wildfires

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    5 Issues to Watch at Climate Week 2021

    5 Issues to Watch at Climate Week 2021

    By Lorena Gonzalez and Nate Shelter World leaders are gathering in New York this week and next for the UN General Assembly meeting (UNGA76) and Climate Week. The two major events come at a critical moment for climate action. The world is facing an emergency. Nearly every person on the planet felt the impacts of […]

    Firefighters Race to Protect World’s Largest Tree From Menacing Wildfires

    Firefighters Race to Protect World’s Largest Tree From Menacing Wildfires

    Firefighters in California are using blankets to protect iconic sequoias — including the world’s largest tree — from approaching wildfires. The Colony Fire was within a mile of Sequoia National Park’s iconic Giant Forest Thursday afternoon, which hosts around 2,000 sequoias including the General Sherman Tree, considered the largest on Earth in terms of volume, […]

    Summer of 2021 Was the Hottest Summer on Record: NOAA

    Summer of 2021 Was the Hottest Summer on Record: NOAA

    NOAA found that the average temperature of meteorological summer – June, July, and August – was 2.6°F (1.45°C) above the 20th century average, a troubling sign as global temperatures continue to increase faster than previously thought. All seven of the warmest years on record have been the last seven years, and 19 of the 20 […]

    Caldor Fire Threatens ‘Urban Conflagration’ in South Lake Tahoe

    Caldor Fire Threatens ‘Urban Conflagration’ in South Lake Tahoe

    The Caldor Fire breached Echo Summit on Monday, crossing the Sierra Nevada and posing a direct threat to the population centers around Lake Tahoe, forcing more than 50,000 people to evacuate. A wildfire has crossed over the Sierra Nevada just once before in recorded history: less than two weeks ago the Dixie Fire crossed the […]

    Caldor Fire Ignites 30,000 Acres in California, Destroys Town of Grizzly Flats

    Caldor Fire Ignites 30,000 Acres in California, Destroys Town of Grizzly Flats

    The Caldor Fire, which ignited over the weekend, exploded nearly five-fold to roughly 30,000 acres Tuesday, incinerating much of the 1,200-person town of Grizzly Flats. At least two people with serious injuries were airlifted to hospitals from the Grizzly Flats area and about 22,000 residents have been forced to evacuate. “It’s a pile of ash,” […]

    Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Increased COVID Deaths

    Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Increased COVID Deaths

    Smoke from wildfires can make people more susceptible to catching COVID – and dying from it. Over 700 more people died and nearly 20,000 more were infected with the virus than would have been expected if they had not been exposed to air polluted with particulate matter from fires that burned during last summer’s record-breaking […]

    Google to Add Air Quality Data to Nest Hub Displays

    Google to Add Air Quality Data to Nest Hub Displays

    Weeks after smoke from wildfires spread from coast to coast, Google announced that it is adding air quality data to its Nest Hubs display. Beginning Thursday, an Air Quality Index (AQI) badge will be added to the clock and weather widget for select U.S. markets. “Between wildfire season and recent increased efforts to reduce air […]

    Smoke From Wildfires Reaches North Pole for First Time in History

    Smoke From Wildfires Reaches North Pole for First Time in History

    Smoke from wildfires burning in Siberia’s dense boreal forest has reached the North Pole for the first known time in history, NASA satellite images revealed last week. Smoke from the fires reaching the North Pole “is continental scale by definition,” University of Maryland atmospheric scientist Santiago Gassó told Reuters. According to the European Union’s Copernicus […]