Ouch. Just saw a moonbeam type on the news call Gavin Newsom the Justin Trudeau of California.
Pacific Palisades Fire
- Thread starter bob the dog
- Start date
He is tho' just saying. He's the most irresponsible Governor in the U.S. I think. But that's just me! He's certainly no DeSantis!!
If it was Commies they"d use prison labour to clear the scrub lands surrounding LA twice a month.
The ash left behind by the Los Angeles wildfires might be toxic, experts warn
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Melina Walling
Published Jan 21, 2025 • 3 minute read
Toni Boucher threw up the first time she saw the charred remains of her home and neighbourhood after this month’s deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires. Now she wonders if it’s worth it to go back to sift through the ashes and try to find her grandmother’s wedding ring.
It’s not just that she’s worried about the trauma she experienced from seeing the destruction in Altadena, where Boucher, 70, has lived for decades. She is also concerned about possible health risks.
“They talk about asbestos and they’re talking about lead and they’re talking about all of the things that have burned in the loss of the homes and the danger of that,” Boucher said.
Experts warn that the blazes unleashed complex chemical reactions on paint, furniture, building materials, cars, electronics and other belongings, turning ordinary objects into potentially toxic ash that requires protective gear to handle safely. The ash could include harmful lead, asbestos or arsenic, as well as newer synthetic materials.
“Ash is not just ash. Go back to the garage or what’s in your home. What is your furniture made out of? What are your appliances made out of? What is your house made out of?” asked Scott McLean, a former deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s communications bureau. “A lot of it’s petroleum product and different composites that are extreme hazards due to fire when they combust.”
That is especially a problem when people start to sift through fire damage. Studies show that people involved in recovery in ash-affected areas could face health risks from breathing in whatever is there.
Even safe chemicals commonly found in household materials — such as titanium dioxide in paint or copper in pipes — can form compounds that are more reactive after a fire, said Mohammed Baalousha, a professor of environmental health sciences at University of South Carolina, who studies ash samples to better understand what materials are present and how they change in the wake of wildfires.
Scientists are still trying to understand exactly what those chemical changes do to human health, not just in California but in places such as Maui and other areas scarred by wildfire.
Maui residents were kept out of contaminated areas for nearly two months, but they still worry about long-term health impacts. In California, officials aren’t letting residents return to many locations, likely for at least a week, while they restore utilities, conduct safety operations and search for people, according to Los Angeles County’s recovery website.
Some chemicals are linked to cardiovascular disease and reduced lung function. Other adverse health effects might arise from inhaling more mobile and toxic forms of arsenic, chromium and benzene. Exposure to magnetite, which can form when fire burns iron, has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, for example.
“It really could take a long time to tease out all of the potential health effects of these particles” because of how many complex chemical reactions are going on and how many substances still remain to be studied, Baalousha said.
Researchers point to the variety of health problems potentially linked to dust from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“I always kind of reminded myself of all the people that ran into the World Trade Center on 9/11, and were really there for not that long of a period of time in terms of their total exposure,” said Jackson Webster, who studies fire aftermath as a professor of civil engineering at California State University, Chico. “But there is increased cases of all kinds of different illness, sickness.”
Baalousha added that scientists also worry about where all the waste will go. Some potentially hazardous materials could end up in drinking water or even flow into the ocean, adversely affecting marine life. That’s something experts in Hawaii are studying after the deadly fire in Maui last year.
While researchers continue their work, people returning to their homes in California should put their safety first, he said.
“We know it’s a lot of emotions and feelings going on that you can put down your guard, but you shouldn’t do that,” Baalousha said. “Just be safe. Be careful. Put all the gear you can — at least an N95 mask, gloves — and stay safe. Because you lost your property. But you don’t want to damage also your health in the longer run.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Melina Walling
Published Jan 21, 2025 • 3 minute read
Toni Boucher threw up the first time she saw the charred remains of her home and neighbourhood after this month’s deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires. Now she wonders if it’s worth it to go back to sift through the ashes and try to find her grandmother’s wedding ring.
It’s not just that she’s worried about the trauma she experienced from seeing the destruction in Altadena, where Boucher, 70, has lived for decades. She is also concerned about possible health risks.
“They talk about asbestos and they’re talking about lead and they’re talking about all of the things that have burned in the loss of the homes and the danger of that,” Boucher said.
Experts warn that the blazes unleashed complex chemical reactions on paint, furniture, building materials, cars, electronics and other belongings, turning ordinary objects into potentially toxic ash that requires protective gear to handle safely. The ash could include harmful lead, asbestos or arsenic, as well as newer synthetic materials.
“Ash is not just ash. Go back to the garage or what’s in your home. What is your furniture made out of? What are your appliances made out of? What is your house made out of?” asked Scott McLean, a former deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s communications bureau. “A lot of it’s petroleum product and different composites that are extreme hazards due to fire when they combust.”
That is especially a problem when people start to sift through fire damage. Studies show that people involved in recovery in ash-affected areas could face health risks from breathing in whatever is there.
Even safe chemicals commonly found in household materials — such as titanium dioxide in paint or copper in pipes — can form compounds that are more reactive after a fire, said Mohammed Baalousha, a professor of environmental health sciences at University of South Carolina, who studies ash samples to better understand what materials are present and how they change in the wake of wildfires.
Scientists are still trying to understand exactly what those chemical changes do to human health, not just in California but in places such as Maui and other areas scarred by wildfire.
Maui residents were kept out of contaminated areas for nearly two months, but they still worry about long-term health impacts. In California, officials aren’t letting residents return to many locations, likely for at least a week, while they restore utilities, conduct safety operations and search for people, according to Los Angeles County’s recovery website.
Some chemicals are linked to cardiovascular disease and reduced lung function. Other adverse health effects might arise from inhaling more mobile and toxic forms of arsenic, chromium and benzene. Exposure to magnetite, which can form when fire burns iron, has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, for example.
“It really could take a long time to tease out all of the potential health effects of these particles” because of how many complex chemical reactions are going on and how many substances still remain to be studied, Baalousha said.
Researchers point to the variety of health problems potentially linked to dust from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“I always kind of reminded myself of all the people that ran into the World Trade Center on 9/11, and were really there for not that long of a period of time in terms of their total exposure,” said Jackson Webster, who studies fire aftermath as a professor of civil engineering at California State University, Chico. “But there is increased cases of all kinds of different illness, sickness.”
Baalousha added that scientists also worry about where all the waste will go. Some potentially hazardous materials could end up in drinking water or even flow into the ocean, adversely affecting marine life. That’s something experts in Hawaii are studying after the deadly fire in Maui last year.
While researchers continue their work, people returning to their homes in California should put their safety first, he said.
“We know it’s a lot of emotions and feelings going on that you can put down your guard, but you shouldn’t do that,” Baalousha said. “Just be safe. Be careful. Put all the gear you can — at least an N95 mask, gloves — and stay safe. Because you lost your property. But you don’t want to damage also your health in the longer run.”
The ash left behind by the Los Angeles wildfires might be toxic, experts warn
That is especially a problem when people start to sift through fire damage.
Not even sea life is safe from the L.A. fires
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Ruby Mellen, The Washington Post
Published Jan 22, 2025 • 4 minute read
The oceanographer was far out in the Pacific, off the coast of San Diego, when he saw a high yellow cloud floating toward him. It was smoke from the Los Angeles wildfires.
Rasmus Swalethorp and others on a routine month-long sampling mission aboard a government research vessel sprang into action. The presence of wildfire smoke dozens of miles offshore was unexpected. But they knew that where there was smoke, there was also ash. And data to collect.
The 209-foot boat, the Reuben Lasker, changed course and piloted toward Manhattan Beach, California.
“We were heading into an apocalyptic sky,” said Swalethorp, who studies changes in ocean environments at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They stopped about 60 miles offshore on Jan. 8.
“It was like being out in a calm snowy day in the winter except it was not snowflakes, it was ash particles raining down on us,” he said.
As the blazes that have consumed swaths of L.A. are being contained after destroying some 40,000 mostly residential acres and killing at least 27 people, experts say harmful hazards will persist in the land and in the air long after the flames are extinguished. Scientists fear that could also be true for the sea, as the forceful Santa Ana winds whip ash and wreckage far into the Pacific.
“There’s for sure going to be a lot of toxins associated with this debris,” Swalethorp said. “We don’t know the exact effects, because this is more or less unprecedented. But it’s likely to have an effect on the organisms living there.”
Research into the impact of wildfire ash on oceans is a newer scientific field, said biogeochemical oceanographer Joan Llort, “because it’s kind of related to this new generation of fires, mega-fires.”
Studies show extreme wildfires that are hotter and harder to control are happening more often. The fires release huge plumes of smoke and ash that can get blown out to the ocean.
But the debris is not always harmful, said Morgane Perron, a researcher in marine trace element biogeochemistry at Brest University. She and Llort were part of a team that studied the effects on marine life in the wake of Australia’s “black summer” from 2019 to 2020, when wildfires, fueled by extreme drought, ripped through forests across the country, releasing ash and smoke particles into the ocean.
They found that the nutrients, including nitrogen and iron, in the ash and soil that were swept out to sea may actually have helped some marine life there. They observed phytoplankton blooms – a sign small algae are feeding and rapidly reproducing – during and shortly after the fires.
But, Perron added, “The Australia fires were a forest fire. The L.A. fires aren’t.”
Sifting through the floating sea muck this month to collect his samples, a sour stench filled Swalethorp’s nostrils.
“It’s not like the ash you’d smell after camping and a bonfire,” he said. “It smelled like burned electronics.”
The L.A. blazes have burned through homes, cars, televisions and power lines, raising fears of the harmful chemicals that could be present in the air and the soil. ASCENT Network, a group funded by the National Science Foundation that measures aerosols and pollutants in the air, found high levels of lead and chlorine in L.A. after the fires.
Llort said it was likely these chemicals could end up in the ocean. “This is a big concern,” he said. “We’re not sure what happens when you add chemicals like the ones we use to clean our houses.”
Some scientists have tried to find out. In Maui, after devastating wildfires consumed Lahaina in August 2023, researchers studied how the urban blaze affected nearby coral reefs. They found elevated levels of copper, lead and zinc, peaking in October 2023, said Nicholas Hawco, an assistant professor and oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
The levels have since declined, but Hawco said the effects on the wildlife in the area could be ongoing.
“I wouldn’t call it a devastation zone in the same way that the land is,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t slower accumulative effects that don’t need monitoring.”
“It’s not something that goes away as fast as the fire is extinguished,” he added, noting it could take years for the repercussions to travel up the marine food chain.
In the nearly two weeks since the team on the Reuben Lasker saw that first plume of yellow smoke, they have continued to collect data, sampling and resampling the seawater. The goal in the coming months, said Swalethorp, is to map out where the ash has distributed and its impact on coastal and marine communities.
The boat returned to the area over the weekend and found the levels of ash and debris are declining, he said, but they are still waiting for the first rainfall. Water could push more residue down the slick, burn-scarred hills of L.A. into streams and, eventually, the ocean.
Swalethorp sees his team’s work as vital to understanding what the future holds for California’s coast, especially if fires continue to become more frequent and extreme.
“The California ecosystem is a biodiversity hotspot essential to fisheries so we need to understand the short-to-long-term impacts of this fallout on ecosystem health,” he said.
“Wildfires with urban areas at risk are predicted to increase in frequency and strength,” Swalethorp added. “So the L.A. fires represent a unique opportunity for us to understand the ecosystem risks and impacts from such urban fire events.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Ruby Mellen, The Washington Post
Published Jan 22, 2025 • 4 minute read
The oceanographer was far out in the Pacific, off the coast of San Diego, when he saw a high yellow cloud floating toward him. It was smoke from the Los Angeles wildfires.
Rasmus Swalethorp and others on a routine month-long sampling mission aboard a government research vessel sprang into action. The presence of wildfire smoke dozens of miles offshore was unexpected. But they knew that where there was smoke, there was also ash. And data to collect.
The 209-foot boat, the Reuben Lasker, changed course and piloted toward Manhattan Beach, California.
“We were heading into an apocalyptic sky,” said Swalethorp, who studies changes in ocean environments at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They stopped about 60 miles offshore on Jan. 8.
“It was like being out in a calm snowy day in the winter except it was not snowflakes, it was ash particles raining down on us,” he said.
As the blazes that have consumed swaths of L.A. are being contained after destroying some 40,000 mostly residential acres and killing at least 27 people, experts say harmful hazards will persist in the land and in the air long after the flames are extinguished. Scientists fear that could also be true for the sea, as the forceful Santa Ana winds whip ash and wreckage far into the Pacific.
“There’s for sure going to be a lot of toxins associated with this debris,” Swalethorp said. “We don’t know the exact effects, because this is more or less unprecedented. But it’s likely to have an effect on the organisms living there.”
Research into the impact of wildfire ash on oceans is a newer scientific field, said biogeochemical oceanographer Joan Llort, “because it’s kind of related to this new generation of fires, mega-fires.”
Studies show extreme wildfires that are hotter and harder to control are happening more often. The fires release huge plumes of smoke and ash that can get blown out to the ocean.
But the debris is not always harmful, said Morgane Perron, a researcher in marine trace element biogeochemistry at Brest University. She and Llort were part of a team that studied the effects on marine life in the wake of Australia’s “black summer” from 2019 to 2020, when wildfires, fueled by extreme drought, ripped through forests across the country, releasing ash and smoke particles into the ocean.
They found that the nutrients, including nitrogen and iron, in the ash and soil that were swept out to sea may actually have helped some marine life there. They observed phytoplankton blooms – a sign small algae are feeding and rapidly reproducing – during and shortly after the fires.
But, Perron added, “The Australia fires were a forest fire. The L.A. fires aren’t.”
Sifting through the floating sea muck this month to collect his samples, a sour stench filled Swalethorp’s nostrils.
“It’s not like the ash you’d smell after camping and a bonfire,” he said. “It smelled like burned electronics.”
The L.A. blazes have burned through homes, cars, televisions and power lines, raising fears of the harmful chemicals that could be present in the air and the soil. ASCENT Network, a group funded by the National Science Foundation that measures aerosols and pollutants in the air, found high levels of lead and chlorine in L.A. after the fires.
Llort said it was likely these chemicals could end up in the ocean. “This is a big concern,” he said. “We’re not sure what happens when you add chemicals like the ones we use to clean our houses.”
Some scientists have tried to find out. In Maui, after devastating wildfires consumed Lahaina in August 2023, researchers studied how the urban blaze affected nearby coral reefs. They found elevated levels of copper, lead and zinc, peaking in October 2023, said Nicholas Hawco, an assistant professor and oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
The levels have since declined, but Hawco said the effects on the wildlife in the area could be ongoing.
“I wouldn’t call it a devastation zone in the same way that the land is,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t slower accumulative effects that don’t need monitoring.”
“It’s not something that goes away as fast as the fire is extinguished,” he added, noting it could take years for the repercussions to travel up the marine food chain.
In the nearly two weeks since the team on the Reuben Lasker saw that first plume of yellow smoke, they have continued to collect data, sampling and resampling the seawater. The goal in the coming months, said Swalethorp, is to map out where the ash has distributed and its impact on coastal and marine communities.
The boat returned to the area over the weekend and found the levels of ash and debris are declining, he said, but they are still waiting for the first rainfall. Water could push more residue down the slick, burn-scarred hills of L.A. into streams and, eventually, the ocean.
Swalethorp sees his team’s work as vital to understanding what the future holds for California’s coast, especially if fires continue to become more frequent and extreme.
“The California ecosystem is a biodiversity hotspot essential to fisheries so we need to understand the short-to-long-term impacts of this fallout on ecosystem health,” he said.
“Wildfires with urban areas at risk are predicted to increase in frequency and strength,” Swalethorp added. “So the L.A. fires represent a unique opportunity for us to understand the ecosystem risks and impacts from such urban fire events.”
Not even sea life is safe from the L.A. fires
Scientists fear that there could be harmful hazards in the sea, as the forceful Santa Ana winds whip ash and wreckage far into the Pacific.
Rain on way to California will help but create risk of toxic ash runoff
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jan 25, 2025 • 2 minute read
LOS ANGELES — Rain on the way to parched Southern California on Saturday will aid firefighters mopping up multiple wildfires. But heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring the threat of new troubles like toxic ash runoff.
Los Angeles County crews spent much of the week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in devastated areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds Jan. 7.
The National Weather Service said most of the region would likely get less than an inch of precipitation, but “the threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario” of localized cloudbursts causing mud and debris to flow down hills.
“While damaging debris flows are not the most likely outcome, there is still a lot of uncertainty with this storm,” the weather service office for Los Angeles said on social media.
Rain was expected to begin Saturday afternoon, increase throughout the weekend and last into Monday, forecasters said. Flood watches were issued for some burn areas.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order this week to expedite cleanup efforts and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. LA County supervisors also approved an emergency motion to install flood-control infrastructure and expedite and remove sediment in fire-impacted areas.
Fire crews filled sandbags for communities while county workers installed barriers and cleared drainage pipes and basins.
Officials cautioned that ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and every other kind of personal belonging. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Residents were urged to wear protective gear while cleaning up.
Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito up the coast from LA was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge blaze. Twenty-three people died, and hundreds of homes were damaged.
While the impending wet weather ended weeks of dangerous gusts and reduced humidity, several wildfires were still burning Saturday across Southern California. Those included the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 81%, and the Eaton Fire was at 95%.
In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters made significant progress against the Hughes Fire, which prompted evacuations for tens of thousands of people when it erupted Wednesday in mountains near the Lake Castaic area.
And in San Diego County, there was still little containment of the Border 2 Fire churning through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The rain is expected to snap a near-record streak of dry weather for Southern California. Much of the region has received less than 5% of the average rainfall for this point in the water year, which began Oct. 1, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Most of Southern California is now either in “extreme drought” or “severe drought,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jan 25, 2025 • 2 minute read
LOS ANGELES — Rain on the way to parched Southern California on Saturday will aid firefighters mopping up multiple wildfires. But heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring the threat of new troubles like toxic ash runoff.
Los Angeles County crews spent much of the week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in devastated areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds Jan. 7.
The National Weather Service said most of the region would likely get less than an inch of precipitation, but “the threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario” of localized cloudbursts causing mud and debris to flow down hills.
“While damaging debris flows are not the most likely outcome, there is still a lot of uncertainty with this storm,” the weather service office for Los Angeles said on social media.
Rain was expected to begin Saturday afternoon, increase throughout the weekend and last into Monday, forecasters said. Flood watches were issued for some burn areas.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order this week to expedite cleanup efforts and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. LA County supervisors also approved an emergency motion to install flood-control infrastructure and expedite and remove sediment in fire-impacted areas.
Fire crews filled sandbags for communities while county workers installed barriers and cleared drainage pipes and basins.
Officials cautioned that ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and every other kind of personal belonging. It contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Residents were urged to wear protective gear while cleaning up.
Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito up the coast from LA was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge blaze. Twenty-three people died, and hundreds of homes were damaged.
While the impending wet weather ended weeks of dangerous gusts and reduced humidity, several wildfires were still burning Saturday across Southern California. Those included the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 81%, and the Eaton Fire was at 95%.
In northern Los Angeles County, firefighters made significant progress against the Hughes Fire, which prompted evacuations for tens of thousands of people when it erupted Wednesday in mountains near the Lake Castaic area.
And in San Diego County, there was still little containment of the Border 2 Fire churning through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The rain is expected to snap a near-record streak of dry weather for Southern California. Much of the region has received less than 5% of the average rainfall for this point in the water year, which began Oct. 1, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Most of Southern California is now either in “extreme drought” or “severe drought,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Rain on way to California will help but create risk of toxic ash runoff
Rain on the way to parched Southern California on Saturday will aid firefighters mopping up multiple wildfires
Climate change made conditions that fed California wildfires more likely, more intense: Study
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published Jan 28, 2025 • 4 minute read
WASHINGTON — Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.
But the myriad of causes that go into the still smoldering fires are complex, so the level of global warming’s fingerprints on weeks of burning appears relatively small compared to previous studies of killer heat waves, floods and droughts by the international team at World Weather Attribution. Tuesday’s report, too rapid for peer-review yet, found global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this month’s fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.
Once-in-a-decade super strong Santa Ana winds, a dry autumn that followed two very wet years that caused rapid growth in flammable chapparal and grass, hot weather, dry air and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas all were factors in the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 29 people, study authors said. But the climate attribution team was only able to quantify issues that dealt with the fire weather index, which are the meteorological conditions that add up to fire danger.
The fire weather index — which includes measurements of past rainfall, humidity and wind speed — is where the team looked and found markers of climate change that they could quantify.
The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Celsius) of human-caused climate change that Earth has had since industrial times. That allowed them to come up with a calculation for warming’s contribution to the disaster. It’s a method that the National Academy of Sciences says is valid. Even though these rapid studies aren’t yet peer-reviewed, nearly all of them are published later in peer-reviewed journals without significant changes, said World Weather Attribution co-lead scientist Friederike Otto.
“The number (35%) doesn’t sound like much” because unlike dozens of its past studies, the team looked at a small area and a complex meteorological measurement in the fire weather index that would generally mean there would be large uncertainties, said Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. But in this case the climate change fingerprint is big enough that it stands out, she said.
Those conditions are part of what makes California attractive to 25 million residents, said study co-author John Abatzoglou, a climate and fire scientist at the University of California Merced.
Southern California has “some of the best climate, best weather on the planet — except when you get a combination of conditions that occurred here,” Abatzoglou said. “You get the trifecta of dry windy and warm conditions. Those three things, in combination with dry fuels and ignitions, are the perfect recipe for fire disasters.”
Abatzoglou said it’s like a bunch of switches — dryness, fuels, high temperatures, wind and ignition — that all need to be turned on “for conditions to really take off.” Think of it as switches for a light bulb to illuminate — “and so you can think about the artificial warming due to human-caused climate change making the light brighter,” added co-author Park Williams, a UCLA fire and climate scientist.
The study also found California’s dry season has increased by 23 days and the lack of rain in October, November and December was more than twice as likely now than in pre-industrial times, but because of limitations on the data, researchers couldn’t statistically pinpoint these to both climate change and the specific fires this month, Otto said. But she said “the rains are decreasing — that is because of human-induced climate change.”
Then add in strong winds to whip and spread flames.
Mike Flannigan, a Canadian fire scientist who wasn’t part of the research, said one key to him is the fire season extending longer and “increasing the chance a fire will start during peak Santa Ana winds.”
The research couldn’t specifically quantify how much, if any, climate change affected the Santa Ana winds.
Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of wildfire study at San Jose State University, said the rapid study makes sense and fits with past research about other fires.
“It’s hard to attribute climate change to every fire event as many do,” said Clements, who wasn’t part of the research. “If we can state with confidence that the drought is caused by climate change then that is the fingerprint.”
If the world warms another 1.3 degrees Celsius from now, the study said people should expect the type of weather conditions that led to these fires to happen another 35% more often.
Otto said this is not an issue of politics, but science.
“It’s not something where you can say that this was because California did something very wrong. They did a lot of things right. They did some things that they could do better,” Otto said. “But what makes these ever more dangerous, these fires, and what is something that the government of California alone can definitely not do anything about is human-induced climate change. And drill, baby drill will make this much, much worse.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published Jan 28, 2025 • 4 minute read
WASHINGTON — Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.
But the myriad of causes that go into the still smoldering fires are complex, so the level of global warming’s fingerprints on weeks of burning appears relatively small compared to previous studies of killer heat waves, floods and droughts by the international team at World Weather Attribution. Tuesday’s report, too rapid for peer-review yet, found global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this month’s fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.
Once-in-a-decade super strong Santa Ana winds, a dry autumn that followed two very wet years that caused rapid growth in flammable chapparal and grass, hot weather, dry air and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas all were factors in the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 29 people, study authors said. But the climate attribution team was only able to quantify issues that dealt with the fire weather index, which are the meteorological conditions that add up to fire danger.
The fire weather index — which includes measurements of past rainfall, humidity and wind speed — is where the team looked and found markers of climate change that they could quantify.
The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Celsius) of human-caused climate change that Earth has had since industrial times. That allowed them to come up with a calculation for warming’s contribution to the disaster. It’s a method that the National Academy of Sciences says is valid. Even though these rapid studies aren’t yet peer-reviewed, nearly all of them are published later in peer-reviewed journals without significant changes, said World Weather Attribution co-lead scientist Friederike Otto.
“The number (35%) doesn’t sound like much” because unlike dozens of its past studies, the team looked at a small area and a complex meteorological measurement in the fire weather index that would generally mean there would be large uncertainties, said Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. But in this case the climate change fingerprint is big enough that it stands out, she said.
Those conditions are part of what makes California attractive to 25 million residents, said study co-author John Abatzoglou, a climate and fire scientist at the University of California Merced.
Southern California has “some of the best climate, best weather on the planet — except when you get a combination of conditions that occurred here,” Abatzoglou said. “You get the trifecta of dry windy and warm conditions. Those three things, in combination with dry fuels and ignitions, are the perfect recipe for fire disasters.”
Abatzoglou said it’s like a bunch of switches — dryness, fuels, high temperatures, wind and ignition — that all need to be turned on “for conditions to really take off.” Think of it as switches for a light bulb to illuminate — “and so you can think about the artificial warming due to human-caused climate change making the light brighter,” added co-author Park Williams, a UCLA fire and climate scientist.
The study also found California’s dry season has increased by 23 days and the lack of rain in October, November and December was more than twice as likely now than in pre-industrial times, but because of limitations on the data, researchers couldn’t statistically pinpoint these to both climate change and the specific fires this month, Otto said. But she said “the rains are decreasing — that is because of human-induced climate change.”
Then add in strong winds to whip and spread flames.
Mike Flannigan, a Canadian fire scientist who wasn’t part of the research, said one key to him is the fire season extending longer and “increasing the chance a fire will start during peak Santa Ana winds.”
The research couldn’t specifically quantify how much, if any, climate change affected the Santa Ana winds.
Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of wildfire study at San Jose State University, said the rapid study makes sense and fits with past research about other fires.
“It’s hard to attribute climate change to every fire event as many do,” said Clements, who wasn’t part of the research. “If we can state with confidence that the drought is caused by climate change then that is the fingerprint.”
If the world warms another 1.3 degrees Celsius from now, the study said people should expect the type of weather conditions that led to these fires to happen another 35% more often.
Otto said this is not an issue of politics, but science.
“It’s not something where you can say that this was because California did something very wrong. They did a lot of things right. They did some things that they could do better,” Otto said. “But what makes these ever more dangerous, these fires, and what is something that the government of California alone can definitely not do anything about is human-induced climate change. And drill, baby drill will make this much, much worse.”
Climate change made conditions that fed California wildfires more likely, more intense: Study
Human-caused climate change increased the intensity of the conditions that fanned the flames of the California wildfires, a study found.
It all started because of the Injuns.
The Santa Ana winds have been a part of Southern California's ecosystem for thousands of years. The winds are named after the Santa Ana Canyon in Southern California, where they are particularly intense.
History of the Santa Ana winds
- Tongva and Tataviam peoples
The earliest inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin, the Tongva and Tataviam peoples experienced the Santa Ana winds.
- Mexican-American War
In 1847, Commodore Robert Stockton reported a dust-laden windstorm while his troops were marching through California.
- Newspaper records
The Santa Ana winds have been reported in English-language records since the mid-1800s. The Anaheim Gazette first used the name "Santa Ana Winds" in 1871.
- Warm and dry
The Santa Ana winds are strong, dry, and warm, and are often associated with wildfires.
- Seasonal
The Santa Ana winds are most common during the cool season from October to March.
- Health risks
The Santa Ana winds can stir up dust and pollen, which can make respiratory conditions worse.
- Infrastructure damage
The Santa Ana winds can cause power outages, downed trees, and transportation hazards.
What garbage!! Seriously!!Climate change made conditions that fed California wildfires more likely, more intense: Study
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published Jan 28, 2025 • 4 minute read
WASHINGTON — Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.
But the myriad of causes that go into the still smoldering fires are complex, so the level of global warming’s fingerprints on weeks of burning appears relatively small compared to previous studies of killer heat waves, floods and droughts by the international team at World Weather Attribution. Tuesday’s report, too rapid for peer-review yet, found global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this month’s fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.
Once-in-a-decade super strong Santa Ana winds, a dry autumn that followed two very wet years that caused rapid growth in flammable chapparal and grass, hot weather, dry air and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas all were factors in the fast-moving fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 29 people, study authors said. But the climate attribution team was only able to quantify issues that dealt with the fire weather index, which are the meteorological conditions that add up to fire danger.
The fire weather index — which includes measurements of past rainfall, humidity and wind speed — is where the team looked and found markers of climate change that they could quantify.
The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Celsius) of human-caused climate change that Earth has had since industrial times. That allowed them to come up with a calculation for warming’s contribution to the disaster. It’s a method that the National Academy of Sciences says is valid. Even though these rapid studies aren’t yet peer-reviewed, nearly all of them are published later in peer-reviewed journals without significant changes, said World Weather Attribution co-lead scientist Friederike Otto.
“The number (35%) doesn’t sound like much” because unlike dozens of its past studies, the team looked at a small area and a complex meteorological measurement in the fire weather index that would generally mean there would be large uncertainties, said Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. But in this case the climate change fingerprint is big enough that it stands out, she said.
Those conditions are part of what makes California attractive to 25 million residents, said study co-author John Abatzoglou, a climate and fire scientist at the University of California Merced.
Southern California has “some of the best climate, best weather on the planet — except when you get a combination of conditions that occurred here,” Abatzoglou said. “You get the trifecta of dry windy and warm conditions. Those three things, in combination with dry fuels and ignitions, are the perfect recipe for fire disasters.”
Abatzoglou said it’s like a bunch of switches — dryness, fuels, high temperatures, wind and ignition — that all need to be turned on “for conditions to really take off.” Think of it as switches for a light bulb to illuminate — “and so you can think about the artificial warming due to human-caused climate change making the light brighter,” added co-author Park Williams, a UCLA fire and climate scientist.
The study also found California’s dry season has increased by 23 days and the lack of rain in October, November and December was more than twice as likely now than in pre-industrial times, but because of limitations on the data, researchers couldn’t statistically pinpoint these to both climate change and the specific fires this month, Otto said. But she said “the rains are decreasing — that is because of human-induced climate change.”
Then add in strong winds to whip and spread flames.
Mike Flannigan, a Canadian fire scientist who wasn’t part of the research, said one key to him is the fire season extending longer and “increasing the chance a fire will start during peak Santa Ana winds.”
The research couldn’t specifically quantify how much, if any, climate change affected the Santa Ana winds.
Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of wildfire study at San Jose State University, said the rapid study makes sense and fits with past research about other fires.
“It’s hard to attribute climate change to every fire event as many do,” said Clements, who wasn’t part of the research. “If we can state with confidence that the drought is caused by climate change then that is the fingerprint.”
If the world warms another 1.3 degrees Celsius from now, the study said people should expect the type of weather conditions that led to these fires to happen another 35% more often.
Otto said this is not an issue of politics, but science.
“It’s not something where you can say that this was because California did something very wrong. They did a lot of things right. They did some things that they could do better,” Otto said. “But what makes these ever more dangerous, these fires, and what is something that the government of California alone can definitely not do anything about is human-induced climate change. And drill, baby drill will make this much, much worse.”
Climate change made conditions that fed California wildfires more likely, more intense: Study
Human-caused climate change increased the intensity of the conditions that fanned the flames of the California wildfires, a study found.
Not as stupid as Dumb Donnie's "let the water flow down" horse shit.
Moron actually thinks water just naturally flows from Northern California to Southern California.
Utility says its equipment may have started a small blaze that erupted during January’s L.A. firestorm
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Christopher Weber
Published Feb 06, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
LOS ANGELES — A California utility said Thursday that its equipment may have sparked a small wildfire in Los Angeles that broke out the same day as two massive blazes in the area that killed at least 29 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Southern California Edison said the Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the cause of the Hurst Fire and believes the utility’s equipment caused the blaze, which did not destroy any structures or cause any deaths. In a required filing with state utility regulators, SCE said “absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with ignition of the Hurst Fire.”
In a second filing, the utility said it is looking into whether an idle transmission line became energized and possibly sparked the deadly Eaton Fire, which also sparked Jan. 7 devastated Altadena. But it still maintains there’s no evidence that its equipment was responsible for starting that blaze.
The utility acknowledged last month that fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started the Hurst Fire, which scorched about 1.25 square miles (3.2 square km) around the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The utility said it is cooperating with investigators.
Regarding the Eaton Fire, SCE said it was reviewing a video that purports to show “flashes” of electrical arcing from a tower near where the blaze began. The utility said preliminary investigation found no evidence that arcing occurred, while acknowledging that some damage was found on related equipment.
“SCE does not know when this damage occurred and a comparison between pre- and post-fire photographs is underway,” the filing said.
Multiple lawsuits against SCE citing the video claim the utility’s equipment sparked the Eaton Fire, but the utility maintains that it’s still too early to make that determination.
“SCE has not identified typical or obvious indications that would support this association, such as broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area,” the utility said in a news release announcing its filings.
The Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 people, was fully contained last week. Full containment was also reached on the Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 12 people.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Christopher Weber
Published Feb 06, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
LOS ANGELES — A California utility said Thursday that its equipment may have sparked a small wildfire in Los Angeles that broke out the same day as two massive blazes in the area that killed at least 29 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Southern California Edison said the Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the cause of the Hurst Fire and believes the utility’s equipment caused the blaze, which did not destroy any structures or cause any deaths. In a required filing with state utility regulators, SCE said “absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with ignition of the Hurst Fire.”
In a second filing, the utility said it is looking into whether an idle transmission line became energized and possibly sparked the deadly Eaton Fire, which also sparked Jan. 7 devastated Altadena. But it still maintains there’s no evidence that its equipment was responsible for starting that blaze.
The utility acknowledged last month that fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started the Hurst Fire, which scorched about 1.25 square miles (3.2 square km) around the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The utility said it is cooperating with investigators.
Regarding the Eaton Fire, SCE said it was reviewing a video that purports to show “flashes” of electrical arcing from a tower near where the blaze began. The utility said preliminary investigation found no evidence that arcing occurred, while acknowledging that some damage was found on related equipment.
“SCE does not know when this damage occurred and a comparison between pre- and post-fire photographs is underway,” the filing said.
Multiple lawsuits against SCE citing the video claim the utility’s equipment sparked the Eaton Fire, but the utility maintains that it’s still too early to make that determination.
“SCE has not identified typical or obvious indications that would support this association, such as broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area,” the utility said in a news release announcing its filings.
The Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 people, was fully contained last week. Full containment was also reached on the Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 12 people.
Utility says its equipment may have started a small blaze that erupted during January’s L.A. firestorm
The admission by Southern California Edison over its likely role in the Hurst Fire.
Since fire is such an issue in CA why don't they bury the lines? We have no lines in our neighbourhoods where I live, just in the older sections of the city & in some commercial areas as well. Since CA's taxes are so high, use some of it to mitigate the wildfire issue & save money in fighting them & destroying property & save lives. But maybe that makes too much sense, OR there may well be a good reason, I'd just like to hear it.Utility says its equipment may have started a small blaze that erupted during January’s L.A. firestorm
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Christopher Weber
Published Feb 06, 2025 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
LOS ANGELES — A California utility said Thursday that its equipment may have sparked a small wildfire in Los Angeles that broke out the same day as two massive blazes in the area that killed at least 29 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Southern California Edison said the Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the cause of the Hurst Fire and believes the utility’s equipment caused the blaze, which did not destroy any structures or cause any deaths. In a required filing with state utility regulators, SCE said “absent additional evidence, SCE believes its equipment may be associated with ignition of the Hurst Fire.”
In a second filing, the utility said it is looking into whether an idle transmission line became energized and possibly sparked the deadly Eaton Fire, which also sparked Jan. 7 devastated Altadena. But it still maintains there’s no evidence that its equipment was responsible for starting that blaze.
The utility acknowledged last month that fire agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started the Hurst Fire, which scorched about 1.25 square miles (3.2 square km) around the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The utility said it is cooperating with investigators.
Regarding the Eaton Fire, SCE said it was reviewing a video that purports to show “flashes” of electrical arcing from a tower near where the blaze began. The utility said preliminary investigation found no evidence that arcing occurred, while acknowledging that some damage was found on related equipment.
“SCE does not know when this damage occurred and a comparison between pre- and post-fire photographs is underway,” the filing said.
Multiple lawsuits against SCE citing the video claim the utility’s equipment sparked the Eaton Fire, but the utility maintains that it’s still too early to make that determination.
“SCE has not identified typical or obvious indications that would support this association, such as broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area,” the utility said in a news release announcing its filings.
The Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 people, was fully contained last week. Full containment was also reached on the Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 12 people.
Utility says its equipment may have started a small blaze that erupted during January’s L.A. firestorm
The admission by Southern California Edison over its likely role in the Hurst Fire.