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☆ How a warming climate is setting the stage for fast-spreading, destructive wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This fire adds to an ever-lengthening list of rapidly spreading, destructive wildfires in the US and elsewhere. To understand why the Texas fires have been so fierce you have to look to last spring, said Luke Kanclerz, a fire analyst at Texas A&M Forest Service. It only took a short period of warm, dry weather for them to dry out further, providing a carpet for the fire to spread. Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty ImagesScientists are still working to understand what impact, if any, global warming is having on the winds that whip up wildfires. Research has found climate change is fueling the rapid intensification of hurricanes, pushing storms to explode at a deadly pace.

Persons: it’s, Cpl Marc, Andre Leclerc, ”, John Abatzoglou, Luke Kanclerz, Kanclerz, Mike Flannigan, Abatzoglou, “ There’s, ” John Nielsen, Gammon, Yuki Iwamura, Dora, Kaitlyn Trudeau, Trudeau, ” CNN’s Rachel Ramirez Organizations: CNN, United, European Union, Canadian Forces, Reuters, University of California, ”, Texas, M, Service, Texas Panhandle, University of Alberta, Getty, Climate Central, The Locations: United States, Maui, California, Paradise, Canada, Greece, Chile, Mistissini, Quebec, Merced, Texas, Hawaii, West Texas, Gammon , Texas, Lahaina, AFP, Hawaii’s, The Texas, Plains

☆ Climate Change Is Raising Texas’ Already High Wildfire Risks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | Christopher Flavelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires in Texas, a danger made real this week as the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in state history, burns out of control across the Panhandle region. And that growing fire risk is beginning to affect the insurance market in Texas, raising premiums for homeowners and causing some insurers to withdraw from parts of the state. For the Smokehouse Creek fire to grow so big so quickly, three weather conditions had to align: high temperatures, low relative humidity and strong winds, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist and a professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University. On Monday, as the Smokehouse Creek fire began to spread, it was 82 degrees Fahrenheit in Amarillo. The city’s average daytime high temperature in February is 54 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Persons: John Nielsen, Gammon Organizations: Texas, M University, National Weather Service Locations: Texas, Panhandle, Amarillo .

☆ Bone dry on the range: Texas cattle ranchers battle drought, extreme heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Evan Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Cattle move throughout a pasture during a heat wave, on rancher David Henderson's ranch property, in Tennessee Colony, Texas, U.S. August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Evan GarciaTENNESSEE COLONY, Texas, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The brown and black cattle of Texas, beloved symbols of the Lone Star state, walk through desiccated grass and stand in shrunken watering holes while their ranchers struggle to get them enough food. Henderson, 62, manages a herd of about 150 cows in Tennessee Colony in East Texas, and said he sold roughly 30 cows in 2022 due to the drought. Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon predicts extreme heat spurred by global warming will become the norm. And that, in addition, means that the heat extremes will be that much hotter and that much more severe."

Persons: David Henderson's, Evan Garcia TENNESSEE, David Henderson, Henderson, John Nielsen, Gammon, Nielsen, Jimmy Reed, Reed, Corey Davis, Davis, Evan Garcia, Mary Milliken, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Lone Star, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas State, Tennessee Colony, Thomson Locations: Tennessee Colony , Texas, U.S, Texas, Tennessee Colony, East Texas, Tennessee

☆ Texas heat is not letting up at night
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Evan Bush | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The heat wave in Texas has offered little reprieve. Heat at night disrupts sleep and prevents the body from recovering and cooling down, making minimum temperatures a critical indicator of a heat wave's severity, experts said. Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said temperatures during this heat wave in the state have threatened records at both ends of the spectrum — including maximums and minimums — in its urban centers. Ebi said the high nighttime temperatures and the prolonged nature of the Texas heat wave are particularly concerning. "A very small percentage of death certificates during a heat wave put down, 'heat' as an underlying cause," Ebi, who studies heat deaths, adding that about half of excess deaths, on average, are from cardiovascular diseases.

Persons: Del, Ben Zaitchik, John Nielsen, Gammon, We've, Kristie, Ebi, Everything's, Nielsen, We're Organizations: National Weather Service, Johns Hopkins University, Nielsen, Center for Health, Global, University of Washington Locations: Texas, Del Rio, San Antonio, Houston, Midland, San Angelo

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