Heat waves in July 2006 in California killed 80 people due to blackouts. It was considered one of the worst heat waves in California in over 20 years. But California is not the only place where high heat is killing people. There have also been a number of deaths in France. The heat is definitely on in California, but the power outages are causing massive disruptions and each time it gets hotter more air conditioners go on and therefore more blackouts occur. California power outages and blackouts are common to California and a few years back due to the lack of ability to transfer the needed energy through the transmission lines there were massive rolling blackouts and brownouts. For being the seventh largest economy in the world, California certainly has its work cut out for it to keep the power on. Many are expecting more deaths in the summer of 2006 in California and believe this is only a start the problem will get worse throughout August, September and October. The heat is on, but in California the power is off and there is no immediate solution to this problem in the near future without a massive infrastructure upgrade and additional conservation. As if earthquakes were not enough or wildfires California has another problem to deal with and that is the government's inability to get energy to the people during heat waves in the summer months. Please consider all this in 2006. |
