Facts Of The Day 9/15

Extreme Heat

• The world has seen days reach above 122 degrees has doubled since 1980, from 14 to 26 days, with the cause being completely attributed to the use of fossil fuels.

• 2 additional deaths in Louisiana have been attributed to extreme heat exacerbated by power outages, bringing the Hurricane Ida’s death toll in the state to 29.

• Scientists in California are researching how to make crops more drought resistant due to the ongoing drought.

• Volunteers in San Diego, California are mapping the city’s urban heat islands for a plan to help vulnerable communities combat excessive heat.

• Chinook salmon in California are at grave risk due to drought conditions and the construction of dams forcing the fish to make longer journeys to lay eggs, which endangers the species.

• Washington hunters have been warned to avoid deer that look sick due to the bluetongue or epizootic hemorrhagic disease which may have been made worse due to drought conditions.

• Libraries have been increasingly used as cooling centers during heat waves, including the one that hit the Pacific Northwest in late June.

  • Over half of the designated cooling centers in Clackamas County, Oregon were libraries.

  • In Multnomah County, Oregon, over 7,600 people sought shelter from the heat in libraries during the heat waves.

• Crops such as corn, alfalfa and soybeans in South Dakota may vary in harvest quality because drought did not affect all parts of the state.

• One Colorado farm has already switched to less water-relient crops such as seed wheat and barley, and grains for the craft spirits and away from corn and alfalfa due to the ongoing drought.

• Drought conditions in North Dakota have forced one farmer and cattle rancher to consider whether to wean calves early in order to maintain his cattle herd.

• Droughts leading to shortages in animal feed around the country are causing feed prices to rise in states like Missouri.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, there are currently 81 large active wildfires that have burned 3,156,322 acres across CA, CO, ID, MN, MT, NV, WA, OR, UT, WA and WY. This year to date, 44,647 wildfires have burned 5,604,289 acres across the country.

• Disabled people struggle with significant challenges when evacuating from wildfires and living in shelters not fully able to meet their needs.

• President Joe Biden will tour wildfire damage in California, and visit the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho on Monday.

• A new fire sparked in California on Sunday – the Route Fire burned 464 acres and 63% contained. One fire was contained – the Knob Fire burned 2,421 acres.

• A federal judge will question a PG&E Corp. worker on Monday about why it took the company more than 10 hours to respond to a reported outage that may have led to the Dixie Fire in California.

• One new fire sparked in Wyoming on Sunday – the Remington Fire burned 500 acres and was 50% contained.

• In Idaho, one fire was contained on Monday – the Scarface Fire burned 7,806 acres.

• Two news fires were contained in Wyoming on Monday – the Indian Head Fire burned 330 acres and the Remington Fire burned 550 acres.

Hurricanes

• Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles west-southwest of Sargent Beach in Texas on Tuesday morning at about 1:30 AM local time with winds measuring at 75 MPH.

  • Residents from Port Aransas to Port O’Connor in Texas face life threatening storm surges of 5 feet, as well as winds, heavy rains and flooding.

  • Hours after it made landfall, Nicholas was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 60 MPH.

  • Nicholas is forecast to bring 6-12 inches of rain along the Gulf Coast, with isolated areas seeing up to 18 inches of rain.

  • About 360,000 people in Texas were without power as of Tuesday morning due to Nicholas.

  • Houston Independent School District and Galveston Independent School District schools in Houston, Texas were closed for Tuesday.

  • William P. Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental airports in Texas saw more than 330 incoming and outgoing flights cancelled for Tuesday.

  • Nicholas is expected to move over southeastern Texas later on Tuesday and then move into southwestern Louisiana later Wednesday.

• The effects of Tropical Storm Nicholas could complicate Louisiana’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Ida, as more than 97,000 across the state remain without power as of Tuesday morning.

  • One family in Galliano, Louisiana may not see electricity until mid-October as they cope with overcrowded conditions, no working appliances and all cooking happens on a barbecue outdoors.

  • During Ida, both of the hospitals in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana were forced to evacuate.

    • The Terrebonne General Health System’s emergency department has been unable to operate out of its building since Ida and has been offering limited services in tents set up in a parking lot.

    • All 120 of Terrebonne General Health System hospital patients were evacuated to other hospitals in Louisiana or even to Mississippi.

  • Closure of the Mississippi River to commerce for several days due to Hurricane Ida cost Louisiana more than $1 billion in lost economic activity.

  • More than 2,300 oil spills related to Ida have been reported to the Coast Guard and about 900 of those have yet to be investigated as of Tuesday morning.

    • More than 100 birds covered in oil were found from a spill that happened at a Phillips 66 refinery in Louisiana due to Ida.

    • The extensive oil and gas infrastructure in Louisiana is located on land that is prone to sinking, making it more vulnerable to hurricanes that are becoming stronger and more frequent to climate change.

  • As of Tuesday morning, 30 people have died in New Jersey in the aftermath of Ida.

  • As of September 14th, 2021 there have been 14 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes in a hurricane season that has been above average.

    • 8 of those storms made landfall across the continental United States with 6 of those being tropical storms and 2 of those being Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas.

Climate Studies