California Broiling

From Politico and the LA Times, these nuggets below on California. Do you really think that a record temperature like 121 degrees is something to ignore? Remember that events like this beget other consequences:

• Power outages and brownouts
• Bridges and pavements buckling
• The deaths of elderly and those most vulnerable
• Increased calls for medical aid
• Generator failures at key facilities and infrastructures, leading to more impacts to operations, e.g., telecommunications
• Wildfires!
• Etc, etc, etc.

CALIFORNIA BROILING … L.A. TIMES: “As a historic heat wave left Southern California broiling, Woodland Hills on Sunday recorded an all-time high of 121 degrees, which the National Weather Service said was the hottest temperature recorded at an official weather station in Los Angeles County. …

“The California Independent System Operator, which runs the electric grid for much of the state, declared a Stage 2 Emergency on Saturday night and warned it could order utilities to institute rotating power outages.

“But shortly after 9 p.m., the body announced the emergency had been lifted with no outages necessary, crediting consumer energy conservation. Still, the ISO said that rolling blackouts could be necessary Sunday, most likely between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. The body was forecasting peak demand to outpace supply by about 4,000 megawatts. That could force utilities to cut off power to 2.5 [million] to 3 million customers statewide, Eric Schmidt, vice president of operations for California ISO, said Sunday in a press briefing."