Facts Of The Day 7/28

Extreme Heat

• Extreme heat and drought has taken a toll in the Western United States, including pushing hay prices up to between $250 and $300 a ton, up from $100 per ton in 2020.

• The medical service in Tarrant County, Texas, saw 14 heat-related calls this past week, 10 of which required hospitalization. The service typically sees three calls relating to heat per day.

• Officials in Charlotte County, Florida, have picked up 25 gallons of dead fish as of Tuesday due to the red tide.

• Hundreds of sharks may be occupying canals in Longboat Key, Florida to avoid the red tide.

• Tomatoes are expected to become more expensive as the crop is affected by the ongoing drought in California, which grows more than 90 percent of the nation’s tomatoes.

• Recent heat waves in the Pacific Northwest have caused red lesions and white fungus on fish in Washington’s Columbia River.

• Washington farmers, harvesters and other businesses are still calculating their losses after the recent heat waves.

  • One oyster company in Washington estimates that the recent heat wave in the Pacific Northwest has cost about $200,000 in product.

  • The state’s raspberry farms are estimated to lose around $10 million.

  • One shellfish grower is looking to invest $125,000 in a saltwater system to keep the shellfish cool.

• The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that power use on Monday reached 72,856 megawatts and is expected to remain below the July record of 74,244 megawatts.

• California’s power grid operator has issued a statewide alert asking residents to reduce their electricity usage between 4 and 9 PM on Wednesday to avoid rolling blackouts.

Wildfires

• There are currently 81 large wildfires that have burned 1,601,740 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, SD, UT, WA and WY.

• 6 new large fires were reported across Colorado, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming and 4 large fires were reported contained on Tuesday.

• Wildfire activity in California and Oregon has forced railroad companies to close parts of their networks in the region.

• Recent monsoon activity has helped extinguish wildfires and bring water to Arizona.

• As wildfires worsen in California, the state may not have adequate resources to battle the blazes.

• Due to the spread of wildfires in California, more insurance companies are dropping farms from their coverage. The insurance industry’s losses in 2017 and 2018 surpassed its profit from the past 25 years.

• California utility provider PG&E cut down 200,000 dead, dying or burned trees to protect power lines, property and people starting Tuesday.

• Cities such as Steamboat Springs, Colorado, are taking more active measures against the increasing risk of wildfires.

• One new fire sparked in Colorado on Wednesday – the Skull Creek Fire burned 104 acres and was 80% contained.

• Two new fires sparked in Montana on Tuesday – the Goat Fire burned 150 acres and the Poverty Flats Fire burned 1,000 acres.

• One new fire sparked in Nevada on Tuesday – the Chin Fire burned 525 acre and was 25% contained.

• One fire was contained in Utah on Tuesday – the Black Pine Fire burned at 563 acres.

• One new fire sparked in Washington on Tuesday – the Hazard Hill Fire burned 121 acres and was 20% contained. Three fires were contained on Tuesday – the Goddard Road Fire burned 815 acres, Northrop Fire burned 252 acres and the Steptoe Canyon Fire burned at 2,605 acres.

• One new fire sparked in Wyoming on Tuesday – the Deer Creek 2 Fire burned 600 acres.

Hurricanes

• Neither the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea nor the central North Pacific regions expect to see tropical cyclone formation activity for the next five days.

• Power grids in the United States were not built to withstand a more active hurricane season or other extreme weather events.

  • 70% of power stations in the South are vulnerable to flooding.

• A planned $6 billion sea wall for Miami, Florida will only protect about six miles of its downtown and financial district and will leave most of the city unprotected from increased flooding risks due to climate change.

Climate Studies

• A July 2021 study found that smoke produced by the 2019-2020 Australia wildfires cooled the global climate more than the reduction of emissions from COVID-19 lockdowns.

• A July 2021 study found that the eastern California forests of the Sierra Nevada could see around a decade of wildfire activity, followed by recurring fires of decreasing area.

• A July 2021 study found that Colorado’s subalpine forests are dying at increasing rates from warmer and drier conditions, even in the absence of bark tree beetle outbreaks and wildfires.