It is an ongoing tragedy, with 17 people dead & 20,000 evacuees:
"Northern California Wildfires Claim at Least 15 Lives as More Than 100K Acres Burn"
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/western-wildfires/one-killed-major-wildfires-ignite-overnight-across-northern-california-n809206
"LOS ANGELES — Fierce wildfires whipping up nightmare conditions in Northern California have killed at least 15 people, destroyed more than 1,500 structures and turned wineries into charred wastelands.
The death toll continued to climb Tuesday as fire crews battled at least 17 large fires, while more than 20,000 people in the paths of the fast-moving infernos fled their homes, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said. In all, more than 115,000 acres have burned since the weekend, officials added."
The NYTimes reports that scientists attribute the intensity of the wildfires in part to increased dryness caused by climate change:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/california-fires.html
"In recent decades, fire seasons have grown longer and more destructive, something scientists attribute in part to increased dryness caused by climate change. (Scientists from the University of Idaho and Columbia University wrote in one study published last year that climate change had caused more than half of the dryness of Western forests since 1979.)"
Speaking of dryness -- Of course, like everyone in Phoenix, I've noticed this past summer was very dry (which is no surprise in the city of "dry heat"). But after having to water my trees/plants a lot more than usual due to no significant rain from the monsoon season, my water bill also tells the story (much more expensive than last year's). This article from a few weeks back reports the "unspectacular" rain totals:
http://ktar.com/story/1760964/hit-or-miss-2017-monsoon-season-coming-to-end-in-arizona/
"PHOENIX — The monsoon season “officially” wraps up Saturday after an unspectacular showing in Phoenix.
Sky Harbor Airport has had 2.3 inches of rain since June 15, which is almost a half-inch below the normal rainfall of 2.71 inches.
The last measurable rainfall at Sky Harbor was August 23."
Then, today I found this article from "Clean Technica" reporting climate change may actually make Phoenix uninhabitable by 2050 (it's an interesting though sobering read):
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/09/29/climate-change-may-make-phoenix-uninhabitable-2050/
"Heat is one factor that will make Phoenix less hospitable to human habitation in the foreseeable future. “It’s currently the fastest warming big city in the US,” meteorologist and former Arizona native Eric Holthaus tells Vice. A study by Climate Central finds that Phoenix will likely be three to five degrees hotter in the summer months by 2050. The average number of 100 degree days will increase from 40 a year today to more than 132 a year. To put that in some perspective, New York City currently experiences two 100 degree days a year. Climate Central expects that number to increase to 15 a year by 2050."
"Heat is not the only factor making the Phoenix area less hospitable to humans. Hondula says that lack of water could be more of a problem than rising temperatures. “As much as 20 percent of the river could dry up by 2050,” he says. The majority of the drinking water for the area comes from the Colorado River — the same source that much of southern California depends on."
The comments underneath the article are also very interesting (just ignore the trolls). & the discussion did make me look at things from a different perspective since rational people are under the belief that I (as a Phoenix resident) should be thinking about moving somewhere else (which I have no intention of doing, to tell you the truth).
Nevertheless, it is always on the back of my mind (as a believer in climate change) about when to exactly begin considering a move out of here. It seems to me the time to sell & move would be when too many Americans from other places who are more at near-term risk from climate change (like low-lying coastal areas subject to flooding) begin moving here. So many that it would make life here in Phoenix unsustainable. But it seems to me, having lived in the Phoenix area all my life, too many people are already moving here (from all over the country) so it'll be tough to figure out when it becomes too much (if ever).
& by then it may be too late anyways, or we might have found a solution; who knows.
& unfortunately, we humans are not too good at such long long-term planning though we're gonna have to start.
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