Martianization - Largest wildfire in US grows to cover area bigger than Los Angeles

A helicopter flies as the Borel fire grows near Lake Isabella, California, on Monday. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

 Park fire scorches 386,000 acres as firefighters battle blazes across US west, including historic mining town of Havilah

The largest wildfire in the US swelled to more than 380,000 acres (154,000 hectares) on Tuesday morning, an area bigger than the city of Los Angeles and three times the surface area of Lake Tahoe, as thousands of firefighters battled the blaze in a remote wilderness area in northern California.

Meanwhile, the destruction caused by wildfires raging across the US west came into sharp focus as photographers documented the destruction left by the Borel fire in southern California. The fast-growing fire tore through the historic mining town of Havilah, leaving burnt buildings, cars and forests.

 

About 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of the fire, which burned through the Sequoia national forest. By Tuesday morning, the fire had torn through more than 57,000 acres (23,000 hectares) and was 17% contained.

No fatalities have been reported.

A Klamath Hotshot finishes his shift as the Borel fire grows near Lake Isabella, California, on Monday. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

 In northern California, more than 5,500 firefighters were working to contain the Park fire, the largest wildfire in the state this year, which has moved up the ranks to become the fifth largest in the state’s recorded history.

By Tuesday afternoon, the fire had scorched more than 386,000 acres, according to the California department of forestry and fire (Cal Fire). It has destroyed more than 190 structures and is threatening 4,200 more.

After several days of intense firefighting efforts, crews had reached 14% of containment on Tuesday morning amid cooler temperatures and more humidity, but the fire continued to burn very actively, Cal Fire said. With the steep terrain, wind activity and many areas inaccessible to crews, the fire is making uphill runs and spot fires continue to occur, the agency said.

The massive fire continues to burn through rugged, inaccessible terrain with dense vegetation, threatening to spread to two other counties. “That’s going to be a continued challenge for us moving forward over the next couple of days,” said Mark Brunton, an operations section chief with Cal Fire.

Cooler weather has helped firefighters stop the blaze’s path near some communities like Forest Ranch, where some people began returning to unscathed homes on Tuesday.

Christopher and Anita Angeloni have lived in the community of 1,600 for 23 years, and have had to evacuate several times due to wildfires, including the 2018 Camp fire, which killed 85 people and decimated the nearby town of Paradise.

Christopher Angeloni said he constantly worked on creating defensible space around his home and was happy to return home nearly a week after evacuating to see his hard work paid off.

“We were prepared to possibly lose everything,” he said.

Anita Angeloni said it has been a stressful week. “We have not been sleeping enough, very tense, praying all the time, teary eyes,” she said. “But we’re here. We’ll see for how long.”

 A helicopter drops water on the Borel fire. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

The man arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze by pushing a burning car into a gully made his first appearance in court on Monday and was charged with felony arson of an inhabited structure or property.

Ronnie Dean Stout was arrested at his home in Chico a day after the fire started. Prosecutors said Stout had a previous criminal record and would face life in prison if convicted.

The Butte county district attorney, Michael Ramsey, told reporters after the hearing that Stout said the incident was an accident, the Sacramento Bee reported.

 

The district attorney said during a press conference that Stout was seen drinking at a swimming hole in the area before the fire started and drove “recklessly” through the area before the car went over a berm. Witnesses reported hearing the sounds of an engine revving and scraping.

“The indication is he didn’t purposely light the car on fire because he was trying to get out of being stuck on the edge of a berm,” Ramsey said, according to KQED. “We have another witness who saw dirt and smoke coming up, then followed immediately by smoke. Then fire. There’s an extraordinary amount of dry grass.”

A home and property are destroyed in Havilah as the Borel fire grows near Lake Isabella, California, on Monday. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

The Park and Borel fires are two of more than 100 blazes active in the US west. Evacuation orders were in effect on Monday on 25 wildfires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 27,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are deployed.

Some blazes were sparked by the weather, with the climate crisis increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the western US endures blistering heat and bone-dry conditions.

In Colorado, the Alexander Mountain fire doubled in size between Monday and Tuesday to more than 1,800 acres, according to the US Forest Service. The blaze, about 12 miles (19km) west of Loveland, Colorado, where the Rocky Mountains fold into the Great Plains, spurred mandatory evacuation orders and produced a looming column of smoke that could be seen for miles.

 

In Oregon, the 2024 wildfire season has burned more than 1.2m acres so far, according to the State of Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard, a total that surpasses the size of the entire state of Rhode Island.

The state’s largest wildfire, the Durkee fire in Baker county, has burned nearly 300,000 acres and is more than 50% contained.

“Although yesterday’s rain was beneficial,” a Tuesday update from fire officials read, “it was not enough to extinguish heat on the fire.”

 

Deslizamentos de terra na Etiópia deixam ao menos 229 mortos

 Segundo deslizamento foi o mais trágico e levou a vida de quem foi prestar socorro aos primeiros atingidos

 

Desastre começou no domingo à noite, em zona rural ao sul do país; segundo deslocamento de terra na segunda-feira de manhã vitimou equipes de resgate e famílias em busca de sobreviventes e desaparecidos.

 

Pelo menos 229 pessoas morreram após deslizamentos de terra no distrito de Gofa, no sul da Etiópia, iniciados na noite de domingo (21/07), informaram as autoridades locais.

A tragédia aconteceu em uma área rural, montanhosa e isolada, a mais de 450 quilômetros da capital etíope, Adis Abeba, após fortes chuvas atingirem a região.

Na manhã da segunda-feira, moradores e a polícia se reuniram no local para tentar salvar as vítimas do primeiro deslizamento. Foi então que um segundo deslizamento aconteceu, e as pessoas que estavam ali morreram, informou Kassahun Abayneh, porta-voz do distrito de Gofa.

Meskir Mitku, administrador-geral do distrito, afirmou à emissora estatal etíope que mulheres, crianças e policiais locais estão entre os mortos. "O número de mortos aumentou depois que as pessoas que vieram resgatar também ficaram presas", lamentou.

À medida que a buscas continuam, o número de vítimas dos dois deslizamentos ainda pode mudar, disse à agência Reuters um funcionário do governo, nesta terça-feira (23/07).

"Ainda estamos cavando"

Imagens publicadas pela administração local mostram pessoas desenterrando corpos com pás e com as mãos, carregando corpos em macas improvisadas, alguns embrulhados em plástico.

"Inicialmente, quatro famílias foram afetadas pelo deslizamento de terra e, posteriormente, as famílias da área foram mobilizadas para salvar vidas", disse à AFP Firaol Bekele, diretor na Comissão Etíope de Gestão de Risco de Desastres.

"Estamos em forte solidariedade com o povo e o governo da Etiópia, à medida que os esforços de resgate continuam para encontrar desaparecidos e ajudar os deslocados", disse o presidente da União Africana, Moussa Faki Mahamat, na rede social X.

O chefe da Organização Mundial da Saúde, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, que é etíope, disse que uma equipe da OMS foi enviada para apoiar os afetados pela tragédia.

A Etiópia, segundo país mais populoso da África, com cerca de 120 milhões de pessoas, é altamente vulnerável a catástrofes climáticas, incluindo inundações e secas.

"À medida que a região continua a enfrentar os duros impactos das mudanças climáticas, pedimos a todos que se mantenham vigilantes e sigam protocolos de segurança para proteger vidas e prevenir futuras tragédias", disse Workneh Gebeyehu, secretário executivo da Autoridade Intergovernamental para o Desenvolvimento, bloco comercial regional.

sf/ra (Reuters, AFP)

 

Fungos estão se adaptando ao calor corporal, diz estudo. Mudança impulsiona o desenvolvimento de novas infecções, e aquecimento global pode estar por trás dessa evolução

Ilustração do fungo Candida auris - Josh/Adobe Stock 

 

Fred Schwaller

DW

Milhões de espécies de fungos estão presentes no ar, mas apenas cerca de 20 podem causar infecções em humanos. Isso ocorre porque o sistema imunológico é muito hábil na proteção contra esse grupo de patógenos. Além disso, o corpo humano é muito quente para a sobrevivência da maioria das espécies de fungos.

No entanto, um novo estudo descobriu que alguns fungos estão evoluindo para se tornarem capazes de infectar humanos, e essa evolução pode estar relacionada à mudança climática. "O perigo e a importância de fungos têm sido seriamente subestimados", escreveram os autores no estudo publicado no mês passado na revista Nature Microbiology.

 

Há também indicações de que o aumento das temperaturas esteja permitindo que os fungos sofram mutações e se tornem resistentes a antifúngicos.

Os pesquisadores começaram vasculhando os registros de infecções fúngicas de 98 hospitais na China, entre 2009 e 2019. Eles encontraram dois pacientes que haviam sido infectados por um grupo de fungos que, até onde se sabe, nunca haviam causado doenças em humanos.

Os fungos foram isolados em laboratório e os pesquisadores descobriram que eles eram capazes de infectar camundongos que estavam com o sistema imunológico comprometido, imitando o que poderia acontecer em pacientes imunocomprometidos.

Devido à temperatura corporal de 37°C, muito elevada para a maioria das espécies de fungos, os mamíferos são protegidos contra esses patógenos. Mas, entre os novos registros, os pesquisadores descobriram que as espécies de fungos R. fluvialis e R. nylandii toleram bem a alta temperatura corporal.

Além disso, a temperatura de 37°C aumentou a taxa de mutações nas colônias de fungos em comparação com temperaturas mais frias de 25°C. Como resultado, os fungos tornaram-se resistentes a medicamentos antifúngicos.

"Esse estudo mostra que o mesmo mecanismo pode ocorrer em outros organismos que não causam doenças, o que significa que eles podem se adaptar para causar doenças em humanos", explica Jatin Vyas, médico especialista em fungos da Faculdade de Medicina de Harvard, nos Estados Unidos.

"Podemos ver um cenário apocalíptico. Não vai ser como a série The Last of Us, mas significa que novos fungos podem causar doenças infecciosas graves. E temos muito poucos medicamentos para ajudar", completa Vyas, que não participou do estudo.

 

Aquecimento global provocou uma evolução dos fungos?

Segundo os autores do estudo, o aquecimento global tem levado os fungos a desenvolver resistência a medicamentos e virulência –a capacidade de causar doenças.

"Essa é uma conclusão indireta derivada das observações de que a tolerância ao calor é uma virulência conhecida", diz Toni Gabaldón, biólogo evolucionário do Instituto de Pesquisa em Biomedicina de Barcelona, na Espanha.

Outros estudos mostraram que algumas espécies de fungos podem crescer em temperaturas mais altas do que podiam há várias décadas. No entanto, "faltam provas diretas de que essas duas observações estão relacionadas e são necessárias mais pesquisas", acrescenta Gabaldón.

Vyas, por sua vez, não está convencido de que as mudanças climáticas sejam o motivo da evolução dos fungos em temperaturas corporais mais altas no estudo. "Uma mudança repentina de 25°C para 37°C não é o que eu chamaria de resultado do aquecimento global. A temperatura na bacia amazônica aumentou 1°C na última década, o que teve um efeito profundo na ecologia", destaca.

Os cientistas identificaram recentemente que alguns patógenos fúngicos, incluindo Candida auris, surgiram devido ao aumento da temperatura do solo em todo o mundo. Vyas diz acreditar que isso provavelmente se deve ao aquecimento global.

Qual é o risco de disseminação de fungos resistentes a medicamentos?

De acordo com Vyas, há um risco de fungos resistentes a medicamentos se espalharem pelo mundo, já que foram detectados na Espanha, em Portugal e no Canadá.

"Existe o risco de que espécies resistentes a medicamentos se espalhem pelo mundo", afirma Vyas. "Estamos começando a ficar nervosos com o que estamos vendo. Quando pensamos nos bilhões de outros organismos que habitam a Terra, a grande maioria é completamente resistente aos medicamentos antifúngicos."

As infecções fúngicas já causam cerca de 2,5 milhões de mortes por ano.

"A resistência aos antifúngicos é um problema grave e provavelmente aumentará, pois, em comparação com os antibióticos, temos apenas três famílias principais de medicamentos antifúngicos", conta Gabaldón.

A dificuldade é que os fungos são organismos eucarióticos, assim como os mamíferos. Isso significa que o desenvolvimento de qualquer novo medicamento pode resultar em efeitos colaterais para os humanos, que, por sua vez, também precisam ser tratados. Pode-se esperar um longo processo até que os medicamentos possam ser usados em humanos.

Mas Vyas vê um ponto positivo nas más notícias. "Estudos como esse nos preparam para organismos patogênicos", explica. "Estamos começando a entender como os fungos estão se adaptando a partir desses casos raros, como na China. Assim, poderemos encontrar mecanismos para nos proteger no futuro."

Climate crisis is making days longer, study finds Melting of ice is slowing planet’s rotation and could disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS

The change in the length of the day is on the scale of milliseconds but this is enough to potentially disrupt modern life. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

 

 

The climate crisis is causing the length of each day to get longer, analysis shows, as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet.

The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity’s actions are transforming the Earth, scientists said, rivalling natural processes that have existed for billions of years.

The change in the length of the day is on the scale of milliseconds but this is enough to potentially disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS navigation, all of which rely on precise timekeeping.

The length of the Earth’s day has been steadily increasing over geological time due to the gravitational drag of the moon on the planet’s oceans and land. However, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets due to human-caused global heating has been redistributing water stored at high latitudes into the world’s oceans, leading to more water in the seas nearer the equator. This makes the Earth more oblate – or fatter – slowing the rotation of the planet and lengthening the day.

 

 

The planetary impact of humanity was also demonstrated recently by research that showed the redistribution of water had caused the Earth’s axis of rotation – the north and south poles – to move. Other work has revealed that humanity’s carbon emissions are shrinking the stratosphere.

“We can see our impact as humans on the whole Earth system, not just locally, like the rise in temperature, but really fundamentally, altering how it moves in space and rotates,” said Prof Benedikt Soja of ETH Zurich in Switzerland. “Due to our carbon emissions, we have done this in just 100 or 200 years. Whereas the governing processes previously had been going on for billions of years, and that is striking.”

Human timekeeping is based on atomic clocks, which are extremely precise. However, the exact time of a day – one rotation of the Earth – varies due to lunar tides, climate impacts and some other factors, such as the slow rebound of the Earth’s crust after the retreat of ice sheets formed in the last ice age.

These differences have to be accounted for, said Soja: “All the datacentres that run the internet, communications and financial transactions, they are based on precise timing. We also need a precise knowledge of time for navigation, and particularly for satellites and spacecraft.”

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, used observations and computer reconstructions to assess the impact of melting ice on the length of the day. The rate of slowing varied between 0.3 and 1.0 millisecond per century (ms/cy) between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, as melting accelerated, the rate of change also accelerated to 1.3ms/cy.

 “This present-day rate is likely higher than at any time in the past few thousand years,” the researchers said. “It is projected to remain approximately at a level of 1.0 ms/cy for the next few decades, even if greenhouse gas emissions are severely curbed.” If emissions are not cut, the slowing rate will increase to 2.6 ms/cy by 2100, overtaking lunar tides as the single biggest contributor to long-term variations in the length of days, they said.

Dr Santiago Belda of the University of Alicante in Spain, who was not part of the research team, said: “This study is a great advance because it confirms that the worrying loss of ice that Greenland and Antarctica are suffering has a direct impact on day length, causing our days to lengthen. This variation in day length has critical implications not only for how we measure time, but also for GPS and other technologies that govern our modern lives.”

 

US heatwave smashes records as ‘extreme fire weather’ fuels new blazes Over 146 million Americans under extreme heat alerts as dozens of locations in US west tie or break past heat records

 

The Lake Fire burns close to what was Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, on 6 July 2024. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

A fierce heatwave that shattered records this weekend – with dangerous temperatures that spiked well into the triple digits – will continue to grip much of the US in the coming days and fuel fires across the west.

More than 146 million Americans were under extreme heat alerts on Monday, as both sides of the country cooked. Excessive heat warnings, the National Weather Service’s (NWS) highest alert, stretch across the west, covering parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Areas on the east coast, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, were also under heat advisories.

 Dozens of locations in the west and Pacific north-west tied or broke previous heat records in recent days. On Sunday, Las Vegas set an all-time record high of 120F (48.8C), while across the desert in Death Valley national park, temperatures reached 128F (53.3 C), breaking a daily heat record and coming just shy of it’s all time high. The dangerous temperatures caused the death of a motorcyclist in the park.

Oregon also faced triple-digit temperatures and saw several records toppled, including in Salem, where on Sunday it hit 103F (39.4C), topping the 99F (37.2C) mark set in 1960. Authorities in Multnomah county, home to Portland, said they were investigating four suspected deaths tied to the heatwave.

Meanwhile, firefighters are battling a flurry of new blazes that sparked in the brutal temperatures over the weekend, with the sweltering, dry conditions posing challenges for fire crews. There were 73 large active fires burning across the country Monday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, collectively covering close to half a million acres, and fire conditions are expected to continue through the week.

California, which was left covered in quick-to-burn grasses after a wet winter, saw an explosive week and firefighters are battling 18 active blazes.

In Santa Barbara county, the Lake fire burned through dry grass, brush and timber over the weekend, prompting evacuations of some rural homes, including the Neverland ranch. The fire has grown to 20,320 acres and was at 8% containment Monday morning.

Further north, the Shelly fire, which erupted in California’s Marble Mountain Wilderness on 3 July, continues to pose threats to “communities, private timberlands, cultural resources, and wilderness areas”, CalFire posted in an update Monday, as fire behavior became more extreme through the weekend.

“Yesterday, as well as today, we have experienced some problematic weather forecasts that leads to critical fire behavior,” John Chester, operations section chief with CalFire’s Siskiyou unit said. “We are expecting the same weather patterns and forecasts over the next few days.”

 

Fire conditions have also been intense in Utah, fueling rapid growth for several large fires.

The Silver King fire, which has roared across more than 10,823 acres – more than 4,500 acres in a single day – has exhibited extreme behavior and is 0% contained. Hundreds of homes are at risk from the fire, as state officials secured federal support Monday.

“A warming and drying trend will continue today with an excessive heat warning, as temperatures continue to increase above average the relativity humidity continues to drop to 10 – 15%,” officials with the US Forest Service said in a Monday morning update on the fire, adding that gusty winds will continue to fan the flames. “These elements combine for extreme fire weather.”

The heat wave came as the global temperature in June hit a record high for the 13th straight month and it marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5C (2.7F) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said.

While parts of California will see some relief from the brutally hot conditions, extreme heat is predicted to linger across the US west throughout the week. As the heatwave shifts north into Oregon and Washington, and moves east covering parts of the Great Basin and Arizona, more records will likely be broken. “The multi-day length and record warm overnight temperatures will continue to cause heat stress in people without adequate cooling and hydration,” NWS meteorologists wrote in a forecast published on Monday.

 People shield their eyes from the sun along the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, when the city set an all-time record high temperature of 120F (48.8C). Photograph: John Locher/AP

 

Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, with the weather service in Reno, Nevada, warning of “major heat risk impacts, even in the mountains”.

More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including possibly 130F (54.4C) around midweek at Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134F (56.67C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130F (54.4C), recorded there in July 2021.

Park officials warned visitors to take the heat seriously. “While this is a very exciting time to experience potential world record-setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside of an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high,” Mike Reynolds, a park superintendent said.