A third of wells shut down at site of troubled natural gas facility in California

By Brian Melley 12 September 2017 LOS ANGELES (Associated Press) – The largest gas storage facility in the West halted using a third of the wells pumping methane underground at high pressure just weeks after it resumed operations following a blowout that crippled it for nearly two years.Southern California Gas Co. said Monday it notified […]

Has global warming intensified 2017’s wildfires in the U.S. West? “When we remember that the relationship between temperature and fire is exponential, we’re really talking about a very different western United States in 50 years”

By Robinson Meyer  7 September 2017 (The Atlantic) – This wasn’t supposed to be a bad year for Western wildfires.Last winter, a weak La Niña bloomed across the Pacific. It sent flume after flume of rain to North America and irrigated half the continent. Water penetrated deep into the soil of Western forests, and mammoth […]

Potent mix of record heat and dryness fuels wildfires across the U.S. West and British Columbia – “These unprecedented extreme events are exactly the types of events that are more likely due to the global warming that’s already occurred”

By Georgina Gustin 5 September 2017 (Inside Climate News) – Wildfires burned across hundreds of thousands of acres in the American and Canadian West this week, fueled by scorching temperatures that are breaking heat and fire records across the region.In California, while temperatures have eased, at least 15 cities have seen record-breaking heat, and the […]

Wildfires sweep across U.S. West, slow push toward Portland – “It’s very unusual to have this many fires burning this many acres across such a broad area at this time in September”

By Alex Dobuzinskis 5 September 2017 (Reuters) – An Oregon wildfire that has damaged landmarks in the scenic Columbia River Gorge slowed its push toward evacuated houses near the city of Portland on Wednesday, officials said. As dozens of blazes raged across the U.S. West, the so-called Eagle Creek Fire near Portland merged late Tuesday […]

Heat, smoke, and fire assault states across U.S. West – All-time temperature record set in California

By Bob Henson  3 September 2017 (Weather Underground) – The steamy, fiery summer of 2017 hit a new crescendo this weekend across the U.S. West, which is getting its hottest Labor Day weekend on record in many locations—and in some spots, the hottest weather ever observed. Overall, “this is the greatest statewide heat wave ever […]

Raging wildfire north of downtown Los Angeles grows to one of the largest blazes in city history

By Ruben Vives, Andrea Castillo, and Alene Tchekmedyian 2 September 2017 (The Los Angeles Times) – A brush fire in the Verdugo Mountains north of downtown Los Angeles has burned more than 5,000 acres, making it one of the largest fires in the city’s history and one that officials warn could grow larger if erratic weather […]

After Harvey, does Trump still think climate change is a hoax?

By Paul Thornton 2 September 2017 (The Los Angeles Times) – Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, 2 September 2017. For those of us in and around Los Angeles who still have electricity, here is a helpful tip for keeping the A/C humming throughout this hellish heatwave (hint: turn something else off […]

Record heat, lightning, fires, intense rain: California’s extreme weather gets wilder

By Joseph Serna 1 September 2017 (The Los Angeles Times) – The heat wave that has gripped California for a week took a dramatic turn Thursday as lightning storms sparked brush fires, knocked out power to thousands and caused downpours across the region. Forecasters said the extreme weather will continue through the weekend, with some […]

Graph of the Day: Opioid prescription rate for the U.S. in 2016

By Julia Watson 18 August 2017 (NCMI) – It is well known that the US currently faces an opioid epidemic and according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 1999 the rate of overdose death related to opioid, including both heroin and prescription drugs, has quadrupled. According to the National Institute on […]

Burning Man Temple being built from trees killed in California drought

By Joe Kukura 24 August 2017 (SFist) – You’ll notice this year’s Burning Man Temple looks a lot different than previous years’ laser cut jigsaw designs of David Best. Best has handed off the task to his previous lead engineers and architects, who’ve come up with a simple but striking concept composed of flat panels. […]

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