skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Government shutdown looms after Trump-backed bill fails; Environmental groups sue CA Air Resources Board over biogas credits; NY elected officials work to electrify municipal buildings; Need a mental health boost? Talking hot dog is here.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President-elect Trump repeats his threats to jail Jan. 6th committee members, while also putting a stop-gap spending plan in jeopardy. A court removes Fani Willis from Trump's Georgia election interference case. The FAA restricts drones in New Jersey, and a Federal Reserve rate cut shakes markets.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

NV sees drastic increase in number of fire weather days

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 21, 2024   

A new report finds that climate change is affecting weather conditions in ways that increase wildfire risk, with the West seeing the greatest jump in fire weather days in spring and summer. Climate Central found that some places in Nevada now experience fire weather around twice as often as in the early 1970s.

Kaitlyn Trudeau, senior research associate in climate science with Climate Central, said fire weather refers to the meteorological conditions that kickstart the spread of fire. And with Nevada being one of the states seeing more days with persistent hotter temperatures, lower relative humidity and stronger winds, it's something that Trudeau said she wasn't terribly surprised to see.

"But I also want people to remember that fire weather isn't necessarily the same thing as fire. You might have fire weather conditions; that doesn't mean that there will be an extra month of fires. It just means that the conditions are really primed to enable these kinds of monster fires," she explained.

Trudeau contends that as we continue to see the increasing influence of human-caused climate change, humans need to rethink their impact on the environment, and hopes the report will serve as a wake-up call and help people understand risks where they live.

With summer approaching, the U.S. Fire Administration has a list of seven steps that communities can enact in an effort to be more prepared. Trudeau added that other fire adaptation strategies include increased use of land-management techniques, such as prescribed burns, that eliminate excessive fuels, but even those have become more of a challenge.

"And in order to do prescribed burning, you have to have a very specific set of weather conditions, and they're basically the opposite of fire weather conditions, because it is really dangerous to burn anything when you have really hot, dry, windy days," Trudeau said.

Trudeau added that as the number of fire weather days increases, that also decreases the ability to do things such as prescribed burning. She encourages people around the country to create defensible space around their homes as well as having toolkits and an evacuation plan in case of an emergency.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A survey from the American Heart Association revealed 79% of respondents neglect their health during the holidays. Many say they find this time of year more stressful than income tax season.
(deagreez/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Holiday travel is in full swing and for many, so is the stress. The American Heart Association of Missouri has health tips for anyone with heart …


Health and Wellness

play sound

By Amy Felegy for Arts Midwest.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collabo…

Health and Wellness

play sound

With Christmas less than a week away, experts are giving advice on how seniors and the community can fight against social isolation. A United Health …


Environment

play sound

Three environmental nonprofits filed suit Wednesday against the California Air Resources Board to oppose the expansion of a program allowing oil and g…

Ithaca, New York, is the first city in the world to commit to electrifying all its buildings. The city is aiming to accomplish the goal by 2030. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

New York lawmakers are focusing on electrifying municipal buildings. Buildings statewide make up 32% of New York's greenhouse gas emissions and …

Social Issues

play sound

North Dakota is expected to rejoin the debate over whether all school children, regardless of their family income, should have access to no-cost …

Social Issues

play sound

This month, an Arizona grand jury indicted two out-of-state residents for cheating the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account program out of more …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021