(E) For the last two years, Northern California had the most destroying fires of its history. In October 2017, the North Bay Fires, and the Wine Country Fires were a series of 250 wildfires that burned over 245,000 ha across Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte, and Solano Counties, forcing 90,000 people to evacuate from their homes, and killing 44 people.

In November 2018, the Camp Fire, which started 148 kilometers north of Sacramento, was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018 in terms of insured losses, costing $16.5 billion. It caused at least 85 civilian fatalities, covered an area of 153,336 acres, and destroyed 18,804 structures!

Most of those fires were caused by the fall of PG&E electrical transmission lines.

After very warm summers, in the Fall the soil and the vegetation are dried. When humidity is low and winds are strong, fires can propagate themselves very quickly.

In November 2019, because of the smoke of the fire, people were wearing masks in San Francisco. And, this was not a movie, that was the reality.

As a result of many lawsuits, PG&E is probably the first but not the last American company to go bankrupt because of climate change.

And, this week because of the high risks of fires, PG&E decided to take the unpopular but wise decision to shut down power in areas at risk of fire. For the last few days, close to 800,000 inhabitants of the Bay Area are without power.

And, while Northern California is without power, on the other side of the Pacific, Japan is getting ready for another exceptional hurricane.

Climate change is affecting both East and West.

Note: The picture above is a view of the Camp Fire from Nasa.

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