California forest burn was 4 million acres (1.6 million ha) in 2020; quite high. I expect 2021 will be more, after a dry winter. Very happy if my prediction gets proven wrong. I want to be wrong about this. If any Californians living at 'the forest interface' read this, please create space between forest (fuels) and your house which is probably even better fuel.
That's what I thought last year when I looked outside our window one day in August: With lack of substantial rain this season, we will see how bad this fire season becomes
same problem here, several years of drought and no signs of letting up. another spring where we are already behind the 8 ball.
Creating space between the fuel source and your home is an excellent idea that should be standardized as a regulation. Also changes to the building code to fireproof the homes - metal roofs -non combustible materials on the exteriors etc. A complete change to the approach that California uses to manage their forest and woodlands - controlled burns yearly to remove combustible undergrowth and hands on management in high danger areas to precatively manage the fire situations before they happen - firebreaks etc. After years and years of the same thing happening each year many now view this situation as tragic but actually a man made almost planned yearly event. Unfortunately the human tragedy of this plays out every year at the same time. I also hope this year is an exception and wildfires are not a problem in California Catastrophic Wildfires Can be Prevented - California Agriculture News | California Agriculture Six ways California can reduce dangerous wildfires
There is some interest around here in human life extension so see this: Do people aged 105 and over live longer because they have more efficient DNA repair? | EurekAlert! Science News and note it is part of a special issue on the topic. eLife is a fun journal in general
I've noticed that certain relatives, friends, and travel group acquaintances, had their quality time "bed of roses" last vastly longer than others. The spouse and I have picked various sets of role models to follow. And examples to not follow.
Introduced herd of bison has grown too large. NPS asked for volunteer hunters to cull about 12. 45 thousand folks volunteered: More than 45,000 people volunteer to kill 12 bison in US national park
Quite easy to distinguish those targets. Bison are impressive sprinters. I may have mentioned before that a group of bison crossed my path while biking on GC N rim. Close enough to feel the ground shake. = Separately, I suspect this will not be a difficult hunt. Water holes are scarce there and locations are known. Bison are everyday drinkers so just pick a spot to set up your blind and wait.
The park service doesn't even try to call it a "hunt": "The "lethal removal" is not exactly a hunt, the park service said, because it is controlled by the park authorities themselves, and serves public as well as recreational interests." It seems very likely that the park service will be directing them just where and how to do the harvest. And it will involve packing out the meat and any trophies from beyond motor vehicle range. I see no mention whether that will involve pack animals, or just the muscle power of the volunteer cullers, park service, and associated tribes.
Martha's Vineyard offshore wind power project is approved. Biggest in US but there are larger in Europe I think. Link below is older but usefully describes the GE spinners, that they took the place of Vestas, and there is a map: Vineyard Wind Picks GE's Haliade-X Offshore Wind (presumably with scale bar in original version)
These articles seem to cover the fishing industry's concerns. Specifically that the proposed layout isn't conductive the scallop trawling. Offshore wind projects worry Northeast fishermen New England fishing groups object to latest offshore wind layout proposal Honestly, the edible critters and others probably need more safe refuge from us.