speaker) and four allies were arrested for an alleged $60 million bribery scandal to pass the legislation on behalf of FirstEnergy Corp., whose former subsidiary – now a separate company called Energy Harbor – owns the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants that stand to receive bailout money starting next year.Lanese, who represents a suburban Columbus district, noted in her testimony that Energy Harbor, previously called FirstEnergy Solutions, moved earlier this year to buy back hundreds of millions worth of its stock, calling into question whether the company actually needs the bailout money in order to keep the plants in operation.Greenspan, of Westlake, questioned in his testimony whether the word “bailout” should be used to describe House Bill 6, saying the money for the nuclear plants should instead be called a grant with no accountability.“How many other Ohio businesses would like to qualify for a grant with those criteria?” Greenspan asked. “The answer is simple: All of them.”Both Republicans also questioned a separate part of HB6 called “decoupling,” which gives FirstEnergy Corp. and other Ohio utilities permission to collect a guaranteed amount of revenue per year through at least 2024.House Bill 746 would repeal all of HB6. “We must have a clean slate to start from,” Greenspan said.Skindell, a Lakewood Democrat who is sponsoring an identical repeal bill, House Bill 738, testified that “Legislation adopted by means of corruption, in and of itself, is corrupt.”He continued: “The confidence and trust of Ohioans cannot be restored until there is a complete and immediate repeal of legislation founded in corruption.”O’Brien, of Warren, called HB6 “corporate welfare” and “the worst energy legislation” passed by any state in the 21st Century.
Bill Seitz’s FirstEnergy bailout bill is one target of a subpoena – Energy and Policy Institute -Records show Rep. Bill Seitz, the third-ranking Republican in the Ohio House, worked with FirstEnergy to draft a nuclear power plant bailout bill that’s now the subject of a federal subpoena. As part of the federal racketeering case against the now-former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and several associates, the FBI subpoenaed the Ohio House in July for records related to four bills. The bills, introduced between 2017 and 2019, all aimed to bail out nuclear plants owned by a subsidiary of FirstEnergy (FirstEnergy Solutions or FES) that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, and emerged this February as a separate new company called Energy Harbor. The last of those bills, House Bill 6, passed last year and is now at the center of the federal case against Householder and four other individuals, who are charged with secretly using $60 million from FirstEnergy to support the bill that will force $1 billion in subsidies for the nuclear plants on ratepayers. A front group employed in the alleged scheme also faces charges.Seitz has not been named or charged in the racketeering case, but before Householder’s return to the speakership in 2019, Seitz led the charge on several 2017-18 energy bills that paved the way for HB 6. Those earlier bills sought to separately subsidize coal and nuclear plants, and roll back Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. House Bill 6 packaged core elements of those earlier proposals together into what’s been called the “worst energy bill” of the century. Seitz, who has served as the House Majority Floor Leader since June of 2017, remains a staunch defender of HB 6. He’s refused to step down from his leadership position despite a request to do so from the new speaker Bob Cupp, and is said to be considering a run for the speakership next year.
Dominion Energy applies for additional 20-year license for its North Anna Power Station nuclear reactor units – Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest utility company, is seeking approval from federal regulators to continue operating its two nuclear reactor units in Louisa County until the years 2058 and 2060. The Richmond-based company said Friday it has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the North Anna Power Station’s operating licenses for additional 20-year terms. An approval of the license would allow the company to operate the two reactors beyond a current license extension that was granted in 2003, which enabled the company to run the reactors until 2038 and 2040. The original licenses for the two North Anna reactor units were granted in 1978 and 1980. As with all U.S. nuclear power plants, the original licenses were granted for 40 years. “Our application to renew North Anna Power Station’s licenses for another 20-year period is good news for our customers, the regional economy, and the environment,” said Dan Stoddard, Dominion Energy’s Chief Nuclear Officer, in a statement on Friday. “Our customers will benefit from continuing to receive safe, reliable, affordable, and carbon-free electricity from the station through 2060.” Dominion has said for several years that it intended to seek a license renewal for North Anna, but a spokesman for Dominion said the company only recently entered the period when it could file for renewal because the original license for the North Anna Power Station Unit 2 would have expired this year.
Hogg Warns of Possible Nuclear Catastrophe in West Texas – “If there was an accident the immediate contamination radius is 50 miles,” said Jon Mark Hogg, the Democratic Party candidate for congress, district 11. Hogg is talking about the proposed high level nuclear waste storage in Andrews that is working its way through the federal and state agencies right now. Andrews is a town near Midland. Hogg sat down for an interview on camera after the candidate forum at the San Angelo Home Builders Association luncheon in San Angelo on Wednesday. There, he faced his two opponents, Wacey Alpha Cody, the Libertarian candidate; and August Pfluger, the Republican candidate. Hogg opposes storage of highly radioactive waste in CD-11 and this has become one of his signature issues. Hogg explained that to get the radioactive waste here, from over 100 nuclear power plants, it will be transported by rail through Dallas/Fort Worth, Abilene, Big Spring, and Midland. The cargo is very large, highly radioactive spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants. “It’s a big issue and not well-known across the district. But when people find out about it, they are surprised,” Hogg said. The facility also exposes the oil fields of the Permian Basin to a national security threat. Hogg claimed the nuke waste facility will become a terrorist target.
Nuclear power facility in Scotland will not be safe for other uses until the year 2333, report finds – In 313 years’ time, 378 years after it first opened in 1955, and 339 years after it ceased operations in 1994, the 178-acre nuclear power facility site at Dounreay will be safe for other uses, a new report has stated. Though the site on the north coast of Scotland was only home to functioning nuclear reactors for 39 years, the clean-up will take roughly ten times as long, with efforts already underway to clean up hazardous radioactive material. The facility, near Thurso, was used by the government for research and testing of various types of nuclear reactors, including a “fast reactor” and those intended for use on nuclear submarines. The first reactor at the site to provide power to the National Grid was the Dounreay Fast Reactor, which provided power between 1962 and 1977. A second reactor also pumped power into the grid between 1975 and 1994. A draft reportfrom the government’s nuclear decommissioning authority states the site will only be ready for other uses after the year 2333. Over the next two years, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited has said it will undertake assessments of “installations, current and future disposals, areas of land contamination, sub-surface structures and other discrete site conditions” to determine “credible options for the site end state”. But the report’s “Roadmap for Mission Delivery”, charts an endpoint of 2333 for Scottish sites. A process of demolition of buildings and waste removal is already underway at the site, which has previously been used to store dangerous radioactive material. Part of the demolition process has involved the use of a remote controlled robot nicknamed the “Reactosaurus”, a 75-tonne device with radiation-proof cameras, and robotic arms which are able to reach 12 metres into the reactors where they can operate an array of size-reduction and handling tools, including diamond wire and disks and hydraulic shears. One of the areas targeted for waste removal is a highly contaminated area called the Shaft. In 1977, a catastrophic leak allowed seawater to flood a 65-metre-deep shaft which was packed full of radioactive waste as well as more than 2kg or sodium and potassium. The water reacted violently with the sodium and potassium, throwing off the massive steel and concrete lids of the shaft, and littered the area with radioactive particles. All radioactive waste is due to be removed from the Shaft by 2029, the report states. The site also leaked radioactive fuel fragments into the sea in the local area for decades, between 1963 and 1984. The dangerous pollution affected local beaches, the coastline and the seabed. Fishing has been banned within a two-kilometre radius of the plant since 1997. Milled shards from the processing of irradiated plutonium and uranium, are roughly the size of grains of grains of sand. The most radioactive of the particles are believed to be potentially lethal if ingested. These small fragments are known to contain caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, but they can also incorporate traces of plutonium-239, which has a half-life of over 24,000 years.
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