Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke may be depleting the energy reserves of California’s orchard trees — reducing their nut production by as much as half, a study has found. Smoke can impact such trees for months following a megafire,

The research also showed that smoke exposure had lasting effects. Trees exposed to smoke for a long time had lower carbohydrate reserves, leading to reduced nut yields — sometimes cutting production by half. And the negative impact continued well beyond the wildfire season.

Spiking temperatures added to the challenges facing firefighters struggling to contain a stubborn Southern California wildfire, as the total acres burned in the state this year surpassed 1 million

Triple-digit temperatures will hit California again during a fall heat wave, prompting additional evacuations, power shutoffs and increased fire risk.

The high in the Bay Area city where I live was 95 degrees Tuesday, which caught me so off guard that I thought my phone’s location setting was stuck in Sacramento. But it wasn’t. And it was hot. This week’s unusual and brutal heat wave in California is expected to cool off starting today,