North America – Page 6 – Desdemona Despair

Map showing the heat index forecast in the United States on 24 August 2023. 110 million people in the U.S. were exposed to dangerous heat today. Graphic: The Washington Post

August 24, 2023

Heat dome shatters all-time U.S. records as Europe roasts – “Brutal” heat wave brings triple-digit temperatures from Chicago to New Orleans – 110 million people exposed to dangerous heat

By Andrew Freedman 24 August 2023 (Axios) – In a summer featuring countless heat domes and record-high temperatures and heat indices, the season appears to have saved the worst for last. The big picture: A sweltering, stagnant air mass is draped across the Central U.S., resulting in “dangerous,” “searing” and “brutal” heat. Meanwhile, southern Europe is also seeing another bout of […]

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns next to houses in the Okanagan community of West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, 19 August 2023. Photo: Chris Helgren / REUTERS

August 20, 2023

City empties as thousands flee wildfire burning near capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories – Wildfires could persist for rest of “marathon” summer – “I don’t want to die, mommy”

By Tammy Webber and Jim Morris 18 August 2023 VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – Residents heeded warnings to evacuate the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as a large wildfire burned just outside the city of 20,000 Friday, while firefighters battled a growing fire that set homes ablaze in a city in British Columbia. Thousands of […]

People take photos of the sun as smoke from the wildfires in Canada cause hazy conditions in New York City in June 2023. Photo: Getty Images

August 20, 2023

How climate scientists feel about seeing their dire predictions come true – “I used to think, ‘I’m concerned for my children and grandchildren.’ Now it’s to the point where I’m concerned about myself.”

By Corinne Purtill 18 August 2023 (Los Angeles Times) – You are correct. It is, in fact, extremely unusual to be on hurricane watch in Southern California. If Hurricane Hilary continues on the trajectory forecasters are currently predicting, it will be the first tropical storm to make landfall in California since 1939, and only the second one to do […]

Projected system-wide price for the Texas electricity grid on 20 August 2023. By 8:00 PM, the price was expected to rise to nearly $1000 per megawatt-hour. Graphic: ERCOT

August 20, 2023

Texas electricity prices soar 6,000 percent as a fresh heat wave is expected to shatter records – Spot electricity prices jumped to $4,750 per megawatt-hour from the average of $75

By Jason Ma 18 August 2023 (Insider) – Texas power prices soared 6,000% on Thursday as a fresh heat wave is expected to shatter temperature records in the coming days. Spot electricity prices jumped to $4,750 per megawatt-hour Thursday afternoon from the average of $75 on Wednesday afternoon, according to data from grid operator Electric […]

Map showing global water stress projected to 2050. By 2050, an additional 1 billion people are expected to live with extremely high water stress, even if the world limits global temperature rise to 1.3 degrees C to 2.4 degrees C (2.3 degrees F to 4.3 degrees F) by 2100, an optimistic scenario. Global water demand is projected to increase by 20 percent to 25 percent by 2050, while the number of watersheds facing high year-to-year variability, or less predictable water supplies, is expected to increase by 19 percent. Data: wri.org/aqueduct. Graphic: WRI

August 20, 2023

25 countries, housing one-quarter of the population, face extremely high water stress – By 2050, an additional 1 billion people will live with extremely high water stress

By Samantha Kuzma, Liz Saccoccia, and Marlena Chertock 16 August 2023 (WRI) – New data from WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas show that 25 countries — housing one-quarter of the global population — face extremely high water stress each year, regularly using up almost their entire available water supply. And at least 50% of the world’s population […]

An aerial view of a wildfire in Kihei, Maui County, Hawaii, on 8 August 2023. Photo: Clint Hansen / Maui Real Estate / Reuters

August 9, 2023

“It’s apocalyptic”: People jump into the ocean to flee Maui wildfires – Burn patients overwhelm hospitals as 911 is cut off – Winds from Hurricane Dora fan flames – “This is so unprecedented”

By Holly Yan, Amanda Jackson, Jamiel Lynch and Chris Boyette 9 August 2023 (CNN) – The wildfires raging out of control in Maui are so catastrophic, some residents are hurling themselves into the ocean to escape the flames. Even emergency crews might not be able to help as the infernos – fueled in part by […]

Smoke from Canadian wildfires enveloped Washington, D.C. in June 2023. Photo: Kenny Holston / The New York Times

August 5, 2023

U.S. Republican energy strategy for 2024 denies climate change, calls for more drilling and less clean energy – “This agenda would be laughable if the consequences of it weren’t so dire”

By Lisa Friedman 4 August 2023 (The New York Times) – During a summer of scorching heat that has broken records and forced Americans to confront the reality of climate change, conservatives are laying the groundwork for future Republican administration that would dismantle efforts to slow global warming. The move is part of a sweeping strategy dubbed […]

Migrant workers from Mexico, working on six-month visas, pick squash and peppers on a farm in Lyons, Georgia, in July of 2023. Photo: José Ibarra Rizo / TIME

August 5, 2023

Extreme heat in 2023 endangers America’s workers and economy – Likely dozens of workers have already died from heat exposure in what may be the hottest summer in U.S. history – “Why are we being asked to choose between working and staying alive?”

By Aryn Baker 3 August 2023 GEORGIA (TIME) – Just after dawn on a recent July day in Rochelle, Ga., Silvia Moreno Ayala steps into a pair of sturdy work pants, slips on a long-sleeved shirt, and slathers her face and hands with sunscreen. She drapes a flowered scarf over her wide-brimmed hat to protect […]

Map showing forecast high surface temperatures in the U.S. for 4 August 2023. Data: National Weather Service. Graphic: Pivotal Weather

August 5, 2023

Summer 2023 heatwave just won’t quit, with more record-breaking high temperatures to come – Heat wave redux brings “oppressive” conditions to 70 million people in U.S.

By Andrew Freedman 3 August 2023 (Axios) – The heat wave that just won’t quit is bringing dangerously hot conditions from the Southern Plains to parts of the Mississippi River Valley, Gulf Coast, and increasingly, the Southwest, through the weekend. The big picture: Heat alerts are in effect for about 70 million people from Georgia to Kansas, […]

Maximum July temperatures averaged over the length of the heat events defined for the WWA study published on 25 July 2023 (left-hand side) and the same but expressed in anomalies with respect to 1950-2023 (right-hand side). The first row shows the Western USA and Mexico, the second Southern Europe and the third row China. Graphic: World Weather Attribution

August 5, 2023

Extreme heat in North America, Europe, and China in July 2023 made much more likely by global warming – Without human-induced climate change these heat events would have been extremely rare: China heatwave would have been a 1 in 250-year event, and max heat like in July 2023 would have been virtually impossible in the U.S./Mexico region and Southern Europe

25 July 2023 (World Weather Attribution) – Following a record hot June, large areas of the US and Mexico, Southern Europe and China experienced extreme heat in July 2023, breaking many local high temperature records. July 2023 saw extreme heatwaves in several parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including the Southwest of the US and Mexico, […]