Key Facts Of The Day 10/13

Hurricanes

• After hurricane Ian caused devastation across Florida and other parts of the East Coast, communities start recovery efforts.
  • In Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, officials say the Category 4 storm destroyed more than 5,000 homes and damaged 27,000. 
  • The 2011 Community Planning Act rolled back decades of smart growth policies, allowing for the construction of hundreds of thousands of homes in vulnerable areas in Florida that were then destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order allowing local election officials in counties hit hard by Hurricane Ian to make changes to their election procedures. 
    • With less than a month to go until Election Day, the executive order allows the Supervisors of Elections in those counties to extend the number of early voting days and early voting locations. 
    • It also allows voters in the affected areas to request a vote-by-mail ballot to be sent to an address other than the one on file with their elections office. 
    • Voters will have to request the ballot over the phone and must provide valid identification.
  • Applications for US unemployment insurance increased to a six-week high, driven in part by a jump in Florida claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
  • A Florida man survived raging flood waters during Hurricane Ian’s landfall by climbing into a refrigerator and using it as an improvised life raft.
  • Florida is set to have the smallest orange crop in almost eight decades even before factoring in the full impacts of Hurricane Ian’s devastation on the state’s citrus groves.

• People with disabilities are left out of emergency and disaster planning, and face hurdles that able-bodied people don’t when disasters strike.
  • Only 32 of the 192 countries that are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris climate accords in 2015 refer to people with disabilities in their official climate plans.
  • Forty-five countries refer to disabled people in their climate adaptation policies and no country mentions disabled people in its climate mitigation plans.

Wildfires

• As of Thursday, there are currently 76 large active wildfires that have burned 776,913 across CA, ID, MT, OR, SD, and WA. As of Thursday, 56,033 wildfires have burned 6,949,253 acres across the country.
• In California, 1 fire has burned 76,788 acres as of Thursday.
  • The Mosquito Fire has burned 76,788 acres and is 95% contained as of Thursday.
• In Oregon, 5 fires have burned 329,141 acres as of Thursday.
  • The Cedar Creek Fire has burned 122,706 acres and is 40% contained as of Thursday.
  • Oregon officials have issued an air quality advisory for several counties, including Portland, as stale, unseasonably high temperatures, and stagnant air have caused wildfire smoke to linger.
    • The Eugene area measured in the red unhealthy zone Monday, while Multnomah County was unhealthy for sensitive groups.
• In Washington, 15 fires have burned 40,671 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Washington, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency said Monday that air quality in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties was in the unhealthy for sensitive groups category.

Extreme Heat

• The Interior Department will attempt to bolster water levels in Lake Mead by rolling out a new program to pay Colorado River users up to $400 per acre-foot of water conserved each year.
  • As of September, Lake Mead’s water level was just 1,045 feet above sea level, or around 27% of full capacity.
  • Water users in Arizona, California, and Nevada can apply to be paid for their cuts that keep water in Lake Mead. 
  • Lake Mead water crisis is also exposing volcanic rock from eruptions 12 million years ago
  • Researchers found evidence of several volcanic blasts millions of years ago.
• A joint report by the UN’s humanitarian aid office and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies found that extreme heat kills more people globally than any other climate change-related hazard, and will likely increase human suffering in parts of the world with already high humanitarian needs.

New Reports and Data

• An October 2022 study found that rising air temperatures are working with warm ocean waters to speed the melting of Greenland’s seaside glaciers.
• An October 2022 study found that advanced recycling helps avoid climate impacts, reduces demand for energy resources, and offers key tools for expanding the circular economy. 
• An October 2022 report found that extreme heat kills more people globally than any other climate change -related hazard, and will likely increase human suffering in parts of the world with already high humanitarian needs.