Climate Impact Report – 7/24

Key Facts Of The Day 7/24

Hurricanes

• Tropical Storm Don, which briefly strengthened over the weekend to become the first hurricane in the Atlantic this year, was expected to weaken significantly on Monday.
  • As of Monday morning, Don was located about 395 miles east of Newfoundland, Canada, and was moving northeast at 20 MPH.
• In the Northeast, thunderstorms remain in the forecast for the early part of the week, which could bring localized flooding, especially from portions of Upstate New York and eastern Pennsylvania southward into Virginia’s Tidewater region.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, 36 large active wildfires have burned 189,685 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, OR, TX, WA, and WY.
• As of Monday, 28,470 wildfires have burned 847,349 acres across the country.
• In Arizona, 10 fires have burned 24,657 acres as of Monday.
  • On Sunday, about 160 residents were ordered to evacuate from the Sunflower area in Arizona’s Maricopa County as a wildfire burned in the Tonto National Forest.
• In California, 1 fire has burned 840 acres as of Monday.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 3,286 acres as of Monday.
• In New Mexico, 9 fires have burned 75,795 acres as of Monday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 383 acres as of Monday.
• California home sellers must disclose more detail about their property’s wildfire risk under a new state law.

Extreme Heat

• The National Weather Service has issued heat alerts that are in effect on Monday for 40 million Americans across at least a dozen states, from Montana to Texas and Florida.
  • A heat dome that has been stationary over the Southwest is expected to stretch into the Midwest on Monday.
  • Phoenix, Arizona, is on a record stretch of 24 consecutive days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees.
    • Overnight temperatures in Phoenix have also not dropped below 90 degrees for at least 14 days.
    • It’s so hot in Arizona doctors are treating a spike of patients who were burned by falling on the ground.
  • Tucson has been at or above 100 degrees for 38 days in a row and may tie its record of 39 days on Monday.
  • Las Vegas has tied its record, set in 1961, of 10 consecutive days at or above 110 degrees.
  • El Paso, Texas, has been on a record-smashing stretch of 38 straight days with temperatures at or above 100 degrees.
  • Miami, Florida, has had a heat index high of 100 degrees for a record 43 days in a row.
  • The last 21 days on Earth have been the hottest on record.
• On Sunday, two hikers were found dead in a state park in southern Nevada which remains under an excessive heat warning.
• Extreme temperatures in parts of the U.S. and around the world are forcing airlines to reduce fuel loads, shed passengers or baggage, or wait for daytime temperatures to drop in the evenings to fly some aircraft.
• Some Florida Keys coral reefs are losing their color weeks earlier than normal this summer because of record-high water temperatures.
  • Surface temperatures around the Keys have been averaging about 91 degrees, well above the normal mid-July average of 85 degrees.
  • Because of climate change and other factors, the Keys waters have lost 80 to 90% of their coral over the last 50 years.

New Reports and Data

• A July 2023 study found that the ice sheet on Greenland may be more sensitive to human-caused climate change than previously understood — and will be vulnerable to irreversible, rapid melting in coming centuries.
• A July 2023 study found that billions of nanoplastics are released when microwaving baby food containers.