In California, the fires are directly due to "Vapor Pressure Deficit". It is the the decrease of water in our air. It thus occurs in our soil. Plants with less moisture easily catch fire. Climate Scientist, Daniel Swain, described it to us on KQED's "Forum" radio program on 8/26/20.
Instead of saying the casual "dried grasses" are catching fire, we now ought to say we have a "Vapor Pressure Deficit". If we name it what it is, it will get proper focus to address. The public CAN handle the correct name.
The same is true for "Climate Change". That poorly named concept should be changed to the true scientific event, "Global Dimming". Global Dimming is the reduction of light to our planet. That change in the amount of light caused a cascade of destructive events, including the melting of ice in Antartica and Artica. We already know it is caused in great part by our use of fossil fuels. It is reasonable to assume that the Vapor Pressure Deficit has been caused by Global Dimming.
A PBS NOVA program described Global Dimming many years ago. There were several dire predictions, many of which have already come true. One of our next end-of-the-world problems will be the explosion of methane gas, now trapped in the seas and other places. That NOVA program ought to be played again and again throughout the world.
As a former So. California native, I do remember some very dry years in the 1970s. The trend is not good for a state with such a large population. The biggest issue is denial about global warming. Climate tipping points are around the corner or may have already been reached. We need to rethink the way we live our lives. Fossil fuels need to remain in the ground. Air travel is a huge contributor to global warming. Be the change you want to see. And vote for the person who will bring about the most change. I don't think it's Biden.
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@TLUF Biden's plan looks the best but until there is a price on carbon with the rebate to regular folks all plans will still be lacking.
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In discussions of climate change, a controversial in itself, an issue been whether abnormal weather patterns have always existed or if they are increasing due to human (in)activity. On the one hand, some argue that since the dawn of time there has been extreme weather. From this perspective, yes the Ice Age was probably an intensive time to be on Earth. On the other hand, however, others argue that there is clear science proving that humans are irrevocably ruining the planet.
My own view is that we have entered an age where "environmental sustainability" should be changed to "environmental rejuvenation" due to human activity ruining the Earth's natural state. Though I concede that the science is hard to swallow, I still maintain that is is more dangerous to ignore it. For example, we do not want to be the Neville Chamberlain's of history when we must describe to our children why the coral reefs don't exist, whole countries of the past are under water, and the world burns regularly. Although some might object that this will happen regardless, I reply that we should not go down without a fight when we've been given the path out. The issue is important to anyone who wishes to not watch the Earth turn to a boiling soup of an ocean.
At least California still has four seasons:
Fire
Flood
Earthquake
Drought
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Uh-Oh.
Here comes trouble.
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One would hope plans are in the works for scaling up toilet to tap technologies and lots of water conservation-focused books or stories for children.
I, too, have a deep worry about California summers, fires, drought, water needs, etc. Besides reducing nearly every bit of driving I can and buying 100% of my electricity from solar, wind and hydroelectric power thru SMUD, I am putting most of my energy into teaching about and contributing to websites promoting 'one-child families.'
Having more than one child increases overall usage of everything dramatically... more than even giving up my car!
150 humans are added to our planet EVERY MINUTE! This is a fearsome and staggering fact. So teaching our children about overpopulation and how it increases climate change is important. It doesn't mean any of us who have more than one child are bad. I have two children, my daughter also. It is essential to start talking to our children about what kind of world they will inherit and how they might have the ability to change their world by choosing one-child families. Only you can choose the age you would think this discussion would be appropriate. Even COP 2019 has recognized population increase (which is exponential BTW) as a major contributor to climate change.
Check out WorldPopulationBalance.com, as I have, and click on 'Think you really understand growth?' on the right-hand bar. It is a sobering and realistic expression of just how fast exponential growth is in terms of human population increase. You will be amazed!
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Arizona and California have not been on a drought watch since last the the NYT was running a ton or articles about the Western drought.
Last winter, neither state was in a drought. It rained heavily in Los Angeles the point where they had too many people taking pictures of the blooms. It has bloomed two years in a row in the desert. It rains in Phoenix maybe every other week right now. Unreal.
But don't worry, we got one month here to prove our point, ignoring the past year and a half out West.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
This map used to be completely red for most of California.
Good narrative, Times.
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Going to be fighting massive fires all year out West with men dropping from the Wuhan flu.
I guess building a culture of blowing off science and ridiculing smart people isn't working out so well? what a surprise, the oligarchs' political class will say....who could've seen this coming??
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Get ready for another bad wildfire season....
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Hey I have a great idea...let's build more housing!! Because there are not enough people in California.
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It's a balmy 70 degrees here in San Francisco. Just went for a walk without a jacket. Not a cloud in the sky. Sun for as far as the eye can see. Definitely not normal.
I don't even remember the last time it rained here.
Starting next week, it's supposed to rain. So I'm going to work on my tan this weekend.
Pretty late to reverse climate change, IMHO. How, exactly, would that happen? I think the best we can do it not make it worse.
I used to live in Tucson. Rained for one hour every day in one month of the year. Period. The desert is beautiful.
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@Nadia
"So I'm going to work on my tan this weekend."
Don't forget the sunscreen.
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Regardless of the many different explanations and interpretations there are about why California has experienced its driest February on record, that simple statistic should be viewed as yet another red flag of things to come.
The "why" is not as important to me as the simple fact that California is beginning to resemble Australia's environment - dry, parched and not improving.
I am deeply concerned and worried for not only the folks and wildlife that inhabits California, but also Oregon, Washington State and Nevada because they too are "currently experiencing abnormally dry conditions."
How can these warning signs be ignored or dismissed?
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I live in the Sacramento area, the valley so to speak. There has been rain and there was a significant amount of rain in November, December, and January. So much so, my dwelling suffered problems. There were beautiful showers in February, the kind you dream of: perfect soft rain coming down at an angle, without wind or disturbance, as if pouring from a perfectly formed shower head, all over spacious farmland, quiet and beautiful.
However, spring sprang early and the temperature was in the 70s. We in Sacramento know what is coming again, temperatures in the high 100s for months.
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@RR There was absolutely no rain in Sacramento during February. I think those beautiful showers you wax poetic about were a literal dream....
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Hell is coming. Makes one wonder if the vicious social injustice there draws such nightmares. Blessing to the millions of good people enduring California's system nightmares. Gavin Newsome's Hades.
@Fred Talbott
Gavin Newsom will be your lord someday, get used to it now.
There is still, even now, a reluctance by a clear majority of people to recognize the difference between "weather" and "climate." Anecdotally, as well, a lot of folks -- like neighbors here in the Great Basin desert -- think it is OK to have the all-American lawn, despite the fact that this corner of the Intermountain Region, gets an average of 10 inches of [precip per year.
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I live in Boulder Creek and it’s pretty wet here in the morning it’s condensation all over everything but my regular trees are getting a little bit brown sometimes but I could just as well do without water just so my water system is hooked up. I’ll be changing my story when there’s a fire sweeping through here though!
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One of the big aspects to this story that gets only passing references in the press is the change in precip patterns. Even when the annual total stays more or less the same, the rain/snow comes in fewer but far more intense downpours, thus far more runoff and much less recharging of the aquifers and soaking of the soil.
The only way to hold on to the desperately needed water is rainwater harvesting. On the small scale, that means capturing everything that hits your roof - which is more than you realize! It takes way more than a few "water barrels" to catch it. (We have 6000 gallons of big tanks, and growing.) On the larger scale, cities have to learn how to capture the torrents of water wasted in every rainfall. Here in Albuquerque there are experimental catchment basins that catch and filter the arroyo water and send it on the long path down to our diminishing aquifers. These solutions are in the "adapt or die" category.
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@will duff I'm familiar with that area. I guess it's because of poverty and extra deep well requirements to hit water on the Taos plateau.
The map of California which demonstrates precipitation totals for February 2020 says it all.
Australia suffered their worst drought and the world saw what transpired as a result.
Per the US Drought Monitor "much of Oregon, Washington State and Nevada are also currently experiencing abnormally dry conditions."
It looks like another long, destructive and potentially deadly fire season for the state of California and neighboring states.
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@Marge Keller
According to our news in California which assiduously monitors water levels in the Sierras, while we did not achieve 100 percent of the water levels of past years (non drought) we achieved approximately 85%.
We had rain. If you relied upon the maps you would think we had zero. The raining was so fierce, I couldn't drive the hundred or more miles I usually do to the Bay Area. It was too dangerous on the roads.
This article is misleading.
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@RR
Thanks so much for your comment. It truly helps to balance the story.
@RR According to the State of California, you are wrong. Snowpack in the Sierras is currently at less then 50% of normal. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action
It is extremely interesting to follow the emergent drought pattern in California. Of course that links to the old curse "may you live in interesting times."
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our landscaping contractor, who is planting a long planned drought tolerant front yard, warned us two weeks ago that there would be no rain in february.
the west is an arid (but not desert) climate. climate change will push us back to the historical (geological) norm -- then past it.
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These maps don't tell the whole story. The one shown in increments of seven degrees of wetness. We need a meteorologist to explain whats happening. Having the driest or warmest year ever doesn't mean anything in the real world. What if the the second driest and warmest was in 1880?
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@JoeG I think warmest year on record does mean something. In Houston, it would mean more flooding, as water that is heated rises.
@JoeG These maps are only part of the article. The article also explains their significance.
It's unlikely that the warmest and driest February was in 1880, because this was the driest February since 1864. It's possible that the warmest and driest February was in 1864,or that's when they started keeping records. I'm not sure. It's also possible that they had large forest fires later that year. Record temperatures, droughts and rainfalls can and often do happen anywhere in the world on any given day. It's relevant now because we are breaking MANY records across MANY parts of the globe simultaneously. That dry area is about equal to the entire United Kingdom. That is newsworthy.
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@Kenny Herbert
This is not an argument about dates. The fact remains the info should have been given in the article.
Is breaking many records in one year unusual?