First, it was the prospect of wildfires that took down large swaths of California’s power grid. Now, it’s the worst heat wave in 70 years.
Climate change is contributing to increasingly extreme weather in California. Less than a year ago, millions of people were plunged into darkness in an effort to keep power lines from sparking catastrophic wildfires. This time, dangerously high temperatures are taxing the system, bringing about the state’s first rolling blackouts since the 2001 energy crisis.
What’s more, they’re hitting just as the pandemic has trapped people indoors in a state that has recorded more COVID-19 infections than any other place, leaving the powerless with a difficult choice between enduring the heat indoors and seeking relief elsewhere. It’s the latest collision of wild weather and the pandemic simultaneously wreaking havoc upon the world. Last week, Tropical Storm Isaias left millions across the eastern U.S. without power for days, forcing remote workers into coffee shops and crowded parking lots to access internet.