As climate change brings longer, more destructive fire seasons, the wine industry scrambles to protect vineyards from the dreaded taint of smoke. “The pandemic was an enormous challenge,” one insider says. “But now, without question, I think the threat of wildfire in many different ways is the greatest challenge of the day for the industry.”
Climate
Posted inEnvironment
How should California confront the rising sea? These lawmakers have some bold ideas
California lawmakers introduced more than a dozen sea level rise bills this year — a political awakening experts say came not a moment too soon.
Posted inEnvironment
California builds a ‘Noah’s Ark’ to protect wildlife from extinction by fire and heat
As the Earth warms and the drought deepens, a network of biologists and conservationists are racing to rescue California’s most threatened species. “I can’t think of a single terrestrial ecosystem that’s not being stressed to the limits of its physiological tolerance right now,” one biologist says.
Posted inEnvironment
‘How much more of this can we take?’ Wildfires prompt air quality advisories in Northern California
Officials from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco have issued air quality alerts warning of hazardous conditions that could last into the weekend. The Santa Cruz area has seen its share of haze in recent days, but some clearing is expected Friday and into the weekend.
Posted inLatest News
Dixie fire races toward Susanville, forcing some residents to evacuate
The Dixie fire, the largest wildfire in California history, grew to 635,728 acres Wednesday and was threatening the town of Susanville. It has burned for more than a month, and containment remained at just 33%.
Posted inLatest News
PG&E starts planned power shutoffs to 51,000 customers as Dixie fire rampages
Roughly 48,000 customers in Northern California could lose power Tuesday night, the utility said, as forecasts called for fierce winds of up to 50 mph that could topple trees into energized power lines were forecast.
Posted inEnvironment
PG&E threatens power shutoffs as Dixie fire rages in Northern California
Strong winds are expected to plague the Dixie fire burn area, which has exploded to nearly 570,000 acres in Northern California. PG&E has said its equipment might have sparked the Dixie blaze, which is the second-largest fire in state history.
Posted inEnvironment
Storms threaten to grow monstrous Dixie fire: ‘Everything is ready to burn’
Gusts of up to 40 mph could carry burning embers, while lightning strikes could further ignite parched wildlands, swelling the already massive Dixie fire. Firefighters could get a break overnight, forecasters said, but adverse weather conditions are likely to return Friday.
Posted inEnvironment
More than 550 homes destroyed by Dixie fire as it surges past half a million acres
More than half of the 1,000 structures destroyed by the massive Dixie fire were single-family homes, the latest incident report shows. Containment improved to 30%, but the fire still grew in several directions Wednesday.
Posted inEnvironment
Former Santa Clara University instructor arrested in connection with ‘arson-setting spree’ near Dixie fire
Gary Stephen Maynard, 47 and a former instructor at Santa Clara University and Sonoma State, has been charged with willfully starting the Ranch fire and has been linked to at least six other blazes.