Los Angeles Times (August 19)
“With more than a million acres burned fairly early in the fire season, California is entering uncharted territory as the record dry conditions that have fueled so much destruction will soon combine with seasonal winds that fire officials fear will bring unprecedented dangers.” Many experts fear for the *fire-prone state” as the *impending arrival of strong Santa Anas and Diablos — which typically move in around mid-September — could mark even more misery for weary residents and beleaguered fire crews.”
Tags: Beleaguered, Burned, California, Dangers, Destruction, Dry, Early, Fire crews, Fire officials, Fire season, Million acres, Misery, Seasonal winds, Uncharted, Unprecedented, Weary
New York Times (July 15)
India’s water crisis offers a striking reminder of how climate change is rapidly morphing into a climate emergency. Piped water has run dry in Chennai…and 21 other Indian cities are also facing the specter of ‘Day Zero,’ when municipal water sources are unable to meet demand.” The Prime Minister “has promised piped water for all Indians by 2024,” but that goal will never be met unless the government also focuses on harnessing “powerful natural water systems that worked in the past…. Mr. Modi’s government’s focus on huge projects is flawed because moving water works only if there is water to move.”
Tags: 2024, Chennai, Climate change, Crisis, Day Zero, Demand, Dry, India, Modi, Natural water systems, New projects, Piped, Water
Los Angeles Times (August 16)
“The largest fire in California history continued to grow Thursday while firefighters worked to protect threatened communities…. Conditions have been ripe for the erratic fire behavior that has led to the explosive growth of the Ranch fire, which along with the River fire makes up the 364,145-acre Mendocino Complex fire. The days are so hot and dry that whatever gains firefighters see overnight when the humidity goes up quickly fade when the sun hits the fuels and sucks the moisture out.”
Tags: California, Dry, Erratic, Explosive, Fire, Firefighters, Hot, Humidity, Mendocino Complex fire, Ranch fire, River fire
Bloomberg (January 24)
This April, Capetown may become the first “great world city” to run out of water. Experts now expect “the reservoirs that feed this most beautiful of coastal cities will drop below critical levels, and stand at 13.5 percent of capacity. Taps will run dry in homes and businesses, and residents may have to start lining up” to fill containers with no more than “25 liters per person, as the city government desperately tries to reduce water consumption.” This is what happens when you “ignore warnings, underinvest and pretend that the rain will fall.”
Tags: Capetown, Consumption, Dry, Rain, Reservoirs, Taps, Underinvestment, Warnings, Water
Los Angeles Times (March 28)
“California ought to learn from the experience of Australia, the driest continent on Earth, with a broadly similar economy.” California has been reeling from perpetual water shortages: the result of a flawed water policy. California “uses enough water in an average year to support, in theory, 318 million Californians (and their lawns and dishwashers), more than eight times the actual population of 38 million.”
Tags: Australia, California, Dishwashers, Dry, Economy, Lawns, Policy, Population, Shortages, Water
