SHE'S A POWERFUL FORCE -- NATURAL DISASTERS

[Duchess]

I turned to look at the TV as I walked by and saw the horses running down the street with flames in the background. Have wildfires out there always been this frequent & bad? I feel so sorry for the people who are losing everything  :(

I still think about the fire last year that killed so many in their cars as they were trying to flee. I think about how scared they must of been. My God.

[HairOfTheDog]

I turned to look at the TV as I walked by and saw the horses running down the street with flames in the background. Have wildfires out there always been this frequent & bad? I feel so sorry for the people who are losing everything  :(

I still think about the fire last year that killed so many in their cars as they were trying to flee. I think about how scared they must of been. My God.

Wildfires have been getting more frequent, more devastating and more costly in California over the last three decades.

They typically occur at the end of the long dry summers and, in many case, human activity provides the igniting spark. More people moving into high risk areas is one of the reasons the frequency has increased.

Another reason for increased frequency and damage is that they start and spread more easily as the environment has become more flammable, with the state growing hotter and increasingly subject to prolonged droughts.

[Maggot]

I wish the electric company would get rid of the brush under the wires, get some goats to eat it or something. That's what they do here. The goat herder just drives them up the line for a week or two and they eat all the vegetation. They just need water.

[HairOfTheDog]

I wish the electric company would get rid of the brush under the wires, get some goats to eat it or something. That's what they do here. The goat herder just drives them up the line for a week or two and they eat all the vegetation. They just need water.

It's a good idea.

This morning I read that goats had been used to clear dry brush around the Reagan library in Simi Valley back in May.

Among the crew were Vincent van Goat, Selena Goatmez and Goatzart.  Pretty cheezy names, but they were apparently a good crew who helped save exhibits including an Air Force One jet and a piece of the Berlin Wall.  

Pasadena and other areas of California have also used goats in their fire prevention and minimization efforts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50248549

[HairOfTheDog]

Goats from the same private fire prevention company, 805 Goats, were also used by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.



The company charges about $1,000 to clear an acre of land and is looking to double its size due to increased demand.

The linked  piece also includes some good pics and info related to groups that are devoted to saving animals caught in the wildfires. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50248549

[Maggot]

Earthquakes in Puerto Rico, they seems to be losing in the battle of good things. They are getting "butterflied"

[Duchess]

There have been 1441 earthquakes in Puerto Rico in the last 30 days. trump hasn't addressed this at all. The people who are suffering are brown so that would explain why. He doesn't give a shit and doesn't feel responsible for those Americans because they are not trump supporters.

[BigMark]

[Rootilda]

I wish I could embed this video, it's from a recent volcanic eruption in the Philippines.  The lightning near the end is terrifying.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1216393361197817856

[BigMark]

Or majestic.

[MirahM]

I don't think Trump has mentioned Australia either.

[Maggot]

I don't think Australia has mentioned California.

[BigMark]

I wish I could embed this video, it's from a recent volcanic eruption in the Philippines.  The lightning near the end is terrifying.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1216393361197817856

[Maggot]

10 years after the earthquake with all the money and time spent Haiti still looks like it happened yesterday. It's a shame that they are so fucked up. 

[HairOfTheDog]

Australian Bushfires

It's good to see that the fires are largely under control now, thanks in part to unusual levels of rainfall, but the devastation is extremely sad.

Fires across the country killed at least 33 people and more than a billion animals, torched thousands of homes and impacted an area roughly the size of England.

"After what's been a truly devastating fire season for both firefighters and residents who suffered through so much this season, all fires are now contained in New South Wales (Australia's largest state and the hardest hit), which is great news," NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said Thursday.

The climate crisis has made Australia's naturally occurring fire season more extreme, as record temperatures combined with an extended drought to fan the flames. In NSW alone, fires destroyed more than 2,400 homes and burned 13.3 million acres of land.

But the heavy rain that has helped to finally douse the flames may also have been supercharged by climate change. An Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) study published in 2017 found that the climate crisis was already making both drought and flooding more likely in the Pacific.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

Sydney experienced its heaviest rainfall in 30 years last week and on Thursday dams near the city began to overflow. While the rain has been a positive overall, flash flooding is a concern and a 75-year-old man did die in one in Queensland.

The rain has also been a boon to agriculture. 2019 was the driest year in 101 years for the Hunter Valley, an important wine region. One winemaker said that the six inches of rain that fell during the week's downpour were enough to refill their vineyard's dams.

Fires in Victoria are still burning, but in other parts of the state, nature is starting to recover. Parks Victoria tweeted images of green shoots poking up through fire-blackened landscapes Thursday.

More: https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-wildf...49309.html

[Duchess]

The Capital Weather Gang just told me that we should expect an above average hurricane season with a 70% chance of a major one making landfall. Hurricanes are never good under the very best of circumstances and this year it would be under the worst possible circumstances of all. Such sucky news.  *sigh*

[HairOfTheDog]

I've been crossing my fingers that the coronavirus emergency can be contained before the next weather-related emergency hits us.

If a bad weather-related emergency goes down during the fight against the pandemic........the competition for PPE, FEMA resources, military resources, national guard and health care professionals will go from terrible to worse.

Be kind, Mother Nature.  

[Duchess]

These poor people. It's so saddening. This is in Turkey/Syria where there was a earthquake. This father is holding the hand of his 15 year old daughter who died when the building collapsed.

[Duchess]

This is incredible...and glorious.

If anyone is concerned about clicking on my link--google dog rescued after 23 days under earthquake rubble.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-2023...4ee7586c9c