Authorities in American states are raising the alarm about the rising threat of wildfires as the temperatures soar and the humidity levels drop. A persistent heat wave is expected to continue baking much of the US on Thursday, and the environment is becoming more and more parched as a result.
According to Joe Tyler, chairman of the California office of forest and fire security,” We are not just in a fireplace time, but we are in a fireplace year”. He emphasized the need for extra caution as the state has already responded to nearly 325 square miles ( 842 square kilometers ) of vegetation burned this year, nearly three times the average burned through July 10 in each of the previous five years.
California personnel are battling at least 19 major wildfires in scorching heat and single-digit moisture, according to a report from AP. One particularly stubborn blaze, spanning 45 square miles ( 117 square kilometres ) in the mountains of Santa Barbara County, has prompted evacuation orders for approximately 200 homes northwest of Los Angeles. The lights are rapidly consuming the tinder-dry clean and foliage.
Oregon is also facing several wildfires, with one blaze about 111 miles ( 178 kilometres ) east of Portland expanding to 11 square miles ( 28 square kilometres ) on Wednesday due to high temperatures, strong winds, and low humidity, as reported by the state fire marshal. Given that the state experience record-breaking monthly high temperatures, Governor Tina Kotek has issued an emergency authorization to install additional resources to stop the flames.
More than 142 million people in the US are affected by the heat wave, and dozens of places in American states are setting information over the weekend and during the week. For instance, Las Vegas has broken the previous record of four consecutive days, which was set in July 2005, by reaching or exceeding 115 degrees Fahrenheit ( 46.1 C ).
On the East Coast, the climate services has issued warnings of major-to-extreme temperature risk in certain areas. An excessive heat warning remains in effect for the Philadelphia area, northern Delaware, and nearly all of New Jersey, with temperatures hovering around 90 F ( 32.2 C ) and the heat index potentially reaching as high as 108 F ( 42.2 C ).
In recent months, a motorcyclist was killed in California’s Death Valley National Park and a second climber was killed in the Grand Canyon. In Arizona, authorities are investigating the deaths of a 2-year-old remaining alone in a popular car and a 4-month-old who died from heat-related problems.
According to the European climate service Copernicus, the US heat wave coincides with record-breaking global temperatures in June, which is the 13th consecutive month of record warmth and the 12th consecutive month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius ( 2. 7 degrees Fahrenheit ) warmer than pre-industrial times.
Experts believe that the long-term climate effects of greenhouse gases released by fossil fuel burning account for the majority of climate change caused by humans.
