Key Facts Of The Day 5/16

Storms and Flooding

• As of Monday, a strong cold front will bring the risk of strong to severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes across much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
  • About 60 million people face a substantially elevated threat of severe storms.
• A neighborhood of vacation homes off the coast of North Carolina are being destroyed as the sea level rises.
  • In recent months, the once-generous stretch of beach in front of the houses has largely vanished, leaving many homes vulnerable to rising sea levels.
  • Three prime beachfront lots are now empty on Ocean Drive, a small stretch of an Outer Banks subdivision called Trade Winds Beaches.
    • A video shows a two-story, pea-green beach house as it collapsed into a rising sea.
    • Two houses were destroyed amid a multiday nor’easter that pushed sand and wind onto North Carolina Highway 12, closing the essential two-lane route onto Hatteras Island for more than a day.
  • On Thursday, Ocean Drive was a post-storm mess. 
    • The pavement was buried under several feet of sand.
    • Splintered wood and other debris from the two houses were scattered around, spreading southward along the coast.
  • Federal officials say that sea levels in the area have risen roughly one inch every five years, with climate change being one key reason.
  • State officials say that some Outer Banks beaches are shrinking more than 14 feet per year in some areas.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, there are currently 11 large active wildfires that have burned 387,633 across AZ, CO, FL, MI, NC, NH, NM, and TX. As of Monday, 24,762 wildfires have burned 1,298,508 acres across the country.
• In Arizona, 2 fires have burned 28,507 acres as of Monday. 
  • The Tunnel Fire in Arizona has burned a total of 19,075 acres and is 98% contained as of Monday. 
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 1,499 acres as of Monday.
  • The High Park fire has burned a total of 1,499 acres and is 27% contained as of Monday.
    • By Thursday evening at least 120 people from 40 residences evacuated the area.
    • Officials say the fire could continue to grow as gusts are expected to reach as high as 35 MPH.
• In New Mexico, 4 fires have burned 353,455 acres as of Monday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned a total of 288,968 acres and is 27% contained as of Monday.
    • At one point over the weekend, the fire’s smoke column reached 30,000 feet, creating the possibility that it could collapse on itself and create swirling winds close to the ground.
    • The fire has a 500-mile perimeter, longer than the distance between San Francisco and San Diego.
    • So far, the fire has destroyed at least 473 structures, including homes and other buildings.
  • On Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a letter to President Joe Biden that New Mexico needs more help than is being provided under the president’s recent disaster declaration.
• As of Sunday, the Coastal Fire in California has burned 200 acres and is 80% contained.
• A new study found that long-term exposure to wildfires may raise the odds of developing lung or brain cancer.
  • In the study, those living in areas exposed to a wildfire within a span of 50 kilometers, had a 4.9% higher incidence of lung cancer and a 10% greater incidence of brain tumors compared to people not exposed.
• The First Street Foundation’s analysis found that 26.1 million properties currently face a moderate risk of being burned by wildfire, and that number will grow to 34.6 million by 2052.
  • The analysis also shows that while wildfire risk is highest across the West, there is substantial wildfire risk in Southeastern states such as Florida, South Carolina, and Mississippi.
  • In five states — Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming — more than half the properties have a moderate wildfire risk.
    • Moderate risk means there is roughly a 1% chance of being hit by wildfire over a 30-year period.
  • Roughly 16% or 1 in 6 Americans live in areas under wildfire threat, and over the next 30 years, that share will increase to 21%.
    • Nearly half of all Americans who live in areas vulnerable to fire will reside in the South, and minorities face a disproportionate risk.
  • By 2052, about 44% of all Native Americans will live in areas with a significant risk of wildfire.

Extreme Heat

• On Friday evening, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked consumers to conserve electricity through Sunday, after six power plants went down unexpectedly.
  • Texans were asked to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or above between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. this past weekend and to avoid using large appliances at home during those same times.
  • The power plant failures led to a loss of about 2,900 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power more than 580,000 homes.
• The Colorado River’s water far exceeds supply in the fast-growing Southwest, as a climate change-fueled megadrought and rising temperatures place an unprecedented strain.
  • The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people, irrigates 5 million acres of farmland, and provides critical habitat for rare fish, birds, and plants.
• Scientists at the Copernicus Climate Change Service found that Europe and parts of the U.S. are set for a sweltering and dry summer this year.
  • This excessive heat poses risks for crops and boosts demand for energy for cooling at a time when prices of commodities are already running high.
  • There’s a 70% to 100% probability that temperatures across the northeastern US, Spain, France, and Italy will be well above average from June to August.
  • There’s also more than a 50% chance of below-normal rainfall across swathes of central Europe, France, Spain, and the US northwest.

New Reports And Data

• A May 2022 study found that long-term exposure to wildfires may raise the odds of developing lung or brain cancer.
• A May 2022 analysis found that Europe and parts of the U.S. are set for a sweltering and dry summer this year.
• An April 2022 study found a link between breathing polluted air and the chances of being infected by the coronavirus, developing a severe illness, or dying of covid-19.