California burning again

[DrCool]

Here is a good look at what we have to look forward to this week:

https://i.imgur.com/L3tDmIA.gifv

Looks like the smoke will be sticking around for a few days.

[gm66]

Dear US cousins, stop building homes made from matchwood and get some good old-fashioned British bricks in there.

Stops external fires AND tornadoes!

[ergophobe]

Dear US cousins, stop building homes made from matchwood and get some good old-fashioned British bricks in there.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/photos-from-california-wildfires-reveal-lessons-for-b-c-1.4905324

[littleman]

>Dear US cousins, stop building homes made from matchwood and get some good old-fashioned British bricks in there.

If you were from here you'd know why we don't do that.

[rcjordan]

3d print with gunite on a wire matrix. Separate the structure from the foundation with sheets of teflon.  Tile floors, tile roof.

Even so, we'd pack enough combustible furnishings, decor, and whatnot crap that a good number of them would still burn, 

[Brad]

> combustible furnishings

Windows and roofs.  You can have fire resistant siding like cement board, but all to often one of the windows fails and from then on the flames can spread from drapes and furnishings.  We had that happen here homes about 20 feet apart.  Both homes sided in cement board which really helped contain the blaze.  But the house next door from where the fire started went up when the vinyl windows failed and flames got inside the second structure.

The other thing is burning stuff landing on the roof so a fireproof roof sure helps.  Tile works and I'm wondering if a steel roof would work.

[buckworks]

No matter what your roof is made of, make sure your gutters are clear of leaves and debris.

[ergophobe]

I've been on my roof weekly with a leaf blower. After the Ferguson Fire, we had embers on the roof and in the gutter, but very little debris, so the house is still here.

Another key is inside corners in the building that create eddies and catch flying leaves and such. And finally, tight screens on all vents.

You can put all the stucco and tile and steel you want on a building, but if you don't do these things, it's all for naught.

[ergophobe]

Apparently Sauron lives in California (Mackin believed this already of course) and is prepping for the attack on Canada, then Ireland and the UK, belching out smoke from the fires of Mount Doom the Sierra Nevada to blot out the sun across the free world.

I think he's making a mistake by opening a second front with Hawaii though. I'm afraid he'll be spreading the Nazgul too thin.

[Brad]

Climate change and migration in the US

Once-chilly places like Minnesota and Michigan and Vermont will become more temperate, verdant and inviting. Vast regions will prosper; just as Hsiang's research forecast that Southern counties could see a tenth of their economy dry up, he projects that others as far as North Dakota and Minnesota will enjoy a corresponding expansion. Cities like Detroit; Rochester, New York; Buffalo and Milwaukee will see a renaissance, with their excess capacity in infrastructure, water supplies and highways once again put to good use.

Long article but very interesting.

https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration

[ergophobe]

Oh sigh... mostly news that I've heard before, some as far back as Cadillac Desert (1986), but it's still depressing. Maybe more so in that so little has been done. If we had acted rationally when the problems were first elucidated, the fixes would have been fairly painless. Forty years of obstruction, delay and false narratives funded with millions and millions of dollars from Exxon and the Koch Brothers have backed us into a terrible corner.

Part of the problem is that most policies look only 12 months into the future, ignoring long-term trends even as insurance availability influences development and drives people's long-term decision-making.

This is a major reason for not being able to get fire insurance. Regulators only let insurance companies base premiums on past payouts. But it is so clear we have entered an era when past payouts are a poor indicator of future payouts. Meanwhile, the hefty $8000 price tag on my insurance is almost certainly deeply underpriced. That price basically is a bet by the insurance company that my house will not burn down in the next 50 years. That seems absurd. The fair-market price of my insurance is probably $12,000 per year, maybe $16,000, which starts to make moving back to Vermont look awfully attractive.

My whole retirement strategy at this point is based on having enough foresight to get out before property here becomes impossible to sell due to running out of water (very hard to predict, could happen tomorrow), lack of insurance (thus can only sell to cash buyer who can self-insure) or general fear about fires, water, insurance.

[littleman]

California must burn more of its forests to save them. Is the public ready?

[rcjordan]

>ready

No.

related, East Coast

"Fire suppression played a critical role on the longleaf's decline. Fires clear and fertilize ground that longleaf seeds must touch to sprout. Properly timed, they also spark seedlings' first growth spurt. And, crucially for the entire ecosystem, they kill shrubs and hardwood trees that would otherwise block the sun from seedlings, grasses and wildflowers."

Restoring Longleaf Pines, Keystone of Once Vast Ecosystems
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-12-30/restoring-longleaf-pines-keystone-of-once-vast-ecosystems

[ergophobe]

>> Is the public ready?

No, but significant progress made in the past year.

[rcjordan]

Fires: Millions of California homes are vulnerable; tech entrepreneur says he can cut your risk

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/10/01/fires-millions-of-california-homes-are-vulnerable-tech-entrepreneur-says-he-can-cut-your-risk/