Home » Posts tagged 'california' (Page 9)

Tag Archives: california

More than 650 have been reported missing after fast-moving fires devastate communities north of San Francisco.

Flames from a massive wildfire burn in Napa, CA. (CREDIT: AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) — FLAMES FROM A MASSIVE WILDFIRE BURN IN NAPA, CA. (CREDIT: AP PHOTO/RICH PEDRONCELLI)

High temperatures and fast winds are fueling more than a dozen wildfires across California, forcing more than 20,000 northern California residents to evacuate their homes and communities. At least 21 people have died, and 670 have been reported missing, after several fires spread rapidly throughout Monday.

Vice President Mike Pence spoke at California’s emergency management headquarters on Tuesday and said that President Trump had approved a “major disaster declaration” for the entire state.

The fires ignited late Sunday night and into Monday morning and have since spread over 50,000 acres across Napa and Sonoma counties, destroying at least 3,500 structures and sending at least 100 to the hospital with injuries ranging from burns to smoke inhalation. The Tubbs Fire — which is currently burning at 33,000 acres — has prompted the evacuation of at least 10 neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa, which has a population of 125,000. Two hospitals have also been evacuated after the fire jumped across Highway 101 between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Aerial photographs show entire neighborhoods of the city completely destroyed by the fire, which as of Tuesday morning was zero percent contained. Smoke from the wildfires caused the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue an air quality warning for the region on Monday; as of Tuesday, much of the area north of San Francisco was still experiencing unhealthy air quality. Fire officials said it could be days, or even weeks, before many of the fires are contained.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Red Flag Warning: These California Wildfires Are ‘Among The Most Destructive Fire Events In US History’ And They Are About To Get Even Worse

October 11, 2017

Red Flag Warning: These California Wildfires Are ‘Among The Most Destructive Fire Events In US History’ And They Are About To Get Even Worse

The wildfires that are roaring through northern California are already “among the most destructive fire events in U.S. history”, and by the time it is all said and done this could be the worst wildfire season in the history of the state. So far, fires have scorched more than 250 square miles, and more than 3,500 homes and businesses have already been destroyed. The official death toll has risen to 21, but that is expected to rise dramatically because over 600 missing persons reports have been filed with authorities. The worst damage has been done in Napa and Sonoma counties, and you can see some deeply troubling photos of the devastation here and here.

Unfortunately, this crisis is far from over. In fact, the National Weather Service has just issued a pair of “red flag warnings”…

The weather forecast is not looking good for those living in wine country, and for those firefighters trying to get a handle on the 22 wildfires raging through Northern California, which broke out Sunday and are barely contained more than three days later.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the North and East bays starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday and midnight on Thursday respectively.

That means winds can gust from 20 mph to 50 mph in the higher elevation areas, fanning the flames down mountains and into the cities.

So as bad as things are at this moment, the truth is that they are going to get even worse over the next 24 hours.

And that is quite sobering to hear, because this is already one of “the most destructive fire events in U.S. history”…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

California’s “Wine Country” Could Take Years To Recover From Deadly Wildfires

October 11, 2017

California’s “Wine Country” Could Take Years To Recover From Deadly Wildfires

Wildfires that have been raging across Northern California’s “wine country” since Sunday have destroyed at least four wineries and seriously damaged at least nine more just as the season’s harvest came to an end. The damage could leave one of the state’s signature industry’s hobbled for years, according to NBC.

Of course, assessing the scope of the damage will be impossible until the fires subside. The Napa Valley Vintners trade association has not heard from all members, especially those in the most vulnerable parts of the valley. By the time the fires started on Sunday – accelerated by dry conditions and strong winds -about 90% grapes had been picked. And most of the remaining crop of thick-skinned cabernet sauvignon grapes not expected to be affected by the smoke.

Most wineries remain closed from power outages and mandatory evacuation orders.

What remains of the Signorello Estate winery…

At the Gundlach Bundschu – the oldest family-run winery in California, started in 1858 – in Sonoma County, workers were not sure whether the grapes above the winery survived the fires, Fox reported.

Katie Bundschu, a sixth-generation vintner, recounted a scary Monday night in which the flames licked at the perimeter of the winery but were beaten back by firefighters. A century-old redwood barn and her grandmother’s 1919 home were spared.

“The winery was in the path of the fire but escaped being engulfed by the flames. We have some damage to fix. The wine is secure in our cellars. We are cleaning up and hoping to have the power back on this week,” Bundschu said.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

California Mulls Combustion-Engine Car Ban: “You Could Stop All Sales By 2030”

September 26, 2017

California Mulls Combustion-Engine Car Ban: “You Could Stop All Sales By 2030”

California, the state which single-handedly turned Elon Musk into the billionaire that he is today by forcing taxpayers to subsidize his unprofitable electric vehicle scam via “Zero Emission Vehicle” credits, is now considering a full ban of combustion-engine cars by as early as 2030. The potential ban was discussed by Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board, the same folks who decided to regulate cow farts last year, who told Bloomberg that Governor Jerry Brown has expressed interest in a ban.

Governor Jerry Brown has expressed an interest in barring the sale of vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in an interview Friday at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. Brown, one of the most outspoken elected official in the U.S. about the need for policies to combat climate change, would be replicating similar moves by China, France and the U.K.

“I’ve gotten messages from the governor asking, ‘Why haven’t we done something already?’” Nichols said, referring to China’s planned phase-out of fossil-fuel vehicle sales. “The governor has certainly indicated an interest in why China can do this and not California.”

California has set a goal to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. Rising emissions from on-road transportation has undercut the state’s efforts to reduce pollution, a San Francisco-based non-profit said last month.

“To reach the ambitious levels of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, we have to pretty much replace all combustion with some form of renewable energy by 2040 or 2050,” Nichols said. “We’re looking at that as a method of moving this discussion forward.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Evacuations Underway In California As Fire Rages Along The Highway

September 26, 2017

Evacuations Underway In California As Fire Rages Along The Highway

canyonfire

Corona, California is experiencing burning hillsides near a freeway as the Canyon fire rages on. So far, the fire has forced people to quickly evacuate their homes.

The fire has destroyed more than 1,700 acres of land near Chino Hills State Park, California, with emergency crews urging people to evacuate all homes and schools in the area. The canyon fire began close to Freeway 91 just after 1 pm on Monday and has now spread to over 2,000 acres, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

Follow

luis sinco @luissinco

#CanyonFire still burning #hot in #Corona. Charred area now up to 2,000 acres. Lots of #firefighters on the scene battling #blazeat #night.

1:10 AM – Sep 26, 2017

The blaze, which is only 5 percent contained, according to the fire service’s latest updates, has necessitated the use of aircraft and more than 300 firefighters. Four schools have been closed due to the threat from the flames, with Corona City authorities urging people to leave their homes south of Green River Road to the Trudy Way area.

An evacuation shelter has been opened at the Corona High School gymnasium.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fearful Californians Prepare For A Nuclear Attack: “A Lot Of People Will Be Killed”

September 16, 2017

Fearful Californians Prepare For A Nuclear Attack: “A Lot Of People Will Be Killed”

With each passing day and each new ICBM launch from a seemingly unhinged North Korean dictator, the fears of an attack on the U.S. mainland, though faint, increasingly weigh on the hearts and minds of Americans, particularly those in California. As The Guardian points out today, those fears have even prompted a group of California public health officials and emergency responders to gather for a strategy session with Hal Kempfer, a retired marine lieutenant colonel, to discuss which areas are the most likely targets and how citizens should respond to an attack.

Hal Kempfer, a noted international security expert, is getting a roomful of California public health officials and emergency responders to think about the unthinkable – a nuclear bomb exploding at the port of Long Beach, about four miles away.

“A lot of people will be killed,” he said, “but a large percentage of the population will survive. They will be at risk and they will need help.”

“If you want to mess up southern California, if you want to mess up the west coast, if you want to mess up our country – where do you attack?” Kempfer asks. “If I’m sitting in North Korea and looking at possible targets, I’m going to be looking at Long Beach very closely.”

He talks about the port and downtown Long Beach being “toast” – no exaggeration, since the blast wave is likely to vaporize everything in its immediate path. But the city health department, the Long Beach airport and fire department might not be; they are all somewhat protected by a hilly area that is likely to halt the initial blast wave. And so the city can, tentatively, think about setting up a center of emergency operations.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Do 40,000 Lightning Strikes Over Southern Cali Point To A Mega Quake On The Horizon?

September 15, 2017

Do 40,000 Lightning Strikes Over Southern Cali Point To A Mega Quake On The Horizon?

calightningstorm

A volatile storm has ignited a slew of 40,000 lightning strike in southwestern California. The strikes have hit Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties – all between September 10-11.

The electric storm was most active on Sunday with an amazing 5,000 lightning bolts in the area over a three-hour period. NWS Los Angeles took to Twitter to report the tremendous display. The intense storm brought plenty of lightning to the Golden state’s southern region, but almost no rain. The greatest rain total of .44 inches at Sudden Peak on Sunday. By Monday morning, heavy showers, thunderstorms, and 35-mph winds were reported in eastern Los Angeles County.

Follow

NWS Los Angeles ✔@NWSLosAngeles

Tremendous number of lightning strikes & in-cloud flashes over SW CA in last 24-hours. Nearly 40,000 in total! #CAwx #LAWeather #LARain

11:30 AM – Sep 11, 2017

But now conspiracy is swirling around this fascinating and unique electric storm. Strange lights and electrons acting oddly seem to have been appearing either before or during major earthquakes – like the recent 8.2 magnitude quake in Mexico. Could these lightning strikes be a sign that California’s mega quake is on the horizon?

Like California, Mexico is a seismically active region that has seen smaller quakes that have caused death and destruction. But Thursday’s temblor is a reminder that even larger quakes — while rare — do occur. Scientists say it’s possible for Southern California to be hit by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake. Such a quake would be far more destructive to the Los Angeles area because the San Andreas fault runs very close to and underneath densely populated areas.

It’s often stated that California is ripe for a devastating mega earthquake and after some noticed the strange lights in the sky above Mexico during its quake, this conspiracy conclusion was an easy one to jump to.

California Farmland To Plunge “20% Or More” As Returns Sink To Lowest Level Since 1992

April 26, 2017

California Farmland To Plunge “20% Or More” As Returns Sink To Lowest Level Since 1992

Last August we questioned whether California farmland was overvalued by $70 billion (see our aptly named post: “Is California Farmland Overvalued By $70 Billion?“). Our reasoning was fairly simple, as we argued such a draconian outcome was the inevitable result of large institutional buyers scooping up 1,000s of acres of Cali farmland and massively overplanting almonds because, at least at the time, it was the hottest crop earning the highest returns…and that’s what NYC hot money likes.

Unfortunately, chasing short-term returns by massively overplanting a permanent crop with a 25 year useful life and creating a huge supply bubble in the process rarely works out all that well. Here’s what we said 9 months ago:

But the Midwest is not the only place where farmland has bubbled over. California farmland has been bubbling up for years now with unplanted farm ground with “decent” access to water currently selling for $20,000 – $30,000 per acre. Land with mature almonds, California’s cash crop, is more likely to trade at $30,000 – $40,000 per acre. This bubble, like so many others, has been caused in large part by institutional capital “reaching for yield” in a low interest rate environment…yet another Fed bubble lurking under the surface.

The plan was relatively simple, in the absence of attractive fixed income yields, large asset managers (like TIAAmentioned above with $850BN of AUM) decided to purchase hard assets like farmland instead. Farmland could then be planted with the highest value crop, which just happens to be almonds in California, to drive attractive ROICs on invested capital. A few simple charts illustrate perfectly how the story played out.

And, right on cue, almond prices crashed leaving land owners with a ~4% ROIC, down from 16%, on land they likely purchased for north of $35,000 per acre.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Water Wars Coming To California? Is The Drought Really Over?

March 13, 2017

Water Wars Coming To California? Is The Drought Really Over?

Authored by Capt. William E. Simpson II – USMM Ret.,

In California, the poor growth and development policies that have resulted from a lack of vision have led-to and are continuing to lead Californians down a path of unsustainable growth and a widening gap between the demand and availability of critical resources, especially water.

This gargantuan problem is augmented by a growing financial crises in California as evidenced by an out of control and growing debt problem. All the while, many elected officials in the State along with Governor Jerry Brown are thumbing their noses at the Fed and losing Federal funding for cities that obstinately insist on violating long-established immigration laws. Of course this too is not helpful to the growing State debt, which elected officials will certainly cast-off onto the weakening shoulders of taxpayers using a combination of direct tax increases and other legislative and regulatory ploys that also amount to taxes and less money in the pockets of the People.

The term ‘drought’ has been used in reference to the severe water shortages that California is experiencing. But what is the real culprit or causation of the growing water shortage? Is drought caused by a lack of precipitation as most people believe? Or is the shortfall of water availability due to some other principal factor, such as water-use outstripping supply?

The recent record precipitation in California during the winter of 2016-2017 has certainly soaked the landscape, replenishing many of California’s reservoirs and in the process giving Californians the impression that the drought is over. But that is a misconception according to sources provided herein.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

California Floods To Trigger “The Big One”? – Geologists Warn Of Quake Risks From Snowpack, Rising Reservoirs

March 4, 2017

California Floods To Trigger “The Big One”? – Geologists Warn Of Quake Risks From Snowpack, Rising Reservoirs

For years geologists have warned that Southern California is overdue for “The Big One”, a massive 8.0 or greater earthquake that would undoubtedly cause unprecedented death and destruction in several heavily populated urban centers sprinkled along the San Andreas Fault line.

While predicting earthquakes remains an uncertain science, there has been concern in recent years among experts that the San Andreas fault may be close to a new, major ruction if only by virtue of the length of time since it happened last, when the southern portion of the fault was struck by a 7.9 shaker all the way back in 1857.

Since then the tectonic plates that meet at the fault have been continuously on the move at a rate of about 2 inches per year. That means that over 159 years there has been a shift of 26 feet as the Pacific plate moves in a northwesterly direction against the American continental plate. Every additional inch creates additional pressures on the rocks beneath the earth’s surface that builds and builds until it eventually snaps.

San Andreas

Now, as the Los Angeles Times points out, the recent flooding in California has prompted some scientists to raise concerns over whether or not Californians are at a greater risk of being struck by an imminent quake. According to geologists, flooding can cause earthquakes in one of two ways: i) the sheer weight of rising reservoirs and snowpack causes tectonic plates to shift and/or ii) increasing pressure created from the refilling of underground water basins pushes plates apart, therefore reducing friction and allowing the earth’s crust to shift.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Dramatic Drone Footage Shows Extent Of San Jose Flooding

February 23, 2017

Dramatic Drone Footage Shows Extent Of San Jose Flooding

While the series of major storms hitting California have begun to subside, residents of San Jose are being warned to keep away from affected homes until water levels decrease to a safe level. Flash floods along the west coast of the US have seen thousands of people forced to leave their homes and a state of emergency declared by California governor Jerry Brown. The majority of mandatory evacuation orders have now been downgraded for areas including Sutter County around the Oroville Dam Spillway, which sparked panic one week ago when it threatened to collapse during the floods.

However, San Jose, the 10th largest city in the US, remains one of the most substantial urban regions affected, with 14,000 resident evacuated and more than 36,000 homes estimated to be hit by floodwater, reports the San Francisco Gate.

To get a sense of the water damage, the following drone footage shows the extent of the flooding in San Jose.

City Mayor Sam Liccardo has admitted failures in the official response to the storm crisis. “If the first time that a resident is aware that they need to get out of a home is when they see a firefighter in a boat, then clearly something went wrong,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said, report KQED News. “We are assessing what it is that led to that failure.”

The reason for the city’s dire predicament is that over the last two weeks, heavy rains pushed water levels at Santa Clara County’s largest reservoir into the danger zone. That happened over the weekend, sending massive amounts of water into the Coyote Creek, which runs through the heart of San Jose. By Tuesday, the creek was overflowing at numerous locations, inundating neighborhoods, flooding hundreds of homes and forcing the frantic evacuations of more than 14,000 residents, who remained out of their homes Wednesday, the LA Times reported.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog

October 16, 2016

Fruit and nut crops decline as climate change melts fog

Fimrite, P. May 22, 2014. As Central Valley fog disappears, fruit, nut crops decline. San Francisco Chronicle.

California produces 95% of U.S. fruit and nut crops that depend on disappearing Tule fog.

The soupy thick tule fog that regularly blanketed the Central Valley has been slowly disappearing over the past three decades, declining by 46%, a University of California, Berkeley study has found. Tule fog is a dense ground fog that usually forms during calm winds and cold temperatures after the first significant rainfall of the season and can be so dense there is only 5 feet of visibility.

“It is jeopardizing fruit growing in California, we’re getting much lower yields” said Dennis Baldocchi, a biometeorologist at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study.

Almonds, pistachios, cherries, apricots and peaches rely on the thick ground fog to hold down temperatures and bring on a dormant period, a necessary physiological process that helps them produce buds, flowers and fruit during the growing season.

“If we don’t get enough chill, the flowers and fruit doesn’t form, an insufficient rest period impairs the ability of farmers to achieve high-quality fruit yields,” said Baldocchi, a professor of environmental science, policy and management.

In 1980, for instance, there was an average of 37 foggy days in Fresno compared with 22 now. Long-term averages were used in an attempt to correct for times of drought. Only two foggy days were recorded this past winter.

Held down by warmer air from the surrounding mountains, the fog can linger for days or even weeks and cover as much as 400 miles from Bakersfield to Red Bluff (Tehama County).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Considering the Coming Megadrought in the American Southwest

October 16, 2016

Considering the Coming Megadrought in the American Southwest

Drought status in the U.S. as of 2015. Note the color-coded legend in the lower-right portion of the graphic (source; click to enlarge)

I’ve written in the past about two of the most climate-vulnerable regions of the U.S., Florida and the American Southwest. (A third region, the Pacific Northwest, is vulnerable, but to a non-climate event, a magnitude 9.0 mega-earthquake.) Here I want to look again to the problems of California and the Southwest.

Much of the water that sustains California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and surrounding areas comes from the ever-drying Colorado River. Just as it’s now clear that we’ve passed the tipping point for extreme weather, we’re also very likely passed the tipping point for the long-term habitability of the American Southwest.

The report is from NASA; the write-up is from EcoWatch (my emphasis):

NASA: Megadrought Lasting Decades Is 99% Certain in American Southwest

A study released in Science Advances Wednesday finds strong evidence for severe, long-term droughts afflicting the American Southwest, driven by climate change. A megadrought lasting decades is 99 percent certain to hit the region this century, said scientists from Cornell University, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

“Historically, megadroughts were extremely rare phenomena occurring only once or twice per millennium,” the report states. “According to our analysis of modeled responses to increased GHGs, these events could become commonplace if climate change goes unabated.”

Rising temperatures will combine with decreased rainfall in the Southwest to create droughts that will be worse than the historic “Dust Bowl” of the 20th century and last far longer.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Why ‘overregulated’ California is leading the way

September 17, 2016

Why ‘overregulated’ California is leading the way

Ideologues hate it when the facts get in the way of their theories. California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed trailblazing legislation last week that commits the state to audacious greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030 of 40 percent below 1990 levels. Not surprisingly, longstanding critics from the business community were howling once againabout how California’s business climate will deteriorate as a result.

The law extended efforts under California’s previous cap-and-trade bill which set emission targets for 2020 to match 1990 levels.

Predictions of doom for the California economy are a perennial staple of California politics. But is there any truth to them?

First, here are the bald facts. Growth of California’s ‘overregulated’ economy has frequently exceeded the U.S. economy as a whole since 1998. Annual growth in gross domestic product shown in the linked graphs is not a perfect measure of economic vitality, but it shows that fears that California is somehow stunted by its so-called excessive regulatory and tax burden isn’t supported by the growth numbers.

Moreover, states that rank highest in typical business-oriented think tank ratings such as North Dakota and Wyoming saw their economies shrink by 6.7 and 2.9 percent respectively in 2015 as California led the nation with an expansion of 4.2 percent. Of course, North Dakota and Wyoming were hit hard by the decline of oil prices as their economies are largely extractive. California’s economy is far more diverse.

It’s probably true that carbon emissions intensive industries will now think twice about expanding their presence in California. But those industries aren’t really the future that California is seeking.

Instead, the state is becoming a leader in solar and wind energy and energy efficiency technology and policy. These are cutting edge industries that other states should envy California for. One has to look no further than the coal industry to see what’s in store for the fossil fuel industry as a whole and the economies that rely on them.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Environmentalism” and Rabies

September 10, 2016

“Environmentalism” and Rabies

When an animal catches rabies, in the end stages, it manifest bizarre, aggressive behavior. A normally shy raccoon will charge a human, growling and frothing at the mouth.

There is only one treatment for a rabid raccoon.

How about humans afflicted with the disease called “environmentalism”?

It is a form of rabies – and much more dangerous.

California Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, for instance. This “environmentalist” (what’s the credential, exactly?) is pushing legislation that would require 15 percent of all new cars sold in California be “emissions free” by model year 2025.

This means electric cars, as only electric cars qualify as “emissions-free”… notwithstanding that they also most definitely produce emissions.

Just not at the tailpipe.

This also means catastrophe for the car industry – for car buyers. For buyers of cars that aren’t electric cars.

The price of which will skyrocket – in order to offset the losses imposed on car companies forced to manufacture and then give away vast fleets of electric cars in order to be allowed to sell any cars at all.

Electric cars only being “salable” when subsidized or “sold” at a loss.

In the past, there was a dodge.

A con, actually.

It’s the one that helped make the rent-seeking Andrew Carnegie of our time, Elon Musk – purveyor of the Tesla electric car – a very wealthy man. He sells carbon creditsto other car companies. These credits serve as flim-flam-than-you-ma’am proxies for notbuilding electric cars. GM, for instance, avoids wasting money and time designing, manufacturing and then attempting to sell (at a loss) an electric Edsel (like the ’90s-era EV1) by purchasing carbon credits from Elon for the tailpipe emissions not produced by the cars he makes. In order to offset the tailpipe emissions of the cars GM makes.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Tag Archives: california

Content

Post categories

Economic Links

Energy/Resource Links

Environmental Links

Geopolitical Links

Liberty Links

News Links

Other Links

Survival Skills

Post Archives by Category

California produces 95% of U.S. fruit and nut crops that depend on disappearing Tule fog.

Post navigation

Latest Posts