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Q&A: California’s New Electricity-Blackout Challenge

BERKELEY — As if the pandemic and economic recession weren't bad enough, millions of Californians now face recurring threats of abrupt blackouts during a heat wave in the nation's most populous state. California's Independent System Operator, a nonprofit agency that manages the state's power supply, ordered utilities to impose temporary...

Walters: Blackouts Reveal Our Power Shortage

The prolonged heat wave of 100-degree-plus temperatures that grips California has strained the state’s electric power grid to the breaking point, resulting in rolling blackouts for the first time in nearly two decades. California’s Independent System Operator (ISO), which manages the distribution of power for the state’s investor-owned utilities, imposed...

California Heat Wave Raises Fire Threat, Virus Spread Fears

LOS ANGELES — California faces a heat wave Friday that could bring dangerously high temperatures throughout the state, increased wildfire danger and a higher threat of the spreading of the coronavirus as people flock to lakes, beaches and other recreation areas. High pressure building over Western states will push temperatures...

Scientists Monitoring New Marine Heat Wave off West Coast

SEATTLE — Federal scientists said Thursday they are monitoring a new ocean heat wave off the U.S. West Coast, a development that could badly disrupt marine life including salmon, whales and sea lions. The expanse of unusually warm water stretches from Alaska to California, researchers with the National Oceanic and...

Paris Hits Record High, London Boils in Europe Heat Wave

PARIS — Even ice cream, Italian gelato or Popsicles couldn't help this time. Temperature records that had stood for decades or even just days fell minute by minute Thursday afternoon and Europeans and tourists alike threw themselves into fountains, lakes, rivers, or the sea to escape a suffocating heat wave...

New Threat to Fire-Damaged Notre Dame Cathedral: Heat Wave

PARIS — The chief architect of France's historic monuments says he's afraid that the heat wave sweeping Europe could cause the vaulted ceilings of fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral to collapse. Dozens of sensors dotted around the 12th-century monument have shown no indication that it's deteriorating, but architect Philippe Villeneuve is...

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