New York Magazine - USA (2020-09-14)

(Antfer) #1
september14–27, 2020| newyork 11

inside: The scoop on the Times’ new media columnist / Ranking the fitness winners and losers / The COVID-vaccine wars

whatcanbedone?OntheeveofLaborDay weekend,three
ofthefourlargest firesinstatehistorywerestillburning,a Bay
Arearingoffire,withnoneofthemcloseto“contained.” That
Fridaynight,theCreekFirebroke outinFresnoCounty and
quicklygrewpast 100,000acresintwodays.Thestate’soffshore
winds,longunderstoodasthedriverofthemost devastatingand
out-of-controlfiredisasters,hadnotyet evenarrived.Whenthey
did,theyignitedsomethinglike a wholenewfireseasoncom-
pressedintojusta few days.TheBearFire,inNorthernCalifor-
nia,burnedthrough250,000acresina singleday—roughlyas
muchasburnedintheentirestatethroughoutallof 20 19.In
Orovilleandthesurroundingfoothills,20,000peoplewereor-
dered,immediately, toflee.In photographsofthenearbyBidwell
BarBridge,normallygreen,thesky andflamesandbridge were
allblurryvariationsofthesameshadeofburningrust. Youcould
mistakeit fortheGoldenGateBridge.

PhotographbyClara Mokri


Tomorrow:


Da vidWallace-Wells


CaliforniaCan’tWait


fo r a Green ew Deal


Slashing carbon


won’thelpfordecades.


It ’s timeto adapt.


The view from the hills above Berkeley, California, at 9 a.m. on September 9.
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