Key Facts Of The Day 6/14

Hurricanes

• Unusually heavy rain and a melting snowpack have pushed the Columbia River in Washington state to near flood stage from Vancouver to Longview.
  • Forecasters issued a flood watch early yesterday for areas along the Columbia in the greater Vancouver and Portland, Oregon, metro areas, as well as along the Lower Columbia and Interstate 5 corridor in Cowlitz County.
  • The river has risen to 15.56 feet in Vancouver and covered a portion of the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.
• On Monday, the Yelllowstone National Park’s entrances were closed due to flooding, rockslides, and hazardous conditions.
  • Officials issued evacuation orders for everywhere upriver of Livingston in the northern part of the park, including Paradise Valley as some visitors remained stranded.
  • The priority was to evacuate the northern part of the park where there are mudslides and bridge failures.
• Virginia could lose 42% of its tidal wetlands by 2100 due to sea-level rise.

Wildfires

• As of Tuesday, there are currently 40 large active wildfires that have burned 1,192,672 across AK, AZ, CA, NM, TX, and UT. As of Tuesday, 29,629 wildfires have burned 2,477,977 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 23 fires have burned 461,291 acres as of Tuesday.
  • In Alaska, forecasters have warned that many southwestern fires have grown exceptionally over the last week, which is unusual for that area.
• In Arizona, 6 fires have burned 43,349 acres as of Tuesday.
  • On Monday, ​​roughly 2,500 homes have been evacuated because of two wildfires burning on the outskirts of Flagstaff in northern Arizona.
  • The wildfire prompted Coconino county to declare an emergency.
  • As of Sunday, one home and a secondary structure have been lost in the fire.
  • The Arizona Snowbowl ski resort closed as a precaution because of the wildfire.
• In California, 3 fires have burned 1,684 acres as of Tuesday.
  • In California, evacuations were ordered for about 300 remote homes near a wildfire that flared up over the weekend in forest land northeast of Los Angeles near the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.
  • Five people were rescued from a dangerous area after a wildfire broke out Monday near Dulzura in San Diego County.
  • Several drivers were rescued Sunday evening from debris flowing on the highway when hillsides burned bare by last year’s enormous Dixie Fire came loose.
• In New Mexico, 6 fires have burned 684,992 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 320,495 acres and is 70% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 312,519 acres and is 46% contained as of Tuesday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 978 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 378 acres as of Tuesday.
• The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average, and states like New Mexico already have set records with devastating blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes while causing environmental damage that is expected to affect water supplies.

Extreme Heat

• Over 100 million Americans from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes are under heat alerts through the middle of the week as temperatures soar toward the triple digits.
  • Oppressive humidity levels will make it feel 5 to 15 degrees hotter, producing heat index values from 100 to 115 degrees over a large swath of the central and eastern Lower 48.
  • Heat advisories or excessive-heat watches and warnings cover the entirety of Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana and parts of more than a dozen other states.
  • The National Weather Service forecasts that temperatures could challenge records in more than 100 cities through Wednesday.
• Today, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a “dangerous disconnect” between what scientists and citizens are demanding to curb climate change, and what governments are actually doing about it.
  • Guterres said global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 45% this decade but are currently forecast to increase by 14%.
• A new survey shows that consumers worry over climate impacts on food prices.

New Reports And Data

• A June 2022 report found that to achieve the 2-degree Celsius goal, airline emissions must peak by 2030.
• A June 2022 study found that Virginia could lose 42% of its tidal wetlands by 2100 due to sea-level rise.
• A June 2022 report found that the world would generate $78 trillion in net ‘social benefits’ by replacing coal with renewable energy.