TV News LIES

Fast-moving fires erupted across California on Wednesday as the state was lashed by powerful winds that complicated firefighting efforts, necessitated power shutoffs and raised the danger for more ignitions.

Just hours after igniting in Ventura county, the Mountain fire rapidly swept through more than 10,000 acres as flames jumped into rural and residential communities tucked close to the burning hillsides, leaving devastation in its wake.

“It has hopscotched over several ridgelines and is now burning structure to structure in neighborhoods,” climate scientist Daniel Swain said in an online broadcast, calling the event a “suburban fire storm” that could rank among the most destructive in California this year. “And the fire is still spreading.”

Fueled by gusts of up to 80mph, the fire spewed flames and embers up to 2.5 miles out, making it difficult and dangerous to fight. Every firefighting resource in the area has been thrown at the fire, according to Ventura county fire chief Dustin Gardner, who added that is is “still moving at a dangerous rate of spread”. By Wednesday evening, the fire remained at 0% containment.

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Tropical Storm Rafael gained hurricane status Tuesday evening as it churned in the warm Caribbean waters on the way to the Cayman Islands and Cuba before heading for the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said.

Rafael’s wind speeds increased to 75 mph, just above the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane, the NHC said in at 7:20 p.m. ET update. Officials in the U.S. are monitoring the storm for potential impacts to the Gulf Coast.

Rafael swiped west of Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon before continuing on a northwest trajectory. Jamaican authorities opened four emergency shelters but reported no deaths or injuries despite the heavy rain.

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Tropical Storm Rafael formed in the Caribbean on Monday, a storm that's predicted to intensify into a hurricane and threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast by this weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.

However, given significant uncertainties in the long-range forecast track and intensity, it is too soon to determine what, if any, impacts could occur in the U.S., the hurricane center said.

"There has never been a tropical storm or hurricane landfall in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi during November and December. So that would be quite a milestone, but this does not mean that people along the central and western Gulf Coast should let their guard down," AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said.

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New York’s mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October in the city and in much of the United States.

A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Eric Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States’ most populous city.

He ordered all city agencies to get ready to implement their water-conservation plans, and asked the public to do its part by, for example, turning off taps while brushing teeth and sweeping sidewalks instead of hosing them down.

“Mother Nature is in charge, and so we must make sure we adjust,” said Adams, a Democrat.

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An earthquake shook off the Oregon coast Wednesday afternoon.

The earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean, more than 170 miles west of Bandon, Oregon at 1:15 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The temblor, which was recorded at a depth of over 6 miles, measured a preliminary magnitude of 6.0.

It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.

There is no tsunami danger off the coast of Oregon, the National Weather Service in Seattle confirmed.

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The concentration of planet-heating pollutants clogging the atmosphere hit record levels in 2023, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.

It found carbon dioxide is accumulating faster than at any time in human history, with concentrations having risen by more than 10% in just two decades.

“Another year, another record,” said Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the WMO. “This should set alarm bells ringing among decision makers.”

The increase was driven by humanity’s “stubbornly high” burning of fossil fuels, the WMO found, and made worse by big wildfires and a possible drop in the ability of trees to absorb carbon.

The concentration of CO2 reached 420 parts per million (ppm) in 2023, the scientists observed. The level of pollution is 51% greater than before the Industrial Revolution, when people began to burn large amounts of coal, oil and fossil gas.

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