The January 2025 California Wildfires are Fully Contained, But Their Impacts on the Ocean are Not

https://oceana.org/blog/the-january-2025-california-wildfires-are-fully-contained-but-their-impacts-on-the-ocean-are-not/

 Tonight NBC Nightly News reported that 

Tens of Millions were under Severe Weather Threat

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/tens-of-millions-under-severe-weather-threat-208186437688

Live updates: 3 dead as storm pummels California, causing flooding and dozens of mudslides in L.A. area

I found this article from National Geographic from about 2 weeks ago, and thought it tied in well with the article above:

"How atmospheric rivers cause flooding

Atmospheric rivers move huge amounts of water through the air above us—and dump rain and snow on land."

BY ALEJANDRA BORUNDA  PUBLISHED JANUARY 25, 2024

"In the coming weeks, buckets of rain are likely to batter California. The culprit? Atmospheric rivers."

"Air temperatures have ticked upward by about 1 degree Celsius, or about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, over the last century—and they're expected to rise by more than that by the end of the century. With warmer air comes wetter air: toastier temperatures evaporate more water from the ocean. On top of that, air can hold about seven percent more water vapor for each degree warmer it gets. So scientists expect that in a hotter future, atmospheric rivers will get correspondingly wetter and stronger."

You can click below to read the whole article:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/atmospheric-river-flood-rain-california-explainer

2 people are dead as an atmospheric river pummels the Northwest with more than 9 inches of rain. 

And the danger isn’t over

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Robert Shackelford, Mary Gilbert and Holly Yan, CNN

Updated 10:36 AM EST, Wed December 6, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/weather/pacific-northwest-atmospheric-rivers-rain-tuesday/index.html

From The Weather Channel:

Floods Swamp New York City

New York G​ov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency across New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley due to extreme rainfall and flooding. 

The city also declared a state of emergency, as did New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. For story and pictures click the link below:

https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2023-09-29-new-york-city-flooding-subways-new-jersey

Death toll rises to 89 in Hawaii, making it the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history 

From NBC News: "Officials say the number of dead will likely increase as crews search the wreckage that wiped out the tourist town of Lahaina. NBC News is on location covering the devastation."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/maui-fires-live-updates-hawaii-death-toll-missing-search-rescue-rcna99570

According to the AP, "Hawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging.

Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of these flash droughts as well as other extreme weather events like what’s playing out on the island of Maui, where dozens of people have been killed and a historic tourist town was devastated."

From Sierra Club's magazine: Hottest Average World Temp, Bathtub Florida

Does it seem sometimes like we're living in a disaster movie or a documentary about what could happen if we don't mitigate climate change? I guess it's not just me because these things all just happened last week: The average temperature on Earth on July 4 is an all-time record. It is surpassed on July 5, a record equaled on July 6.  June 2023 was the hottest June ever. Of the five hottest Junes on record, all have occurred in the past five years. Lightning sparks more than 100 new wildfires in British Columbia, raising the total to more than 300.  Temperatures in Florida are 3°F to 5°F above normal. Offshore water temperatures are in the 90°s—as high as 96° in the Florida Keys. Scientists fear the heat will lead to severe coral bleaching. Farmers Insurance abandons the state. More? Torrential rains bring catastrophic flooding to Vermont. Heat above 105°F in China leads to a ban on outdoor work.  Want to hear more from the source and get the whole story? Check out Paul Rauber's July 14th story here: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/icymi/icymi-hottest-average-world-temp-bathtub-florida-no-more-us-chemical-weapons-birds-go?suppress=true&utm_source=greenlife&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter 

And here's a similar article from National Geographic      

"Orange Skies are the Future"

"A repeat of the smoke-filled air that recently turned the sky orange and forced many to stay indoors is likely to get even worse as our planet continues to warm. As climate change drives conditions—such as heat, drought, and the increasingly important vapor pressure deficit—that promote large wildfire growth, records for the number of acres burned, homes destroyed, or lives lost are set and then re-broken time and again."

BY STUART PALLEY  PUBLISHED JUNE 9, 2023

 "As climate change drives an increase in wildfires, we’re seeing more smoke lofted into the upper atmosphere each fire season. Depending on wind and weather, this smoke can spread hundreds or thousands of miles from its source—as we saw in early June on the U.S. East Coast. And we’re likely to continue seeing it increase in severity, frequency, and longevity as the planet warms. "