Key Facts Of The Day 11/2

Hurricanes

• As of Wednesday morning, Hurricane Lisa was located about 60 miles east northeast of Isla Roatán, an island north of mainland Honduras, with sustained winds of 75 PMH and moving west at 15 MPH.
  • Tropical Storm Lisa was upgraded to a hurricane on Wednesday morning, hours before it was expected to make landfall in Belize, bringing dangerous conditions to several countries in Central America.
  • After battering Belize, the storm will cross northern Guatemala into southeastern Mexico by Thursday.
• Hurricane Ian destroyed human-made reefs as far away as 30 miles from the coast of southwestern Florida and brought along the red tide.
  • Red tide kills fish and birds, which could impact Florida’s saltwater and freshwater fishing industry.
  • The red tide outbreak also is threatening manatees off Sarasota and Charlotte counties that rely on seagrass for food.
• After Hurricane Ian, Florida’s waterways could remain polluted for months.
  • More than a month after Hurricane Ian swept across Florida, city workers and concerned citizens filed hundreds of pollution reports to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Wildfires

• As of Thursday, there are currently 25 large active wildfires that have burned 256,629 across ID, IN, KY, MT, OK, OR, and WA. As of Thursday, 59,441 wildfires have burned 7,210,454 acres across the country.
• In Oregon, 2 fires have burned 128,183 acres as of Thursday.
  • The Cedar Creek Fire has burned 127,283 acres and is 60% contained as of Thursday.
• In Washington, 10 fires have burned 40,857 acres as of Thursday.
• A new report by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that half of the state’s 20 largest wildfires occurred in 2020 and 2021.

Extreme Heat

• Between 2011 and 2020, wildfires, drought, and bark beetle infestations contributed to the loss of nearly a third of all conifer forests in the lower half of the Sierra Nevada.
• Extreme heat and drought are threatening the long-term global dairy supply from butter to baby formula.
• A new report by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that heat waves have doubled in frequency in some areas, glaciers are rapidly disappearing, and in the Klamath region spring-run chinook salmon numbers in the Salmon River have flat-lined below 200 in the past five years.

New Reports and Data

• A November 2022 report found that plastic makes up 81% of trash in national parks.
• A November 2022 report found that half of the state’s 20 largest wildfires occurred in 2020 and 2021, heat waves have doubled in frequency in some areas, and glaciers are rapidly disappearing.