Nov 21st

What happened this week?

California Wildfires: Rain in the forecast will help firefighters but could also trigger mudslides. Up to four inches of rain is expected to fall from late on Tuesday through Friday in the Sierra foothills, the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said. The rain is good news for fire fighters battling to extinguish the flames, but has also triggered warnings of landslides in areas where the fires have burnt away trees and brush and scorched the earth. Read more 

California Areas Torched By Wildfires Face New Dangers - Flooding and Mudslides. The rain that's forecasted for later this week may give California some much/-needed relief from the deadly and destructive wildfires plaguing the state. But too much sudden rainfall may pose its own dangers for land that has been burned. Read more   

Interesting Facts

Air Pollution from California Wildfires 60 Times Above Safe Limit. Air pollution from California's deadly wildfires was 60 times higher than world health standards for safe air quality. Particulates in the air in some parts of the state measured as high as 1,500 micro-grams per cubic meter last week - far exceeding the World Health Organization's threshold of 25 micro-grams for particulate pollution. Read more 

Policy Developments and Outlook

NASA Mobilizes to Aid California Fires Response. For the past two weeks NASA scientists and satellite data analysts have been working every day producing maps and damage assessments that can be used by disaster managers battling the Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles and the Camp Fire in Northern California. The agency-wide effort also deployed a research aricfraft over the Woolsey Fire on Nov. 15 identigy burned areas at risk of mudslides in advance of winter rains expected in the area. Read more

Nov 16th

What happened this week?

Death toll rises in California's Camp Fire as number of unaccounted for leaps — live updates. Authorities said late Thursday the death toll from California's Camp Fire has risen to 63, bringing the statewide count to 66. In addition, more than 600 people have now been reported missing, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office. Read more  

What Started the California Fires? Experts Track the Blaze's Origins. As investigators try to determine what started the most devastating wildfire in California history, which has killed at least 63 people, the beginning premise is that human beings -through their mistakes, or their toys, tools and technologies - were probably behind it. Read more

Interesting Facts

All About Santa Ana Winds.  Santa Ana winds refer to a usually very hot and dry wind that blows from interior regions towards the coastline. While blowing dust is a pesky side-effect of these winds, the most publicized effect of the Santa Ana winds is their ability to quickly spread fires and knock out power. Read more 

What are the Santa Ana winds, and why are they such a wildfire hazard? Santa Ana winds can occur anytime from September to May, but they tend to be most dangerous in the fall, when summer droughts typically create the driest conditions, essentially turning the land into a tinderbox. And while the winds usually blow for just a few days on end, that's plenty of time for a tiny spark to spread into a vicious blaze. Read more 

ASU professor: After fires, Southern California could face mudslides. An Arizona State University professor said that once wildfires in Southern California are under control, the coastal region could face a different natural disaster: mudslides.Read more 

Policy Developments and Outlook

California's Deadliest Fires Could Have Been Mitigated By Prevention. As California’s fire season burst back into the headlines, President Trump generated controversy with a weekend tweet emphasizing the role of forest management in these fires:"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!" Read more

California's Wildfire Epidemic Is Blamed on Bad Building Decisions. California's deadly wildfires have a straightforward solution, experts say: stop building homes in places that are likely to burn - and make homes that already exist in those areas a whole lot tougher. "It's a land-use issue", said Alice Hill, a senior adviser for climate resilience to President Barack Obama. Without so many homes being constructed in vulnerable areas at the edge of the fores, "we would still have the fires. But we wouldn't have this kind of devastation." Read more 

California utility proposes wildfire safety measures. A California utility plans to replace 3,400 miles of overhead power lines with insulated wire to reduce the risk of them sparking when hit by tree limbs or other objects, the company announced Monday. Sparking power lines are one of the leading causes of California's wildfires. The Wildfires have killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes in recent years. Read More

California Wildfires: Prevention, Safety Tips. Cal Fire, the state's firefighting agency, provided advice to help Californian's prevent a small spark from becoming a devastating wildfire. These safety tips, including how to prepare you property and family for wildfires, can save property and lives. Read more

Nov 9th

What happened this week?

'It Is Pure Chaos Up Here': Camp Fire Injures Residents, Forces Thousands to Flee as Flames Invade Paradise, California. Officials confirmed to the AP that some residents who attempted to escape the fire in their vehicles were then forced to flee on foot – some holding pets and even babies in their grasp – as the flames drew closer. With few options out of Paradise, roads quickly became gridlocked, and abandoned cars left in the middle of the road only made problems worse.. Read more

Interesting Facts

Raging California fires: Why have the flames spread so quickly? The Camp, Hill and Woolsey fires are expected to continue burning for days. The flames from the Camp Fire in Butte County, California, were spreading at 80 acres per minute Thursday, which is equivalent to burning an entire football field every second, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. How have the flames spread so quickly in California? Read more

Policy Developments and Outlook

Greece: Eye of the Fire. A catalogue of dreadful failure and mismanagement ensued, from traffic diversions leading people into harm's way rather than out of danger, to illegal developments trapping others as they tried to flee into the sea, the only available refuge amid the flames.. Read More

Entering Burn Area’: Yosemite After the Fire. America’s national parks are increasingly bearing the burden of climate change, as rising temperatures and new weather patterns create mega blazes. A report from the burn zone. Read more

Nov 2

Interesting Facts

The National Weather Service Is Predicting a Mild Winter For Most Of The U.S. The Climate Prediction Center, a part of the National Weather Service, is calling for a mild winter for most of the United States. The seasonal forecast is predicting warmer-than-normal conditions for most of the northern and western United States with the Pacific Northwest and Alaska seeing the biggest difference in temperatures. Read more 


Policy Developments and Outlook

The Battle for sustainable development will be won in cities - What should the inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable urban development look like? The key dimension of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities is their ability to anticipate, reduce, mitigate, respond to and recover from a wide range of risks. The increased frequency and magnitude of urban disasters inflict an exponential economic cost as is evident by a string of disasters over the past decade. In big metropolitans as Cape Town and New Delhi, climate change is already aggravating water scarcity.  Read More

What is Climate-Ready Infrastructure? Some Cities Are Starting to Adapt Infrastructure systems are the front line of defense against flooding, heat, wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters. However the country is more frequently exceeding these historical conditions and is expected to see more frequent and intense extreme weather events. Said another way, because of climate change, natural systems are now changing faster than infrastructure. Read More 

Energy Companies Could Feel The Effects Of Climate Change On Their The Bottom Line "Disruptive climate change forces energy companies to take a hard look at changes they must make to become part of the reduction of greenhouse gases" Ben Ratner, senior director with the Environmental Defense Fund's EDF+Business, said. Read more