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Much of the country is currently experiencing dangerous levels of extreme heat or wildfire smoke. At least 15 people in the United States have died in recent days. The air quality in Toronto was the worst in the world this week as wildfire smoke from other parts of Canada blanketed the city. The smoke made its way south, shrouding the Eastern United States in toxic air. The National Gallery In Washington, D.C. closed its outdoor sculpture garden “due to air quality.”
Meanwhile, a heat dome that stretches from Texas to Florida and up to Missouri is ratcheting up the heat index (a combination of temperature and humidity) to above 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some places. With no relief in sight, temperatures are projected to climb 15 to 20 degrees above normal in much of the region through the weekend. The abundance of solar and wind power generation and storage is what's keeping Texas' power grid from experiencing disruptions and allowing residents to stay cool despite the punishing heat wave.
On the West Coast, a heat dome is expected to form over California, covering Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley with excessive heat warnings in a region where thousands of farm workers labor outdoors.
Both extreme heat and wildfires are aggravated by the greenhouse gas emissions that come from the burning of fossil fuels. Kim Cobb, a climate scientist and director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, said the week’s events embodied the “multiple stressors linked to man-made climate change” that the United Nations has warned about through its scientific panel on global warming. “If ever there was a moment to stop and re-evaluate our fossil fuel emissions trajectory, that moment is now,” she said.
Happy 4th of July!
Look West is taking a break next week. We'll be back in your inbox with more public lands news on Monday, July 10. Until then, have a safe and fun July 4th holiday!
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What I see with tribes, especially with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, is that they are continuously requesting that they be present and incorporated and included in the discussions for the future of water management, and not be treated as an afterthought or excluded from those conversations—as they have historically.”
