Wildfire Season Is Already Devastating North America

Current conditions: Eastern Bolivia declared an extreme weather state of emergency through the end of the year • The Chinese province of Fujian has recorded 1.6 feet of rain since Wednesday • Rain in Paris is threatening to make for a soggy Olympics opening ceremony.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Huge wildfires burn in Canada, California, Oregon

Massive wildfires are burning in western states and in Canada, sending plumes of smoke fanning out across the U.S. Triple-digit heat has fueled the fire conditions, but some cooler weather is expected over the weekend.

California’s Park Fire: The 165,000-acre inferno is located in Butte and Tehama counties in northern California. It ignited on Wednesday and exploded quickly to become the state’s largest wildfire of the year, burning an area equivalent to 50 football fields a minute. As of this morning the fire was 3% contained. A suspect has been arrested and is accused of starting the fire when he pushed a burning car into a gully. The state’s acreage burned so far is roughly twice the average for this time of year.

The Park Fire burns in California.CSU/CIRA & NOAA

Oregon’s Durkee Fire: Located near the Oregon-Idaho border, this is currently the largest active fire in the U.S., covering 270,000 acres. A lightning strike is thought to have sparked the blaze on July 17. High winds, extreme heat, and dry conditions have fanned the flames. Air quality alerts are in place for eastern Oregon. Denver and Chicago also experienced a dip in air quality.

Canada’s Jasper Wildfire Complex: Wildfires engulfed the tourist town of Jasper in the Alberta province, leaving half the town in ruins. Roughly 89,000 acres have burned and 25,000 people were forced to evacuate. Rain and cooler weather brought some relief last night. So far 5.7 million acres have burned in Canada this year, surpassing the annual average.

While North America burns, parts of Asia are seeing unprecedented rainfall and flooding. Typhoon Gaemi lashed China, Taiwan, and the Philippines this week, killing at least 21 people and capsizing an oil tanker. Researchers say climate change is altering rainfall patterns globally, resulting in less frequent but much stronger typhoons. A new study published in the journal Science concluded that about 75% of the world’s land area has seen more extreme swings between wet and dry conditions. “This is going to increase as global warming continues, enhancing the chances of droughts and/or floods,” the researchers said.

2. NOAA chooses 19 projects for IRA funding to boost coastal climate resilience

The Biden administration today announced the 19 projects that are slated to receive part of $575 million in funding through NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to boost coastal climate resilience. The projects are located across 15 states. Some of the largest grants are going to Alaska ($78.9 million), Washington state ($75.6 million), and New Jersey ($72.5 million). NOAA said the program received 870 applications, making it “one of the most popular Inflation Reduction Act programs.” Here’s the full list of projects.

3. Minneapolis is getting a solar cell factory

Plans are underway to build a solar cell factory in Minneapolis. The project is a joint venture between Canadian solar panel maker Heliene and India’s solar cell maker Premier Energies. It’ll produce an annual aggregate capacity of 1 GW N-Type cells. “This is great news for the U.S.,” wrote Michelle Lewis at Electrek, “as there is currently a shortage of U.S. solar cell manufacturing capacity.” It’s good news, too, for solar panel makers that need American-made cells in order to qualify for new subsidies. Heliene credited the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits for spurring its decision to invest in U.S. solar.

4. Climate protesters seek to disrupt flights across Europe

About 140 flights out of Germany’s busiest airport were canceled yesterday because climate activists glued themselves to the runway. The protest is part of a larger coordinated movement between climate groups across Europe to disrupt airport activity and call for an international agreement to phase out fossil fuels. Airports in Finland, Spain, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, and the U.K. have also been targeted in recent days. The months of June through August mark Europe’s busiest travel season.

5. UN chief calls for urgent action against extreme heat

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued an urgent call yesterday for global action to protect people and economies from the growing threat of extreme heat. The message included four imperatives: protecting the most world’s vulnerable populations by expanding access to low-carbon cooling technologies, protecting workers with better workplace heat regulations, strengthening resilience through climate action plans, and phasing out fossil fuels. This week saw the hottest-ever recorded global average temperature. “The message is clear: the heat is on,” Guterres said. “Extreme heat is having an extreme impact on people and planet. The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures.” In the U.S., extreme heat kills more people every year than all other extreme weather events combined.

THE KICKER

“The Green New Deal may not have been signed into law in its pure form, but it did what its advocates hoped: It captured the conversation around climate and was adopted to a great extent by an entire political party. And much of what it sought has found its way into law and policy. So while Trump may call it a scam, it looks a lot like a triumph.” –Paul Waldman writing for Heatmap.