Record heat is fueling an accelerating megafire crisis in California. The ongoing massive Park fire is the latest monster to burn off the old-climate charts.
Before 2018, the state's largest wildfire on record was the Thomas fire, which burned 280,000 acres. At the time, the Thomas fire felt apocalyptic. The current Park fire burned more in just its first three days. It's currently the state's fourth-largest on record, at 430,000 acres -- joining the rapidly swelling ranks of unprecedented megafires.
Extreme weather events like fires, floods, heat waves and droughts pose an increasing risk to Canada’s food supply chain, putting pressure on prices all the way to the grocery store shelf, say experts.
“Anytime you have major weather-related events, it tends to increase costs,” said Frank Scali, vice-president of industry affairs at Food, Health & Consumer Products Of Canada.
'We're shattering global temperature records and reaping the whirlwind,' UN secretary-general says
The planet's string of record-breaking temperatures has continued for a full year, with May marking the 12th consecutive month for which its average temperature set a new record for that month.