Heat wave in the west and wildfire conditions
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Photo by D'Arcy Norman CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Residents in the Northwest feel like they are living Dubai. In a long string of hot days, residents and visitors are experiencing record highs that have not been seen since 1981. Some part of the Willamette Valley in Oregon reached temperatures of 107˚F (Dubai only had a high of 102˚F). The National Weather Service has issued severe weather warnings for those in Oregon and Washington, telling people to stay in locations that have air conditioning, drink plenty of water, and avoid going outside. The hot weather is expected to continue through the weekend. Read more about the heat wave.
The hot weather has prompted scientists to forecast a dreary future for the vegetation of the western United States. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that scientists expect the wildfires this year to be one of the worst on record because of the record hot conditions and droughts many areas are experiencing. Predictions of wildfires based on climate are surprisingly accurate, but do not account for lightening and poor judgment on the part of humans. Human activity accounts for most of the wildfires that begin. The amount of wildfires per year has increased with the increase of global temperatures.
