https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lytton-wildfire-british-columbia-evacuations/

A wildfire amid a record heat wave in western Canada has forced authorities to order residents to evacuate a village in British Columbia that smashed the country’s record for hottest temperature three days in a row this week. Mayor Jan Polderman of Lytton issued the evacuation order Wednesday, saying on Twitter that the fire was threatening structures and the safety of residents of the community, which is 95 miles northeast of Vancouver.

“All residents are advised to leave the community and go to a safe location,″ Polderman said.

In an interview with CBC News, the mayor said the situation was dire for the community of 250 people.  “The whole town is on fire,” he said. “It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere.”https://www.cbsnews.com/newsletters/widget/e879?v=97c857691a654c9667377a5c9ab8410f&view=compact#tVNNT9wwEP0rlk%2BttGaTENhsblRUKpcKCXoiaDWxJ8TCsSPb2WiF%2BO8dQxYQEpdKvSVvPt7Me%2BMn7saonQ28fuIonUJec6w2W77ie40z%2FUk3jCAjAaMLOiUTeBECRvbDqQN%2FXvHoQT5q%2B5Ca6PDTQmtQ8Tr6CVccfNTS4MUUe%2BevCL7jp5kCqVopzqECkedYiK3KC5FledVhBVnWZvz%2BU%2BlvGDAVyzZYnAP71mul0LL2YLTF7x%2FyEwkvyrMyb%2BFclFXXiVJuQGwRpSDuVpXltivzU%2F5Wcj21lxDT8kVW5CLbiCxneVEXeZ2X72m3OpqUNGujOu2RwaAV8yScV6xHiGyGPbLOeYmBoY0pZ6%2BNgQdk2jIJFhSw6BjuQU7EWLOGxx7Z3DuDFJgt04E5y1L7hn%2BgPoz44oaN1He3oBRXuNfyGFYYHqMbCdbhEvdpn2Qc0S8JSbqdjjgQTG7iL40%2BqTo7b1TSMIE3KBefX%2BFXdOngMYx0MJr2nLGlGPFp%2BaL5ebY568qsEpuzSn3l61LwaucbwRTQLwRgiXrFjR505HX5psCNm0jWpEEbmjWkJVsPVl0biKT48DLCch27NPDuXY1AFlkF%2FnCbuOna7%2B4%2Fg1fqCFPpMt3SLc2MYPQ0pAsfveu0%2BRBOBZSCNulNUZXehExraAnmjzcE9zGOoW7WzXqe55Ol8ITeVrNOX83aHGJ0VhwvS7Se3lrohXRmGloNYrmY9Fib9WLq%2F%2By9SPCPPZ6f%2FwI%3D

A video posted to social media appears to show people driving out of the town with flames nearby and heavy smoke engulfing the road.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1410473307212718084&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Flytton-wildfire-british-columbia-evacuations%2F&sessionId=765d1d1b3dd549d0cc0db30a16ada1a81e69fbe4&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

Erica Berg, a provincial fire information officer, said the evacuation order was issued about an hour after the blaze began but she did not know the size of it.

Highways north and south of the village reported were closed as firefighters also dealt with two other wildfires in the area.

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The BC Wildfire Service called the blaze an “evolving situation.”  

Lytton’s temperature hovered around 102 degrees Fahrenheit Wednesday. That was down from Tuesday, when the village recorded a new Canadian high of 121.2 F, breaking the previous highs of 118.2 F it reached Monday and 115 F on Sunday.

Roughly 10 miles to the south in the First Nations community of Kanaka Bar, Jean McKay said she and her 22-year-old daughter, Deirdre McKay, started to panic as the smell of smoke grew stronger.

“I was still sitting there and wondering what to pack, emotionally walking out my door but thinking ‘I’m leaving all this behind.’ It’s hard. Very hard. When my girlfriend told me her house was burning it really hit home,” McKay said.

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“My daughter phoned before we lost services and stuff, she’s telling us, ‘Get out of there, get out of there.'”

There was one memento her daughter couldn’t leave behind: “She grabbed my dad’s picture off the wall,” McKay said. “I’m telling her, ‘We’re walking out and this is the home we built forever and that you guys grew up in.’ It’s harsh.”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted about the crisis early Thursday.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1410492025108115460&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Flytton-wildfire-british-columbia-evacuations%2F&sessionId=765d1d1b3dd549d0cc0db30a16ada1a81e69fbe4&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

The BC Wildfire Service also confirmed it was responding to several other fires in the province on Wednesday, including two blazes north of Big White as well as the Sparks Lake wildfire.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1410394808716197888&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Flytton-wildfire-british-columbia-evacuations%2F&sessionId=765d1d1b3dd549d0cc0db30a16ada1a81e69fbe4&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550pxhttps://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-3&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1410117205610549248&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Flytton-wildfire-british-columbia-evacuations%2F&sessionId=765d1d1b3dd549d0cc0db30a16ada1a81e69fbe4&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

First published on July 1, 2021 / 8:21 AM

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By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson

July 1, 2021 0 Comments

Cecil the lion pictured at sunset in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Ed Hetherington/500px Prime

It has been six years since the death of Cecil, a male lion who was a popular individual for wildlife viewing tourists visiting Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. The heartbreaking details of the hunt that killed Cecil made international headlines: Cecil was lured out of the protected area with elephant carcass bait and shot by the hunter with an arrow. After suffering for 10 agonizing hours, Cecil was killed with a gunshot.

We believe it is important to remember Cecil’s story. We owe it to him and to the thousands of animals killed by trophy hunters each year to expose the cruelty of the hunts that claim their lives. Commemorating the anniversary of Cecil’s death, a new report by Humane Society International/Europe released earlier this week in six languages gives new insight about the demand driving the deaths of these animals. “EU Trophy Hunting by the Numbers” reveals that the European Union is the second biggest importer of hunted wildlife trophies after the United States.

What the trophy numbers show

Trophies are the horns, tusks, teeth and other body parts that hunters bring home from their killing sprees abroad. In the five-year period we analyzed (2014 to 2018), the EU imported trophies taken from 889 African lions, 229 of whom were wild lions like Cecil. Following the listing of the African lion under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2016 which placed federal import restrictions on the species, EU has surpassed the U.S. as the largest importer of African lion hunting trophies.

We also found that trophy hunters from the EU imported nearly 15,000 trophies from 73 “internationally protected species,” including African lions, African elephants, leopards, giraffe, cheetahs, critically endangered black rhinos, zebras, dwindling Argali sheep and vulnerable polar bears. During the same time period, the EU stood as the largest importer of cheetah trophies in the world.

Imports of trophies into the EU is rising, according to trade data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Between 2014 and 2018, imports of trophies have steadily increased by almost 40%. Despite these staggering statistics, opinion polls reveal that EU citizens deplore trophy hunting—over 80% of those surveyed oppose the practice.

Yet trophy hunting stubbornly continues. Germany, Spain and Denmark account for 52% of all EU imported trophies. Namibia, South Africa, Canada and the U.S. are among the largest exporters of trophies to the EU. European trophy hunters are also coming to the U.S. to kill animals. American black bears, brown bears, mountain lions and gray wolves are among the top trophies exported to the EU.

How to take action against trophy hunting

We have often called attention to the damage that American trophy hunters have done to wild animals, at home and abroad. With the new HSI/Europe report, the verdict is out: The collective carnage of globe-trotting European and American trophy hunters seeking out rare animals to kill for their collections is a global embarrassment.

Fortunately, several countries within the EU and beyond have taken actions or are considering measures to stamp out trophy imports. France and Australia have banned the import of lion trophies since 2015. The Netherlands banned trophy imports of over 200 species in 2016. Just last month the UK government reiterated its commitment to soon introduce the world’s toughest trophy import ban. Two political parties in Germany have included a trophy import ban in their party manifestos.

European policymakers are increasingly challenging the status quo of governments allowing trophy imports without robust scientific and conservation scrutiny and are demanding change. This week, HSI/Europe co-hosted a webinar on trophy hunting with the European Parliament’s interest group, Members of European Parliament for Wildlife and several other leading conservation and animal groups. The groups highlighted how trophy hunting is incompatible with preserving biodiversity and jointly called for a ban on trophy imports into the EU.

German MEP Manuela Ripa hosted the event and said: “[I]n the wake of the EU Biodiversity Strategy it is important to consider the impact that European citizens traveling to far-flung destinations solely to shoot and bring home animal body parts may be having on wild animal populations elsewhere around the world. Instead of having tightly regulated trophy hunting, I pledge for tightly regulated ‘photo hunting’ which would have a bigger benefit for species, support ecosystems and communities involved.”

The growing actions taken by policymakers around the globe make it more imperative that the U.S. catch up to the international momentum to end trophy hunting. We were encouraged this week when a United States House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee approved language prohibiting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from issuing trophy hunting import permits for lions and elephants taken in Tanzania, Zimbabwe or Zambia. Among other steps, the U.S. Congress must reintroduce and pass the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies Act (ProTECT Act), which would help prevent the hunting of any species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act as soon as possible. And the Biden Administration must reform the trophy import permit process to protect animals and affirm the conservation goals supported by millions of Americans.

Join us in the fight to protect animals from trophy hunting by signing this pledge. You can also contact your lawmakers and urge them to introduce and pass the ProTECT Act.

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/30/world/dinosaur-extinction-debate-scn/index.html

June 29, 20214:18 PM ET

JOSIE FISCHELS

The sun shines near the Space Needle, Monday, June 28, 2021, in Seattle. Seattle and other cities broke all-time heat records over the weekend, with temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees.Ted S. Warren/AP

Record-breaking temperatures have soared well past 100 degrees across the Pacific Northwest, where the area is trapped beneath a blistering “heat dome.”

In a region where average temperatures are closer to the 70s this time of year, houses can be seen with blacked-out windows covered with blankets to help with the heat. The area’s normally mild summers mean many households don’t have air conditioning.

The historic heatwave is bringing with it fears about what could follow over the rest of this summer.

The Pacific Northwest has a lack of air conditioners as hot weather is not typical. Here, Portland, Oregon residents stay at a cooling center.Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Records set one day have been broken the next.

Records have been shattered daily in parts of the Northwest, including Portland and Seattle. Portland broke records three days in a row, hitting 108 on Saturday, 112 on Sunday and then 116 on Monday.

Seattle reached 108 degrees on Monday during the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest. Here, a mother and daughter carry umbrellas to shield from the sun.John Froschauer/AP

In Seattle, the temperature rose to 108 on Monday. In Pasco, Wash., the mercury climbed to 118 degrees, the hottest temperature the state has recorded since 1961.

Portland recorded three of its hottest days in history last Saturday and this Sunday and Monday. Here, a couple and their dog lay in the shade during the heat wave.Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In some places, the heat is so intense it has even melted power cables. In downtown Portland, the Portland Streetcar service shut down on Sunday, posting a picture on Twitter of a power cable with a hole burnt into it.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1409287314870837253&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2021%2F06%2F29%2F1011269025%2Fphotos-the-pacific-northwest-heatwave-is-melting-power-cables-and-buckling-roads&sessionId=deb41b30f23f0ffcedc3b5b6fc2422fcca1e9f41&siteScreenName=NPR&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

Roads have buckled under the heat in Portland

Pacific Northwest infrastructure is cracking — literally — under the pressure. In Everson, Wash., temperatures have caused the pavement to soften and expand. This can create rutting, buckling, and potholes, particularly in high-traffic areas.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1409353691287592970&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2021%2F06%2F29%2F1011269025%2Fphotos-the-pacific-northwest-heatwave-is-melting-power-cables-and-buckling-roads&sessionId=deb41b30f23f0ffcedc3b5b6fc2422fcca1e9f41&siteScreenName=NPR&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

Drought has created a vicious dry cycle

Widespread drought extending from the West and all the way into the Great Plains has only worsened under the heat dome. In the Northwest, a typically wet area, abnormally dry and drought conditions have expanded in a matter of weeks. On June 22, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported 79.8% of the region was in drought just ahead of the fire season.Article continues after sponsor messagehttps://cc9142cbd1644918619c7eb6164d3215.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Scientists say the warming climate is making both heat waves and droughts more frequent and intense

A sign is shown on the door of a Molly Moon’s Ice Cream store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The store was closed Monday due to excessive heat.Ted S. Warren/AP