What does a climate change mean for lighting – and CA Wildfires

John Muir once wrote. “Everything is refreshed“From a summer storm in Sierra Nevada. But then, as now, the flash blows that come with them pose a long -standing risk of fire.

Fires raging at the foot of Sierra have burned nearly 14,000 acres, caused evacuation and destroyed the historic Gold Rush city at the Chinese camp. Lightning ignited these fires – an event that is called a new study It is likely that more often in CaliforniaCalmatters’ reports Rachel BeckerS

From Tuesday to Wednesday, dry thunderstorms were rolling through the central valley and the bay area. Although exactly how many lightning bumps have hit California during this 31-hour period, it is unclear, an expert at the National Lightning Safety Council estimated that 11,000 bolt electricity has hit the ground.

At the same time, at least 45 new fires have been lit, said the head of the fire battalion Kal David Akunya.

• Acuña: “We cannot say collectively that all lightning fires, but we can say that there were a large number of lightning strikes and a large number of fires.”

As the hot, more dry conditions become more common due to climate change, Researchers have discovered that The flash is more likely to hit when the dry lands are at risk of ignition. From 2030 to 2060, some Western states could see another 12 days of lightning that hit the Earth annually – with parts of northeastern California and the Eastern Sierra, potentially observing an increase.

• Dmitry KalashnikovThe lead author of the study: “You get this very dangerous situation with respect to the risk of fire where you have lighting that hits dry vegetation. You will get ignition, but then there is no outfit to extinguish the flame – so that the fire can grow.”

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For years the California Motor vehicle department Make millions of sales of towed cars Without giving the owners a lot of chance to ask for the money. But this is changing now after Calfatters has published an investigation into the practice earlier this year. Find out What does DMV do from Calmatters’ Byrhonda LyonsS

Results of Science Tests for California K-12 Schools remained relatively stagnant After the launch of a new curriculum for 2016 – increasing concern among some education experts who say science should be a priority, Calmatters writes. Carolyn JonesS

Three years after the next generation scientific standards are released, California evaluated students in science for the first time, with only 30% of students fulfilling the State Exam standard in 2019. Last year, it was only 30.7%. Wide gaps in test results also exist among groups of students, especially among low -income students and black students.

There are several reasons for this: conducting the curriculum was particularly difficult through distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the curriculum required practical projects. When personal education returned, schools also focused their efforts to restore literacy, mathematics and attendance.

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Speaking of learning from a pandemic era: Carolyn also reports the settlement reached Wednesday between a group of families and Los Angeles Unified, which will affect about 250,000 students. In 2020, families joined the class action case to sue the area, claiming that this did not do enough to ensure that students were receiving quality education during the pandemic. The agreement requires the area to offer various academic support, including teaching one by one by 2028. Read more hereS

With temperatures in some California prisons, they rise to 95 degrees every summer, and climate change, moving temperatures to even higher levels, state prison employees deploy a $ 38 million pilot program to Cool several prison cellswrites Calmatters’ Jean QuangS

Following pressure on activists, legislators and judges, the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation plans to conduct a test for cooling systems and new insulation in three of the 31st prisons of the department. The pilot, which the legislature approved this year, will continue in the next four years and the results are expected until 2029.

But critics say the pilot doesn’t go far enough. This will only affect parts of the facilities that house about 8,000 of the 91,000 prisoners in California, and then no further specific actions are required.

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More about prisons: The California Rehabilitation Center in Norko will be closed in 2026, the fifth state prison to close when it falls to the deprived population. Calmatters Adam Ashton And the video strategy director Robert Meix has a video segment of upcoming As part of our partnership with PBS Socal. Watch it hereS

SocalMatters broadcast at 5:58 pm weekdays Of PBS socalS