California is facing another day of extreme temperatures, as are parts of Nevada and Arizona. A heat dome has settled in the region, pushing the mercury to 43 degrees Celsius yesterday in the area where the fire is raging
Hundreds of firefighters were mobilized yesterday Thursday to deal with a fire which has erupted along a major highway in California of the US, which is hit by a heat wave.
Firefighting aircraft are fighting to control the fire which broke out on Wednesday and which has already burned more than 21,000 acres in Los Angeles.
Seven firefighters were briefly treated for minor injuries, the fire department said.
California is facing another day of extreme temperatures, as are parts of Nevada and Arizona. A heat dome has settled over the region, pushing the mercury up to them 43 degrees Celsius yesterday in the area where the fire is raging.
The extreme weather is expected to last until next week, with temperatures reaching 46 degrees Celsius.
Lack of electricity
The heat wave hitting the western US has caused problems in the power grid of California. The operator California ISO asked households to limit consumption between 16:00 and 21:00 in order to avoid overloading the grid.
Among the measures it recommends are citizens not to charge their electric vehicles at this time, in a state that a few days ago announced that it will ban the sale of new gasoline cars until 2035.
The reduction in consumptioncan help stabilize the electricity grid during peak demand hours and thus avoid emergency measures including temporary outages” of the electrification, California ISO noted in its emergency announcement.
During the day, solar panels cover a third of California’s electricity needs. But when the sun goes down, the energy from the photovoltaics is cut off abruptly, which causes problems late at night, when the heat has not yet subsided and the use of air conditioners remains widespread.
Yesterday California Governor Gavin Newsom temporarily lifted restrictions on the operation of fossil fuel power plants so they can produce more energy.
The US Weather Service (NWS) has issued an “extreme heat” warning for most of California as well as parts of Nevada and Arizona, citing “dangerously high temperatures over the next few days”.
THE mercury will remain at high levelsabove 25 degrees Celsius, and during the night.
In southern California, heat waves are not unusual for early September, but temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius are considered particularly hot.
According to scientists, recurrent heat waves are undoubtedly a sign of global warming, and these heat waves are expected to increase, but also to be more intense and prolonged.
The western US is facing its two driest decades in at least 12 centuries, a situation exacerbated by climate change.
RES-EMP
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