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California Burnin' on Such a Summer's Day

Gryffindorian

Gryffindorian

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Let me preface this post by saying if there's going to be a political discussion on this topic (climate change, etc.), let's keep it civil.

I live in the SF Bay metropolitan area, and this is the fourth consecutive year the region has been severely impacted by wildfires, and by far, this is the worst season. The smoke has been stifling, to say the least. It's the densest I have seen in years. There is no getting accustomed to the smell of smoke that seeps into one's home or workplace.

While wildfires are not unheard of in the state or in other places, it doesn't minimize the catastrophe they wreak on the environment, people, and property. This map shows the dozens of wildfires in the state as of this writing.

My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, pets, and homes during this crisis, as well as the individuals suffering from bad air quality. If there are other Californians who would like to check in, feel free to share your personal experience. Stay safe.
 
My wife and I were up at Cloud Cap on Mount Hood, in August of 2011, and got back down just before a wildfire started. The cause? Lightning.

Lightning strikes have been amping up for quite some time. Lots of atmospheric disturbance. Earth's magnetic field is even in a greater state of flux.

Then there are the 'skyquakes'....which some people are determined to put a paranormal spin on....that further demonstrate atmospheric conditions that are not exactly the norm.
 
The smoke has been pretty bad. I'm in the Sacramento region. It doesn't help that it came right after a big heat wave. It was absolutely stifling to be outside in 110 degrees and choking on a thick orange haze. Apocalyptic feeling for sure. I'd gotten used to quarantine, but at least I was able to go on walks around my neighborhood. Now I am basically completely confined to my house. It really sucks, but at least I have a house. Not everyone can say the same right now.
 
"Climate Change" is real. I've seen it in my corner of the world (Chicagoland) the way the weather cycle changed from 2001 and earlier to 2002 and beyond, then stayed that way.

All the years I was growing up (70's) and later (80's & 90's), we'd generally get 60's in April, 70's in May, 80's-90's in June and July, cooler in August and September, 50's at best in October then fairly cold and snowy winters. Of course there would be exceptions, even hotter summers, drought years, heavier winters, etc. But since 2002, the 60's generally hang around til June, the hotter months are July, August and sometimes September. Not uncommon to still see 70's in October and 60's in November. But the thing is, we rarely hit 90+ anymore (although we've been around 90 here in the last week of August) and winters have been consistently milder and warmer. It's been more of a shift to the center (more temperate?).

If that's not "Climate Change", I don't know what is. It isn't a pattern that hung around a few years, then reverted.

Now, "Global Warming" can be misconstrued by anyone, especially the deniers, but the average temperature has gone up, more than it should be at this point in the Ice Age cycle. We see this in the massive melting of glaciers that really aren't due for melting from what, 10,000 or 25,000 years?

Scientists have a pretty good idea where things should be and we're just a bit ahead of schedule for a warm up. Could be completely natural, or be partially due to us silly humans. I'd say we've had an effect in the couple hundred years of industrialization. Even if we could literally turn everything off this minute, the planet is still kinda screwed.
 
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It is very real. Many years ago I was reading in a journal that the average global temperature would rise 15 degrees Fahrenheit [over the next XX years]. I don't recall how many years have passed since I read that article, but it seems we're already there.

Some days it smells like a chimney everywhere - at home, in the office, in my car, etc. Although my employer provides face coverings, we're not allowed N95 masks (for obvious reasons) except field workers assigned in smoky areas.
 
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The Bay Area today felt like an apocalyptic movie, like Mad Max or Blade Runner. Evidently though the air quality was moderate, but I still wore a mask even on walks. I've never seen anything like this before. At 9:00 AM it felt like it was night time.
 
Isn't this one of the ones you can't 100% blame on climate change? They spent decades putting out all the fires immediately, and as a result huge amounts of dry brush accumulated and made larger wildfires much more likely.

This is a different case of human intervention in the environment upsetting the equilibrium and making things dangerous.
 
tomalak301 said:
The Bay Area ... At 9:00 AM it felt like it was night time.
Click to expand...

Right, without the orange daylight, it could have been either 6 AM or 8 PM.

I was watching the Weather Channel, and there were parts of Oregon where the sky was red. Ooh, now that looked apocalyptic.
 
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