Extremely high temperature wild fire “roasted” test the United States and Canada
Expert: Climate change makes extreme high temperature weather more frequent and intense
This past weekend, large areas of the western United States and western Canada once again encountered a round of rare high-temperature “baking” tests, setting high-temperature records in many places. The high temperature and ultra-high temperature warning issued by the US Meteorological Department “radiates” more than 30 million people. Under the impact of extreme heat and continuous drought, mountain fires in the United States and Canada are raging, and the greater fire risk during the mountain fire season is a cause for concern.
According to statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, June this year was the “hottest June” in the United States since records (127 years), and the highest temperature in June in 8 states broke the record.
Death Valley National Park in southeastern California is one of the hottest locations in the world. On July 11, local time, the highest temperature in Death Valley soared to 54 degrees Celsius. On July 10, Las Vegas reached a local record of 47 degrees Celsius.
The National Weather Service reminds the public to beware of the risk of disease caused by extreme heat. In the recent rare high temperature, hundreds of people in the United States have died of related diseases. The number of calls for help and emergency hospitals in the affected areas has surged.
Multiple factors such as insufficient preparation and power shortages have exacerbated the impact of high temperature weather. In areas affected by extreme high temperatures, many residents do not have air conditioners installed in their homes, and the discomfort brought to life by frequent heat waves can be imagined.
Under the impact of extreme heat and severe drought, the high risk of wildfires is particularly worrying.
In western Canada, many mountain fires are raging, and more than 50 wildfires have increased in the past two days. Not long ago, Litton Village in British Columbia, Canada, was swallowed by forest fires and 90% of the village was destroyed.
The wildfire in southern Oregon in the United States damaged the interstate grid facilities, resulting in about 4000 megawatts of electricity unable to be sent to neighboring California. California officials have asked residents across the state to reduce electricity use.
Many states in the western United States have entered a season of high fires. In terms of the burned area, California suffered the worst fire season on record last year. The burned area exceeded 1.6 million hectares and more than 10,000 houses and other buildings were reduced to rubble. California officials predict that this year’s wildfires may even be worse than last year.
Researchers and US officials attribute the extreme heat to climate change. Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric sciences at Pennsylvania State University in the United States, said that climate change has caused extreme high temperatures to occur more frequently and intensely. As humans emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the “energy” in the climate system continues to rise, and this excess “energy” manifests itself in the form of extreme high temperature weather.
According to Xinhua News Agency
Related
Mountain fire hits California goats to help
Xinhua News Agency reported that California, the United States, is currently experiencing severe drought and the risk of wildfires is high. A herd of goats, as special “firefighters”, launched a fire prevention operation-eating grass.
According to a report from Agence France-Presse on the 12th, 80 goats have been grazing in a mountainous area in Glendale near Los Angeles for 10 days.
The local fire chief Jeffrey Ragusa introduced that goats can eat a lot of flammable dry plants, which can prevent wildfires from occurring or spreading. He said that goats are just a small branch of the local firefighting force, but their role cannot be ignored, and they can alleviate the manpower burden of opening fire belts. This job is quite hard and usually needs to be done manually under intense heat.
Ragusa said the fire department heard about goat fire prevention from community residents, other fire departments and the city. “The more you understand, the more you realize how effective and environmentally friendly they are.”
The goats “weeding” in the mountains of Glendale were introduced by a company called “Sage Environmental Group”. The founder of the group, Alisa Cop, said that he would carefully monitor the sheep to ensure that they only eat grass in areas that need to be “weeded.” The company has raised about 400 goats in total and is also carrying out goat fire prevention projects in areas such as Anaheim, California and South Pasadena.
There were frequent wildfires in California last year, and more than 1.6 million hectares of fire occurred. The drought has been severe this year, and the local government is worried that wildfires will be raging again.