Facts Of The Day 8/11

Extreme Heat

• As of Tuesday, more than 150 million people across the United States were under some sort of heat alert.

• Deaths from heat-related causes are often undercounted or misclassified because while they often occur during heat waves, they are not always listed as such on death certificates.

• With another heatwave on the way, outdoor workers in Oregon have been adjusting their schedules and workflows to complete their projects before the hottest temperatures of the day.

• Oregon’s information hotline to direct residents to resources such as cooling centers has tripled its staff from 65 to 180 people.

  • The hotline has been funded for availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week after being closed and missing at least 750 calls during the June heatwaves that killed at least 100 people.

  • The hotline will be able to direct residents to one of at least 240 cooling centers around the state.

• One Utah farmer has been forced to leave almost 20% of his property unplanted due to the ongoing drought.

• Wildfire, drought, and warmer temperatures have forced one Idaho cattle rancher to sell 1,000 cows over the last six weeks when he usually sells about 500 during the same time period.

• Wyoming livestock owners have been selling livestock or shipping livestock earlier than usual because the drought means there has been little forage for cattle feed.

• Beef prices could go up 4% and fruit prices could go up 6% by the end of the year due to the drought.

• After a Santa Clara County water district declared a water shortage emergency, residents reduced their water usage to the same amount they used in June 2020.

• The city of Grand Junction, Colorado, paired up with the Clifton Water District to share water to ensure adequate water supply for the summer.

• Drought in New Mexico has made the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow even more vulnerable and less likely to reach adulthood.

• As of Tuesday, 185 wells in Klamath County, Oregon have dried up, up from 84 in July.

• Latinx people in Oregon are seen in hospital emergency departments 30% more than normal for heat-related issues, which is 10% more than the state’s average of increased hospitalizations.

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s wealthier neighborhoods of Chestnut Hill and Roxborough have tree canopies of 40% or higher, compared to Kensington, Oxford Circle, and North Philadelphia, which have tree canopies of 10% or less.

  • Chestnut Hill has 60% canopy cover and a median income of $89,400 compared to Kensington, which has 7% tree cover and a median income of $31,500.

• As of Tuesday, workers in Pinellas County, Florida have cleaned up 1,823 tons or more than 3.6 million pounds of dead sea life caused by the red tide.

Wildfires

• There are currently 105 large wildfires that have burned 2,438,183 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, MN, MT, NE, NM, NV, SD, UT, WA, and WY.

• 5 new large fires were reported across Montana, South Dakota, and Utah, and 1 large fire was reported contained on Tuesday.

• Parts of North America and Europe may be experiencing their worst wildfire season ever.

• San Francisco schools are faced with having to decide to open windows due to COVID-19 or whether they should close windows due to wildfire smoke.

• In California, The Dixie Fire burned 490,205 acres and was 27% contained as of Wednesday. According to Cal Fire, The Dixie Fire is not the single largest fire in the state’s history because it is a combination of the Dixie Fire and Fly Fire. Firefighters and law enforcement officials trying to evacuate Greenville residents from the Dixie Fire last week had guns drawn on them.

• Two new fires sparked in Montana on Tuesday – the Cottonwood Fire burned 2,500 acres and was 0% contained and the Three Wolf Creek burned 344 acres and was 75% contained.

• In Montana, the Richard Spring burned 150,000 acres and was 0% contained as of Wednesday. About 2,000 Lame Deer, Montana residents were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday.

• One new fire sparked in South Dakota on Tuesday – the Tompson CA Fire burned 603 acres and was 91% contained.

Hurricanes

• On late Tuesday, Tropical Storm Fred formed in the Caribbean Sea as it moved west/northwest.

  • Tropical Storm Fred was located southeast of the Dominican Republic, with winds of MPH as of Wednesday morning.

  • It is scheduled to continue traveling through the Caribbean on a  west/northwest track for the rest of the week before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

  • Tropical Storm Fred may reach the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend, and weaken as it moves over the island of Hispaniola.

  • How soon Tropical Storm Fred turns north after traveling over a few Caribbean islands on Friday and towards the US will determine if the system will hit Florida or travel further west along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.

  • More than 13,000 customers were without power as of Wednesday morning after Tropical Storm Fred passed over Puerto Rico on Tuesday, whose power grid was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

• President Joe Biden urged people in hurricane-prone areas to get the COVID-19 vaccine in case they are evacuated to shelters where physical distancing may not be possible.

Climate Studies