NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Reversal on wildfires, climate change unlikely, Oregonians say
the atmosphere. China leads
the planet among pollut-
ers, contributing 27% of the
world’s carbon output. Other
leading polluters include
India (6.6%), the European
Union (6.4%), Indonesia
(3.4%), Russia (3.1%), Brazil
(2.8%), and Japan (2.2%).
Climate change impacts
the planet in a variety of
ways, including the melting
of polar ice, which causes
sea levels rise, as well as
droughts, flooding and other
extreme weather events.
Most Oregonians (54%)
believe climate change is the
primary cause of wildfires,
the survey said.
What else can be the
root cause for the increas-
ing number of wildfires?
Some 23% of Oregonians
believe the primary cause
to be public forest practices
allowing excess dead fuels
to build up, and 11% said the
main cause is environmental-
ists who oppose forest thin-
ning, the survey said.
Demographic quotas were
set to ensure a representative
sample of answers for the
survey. The margin of error
was 1.7% to 2.9%
According to the survey,
most Oregonians favor
support for environmental
causes even if it means slow-
ing economic growth — 76%
of respondents said they
would lean toward environ-
mental protections compared
By MICHAEL KOHN
EO Media Group
SALEM — Humankind
has little chance of solv-
ing the climate crisis and
the growing frequency of
wildfires. That’s the major-
ity opinion of Oregonians
recently polled in a survey
conducted by the Oregon
Values and Beliefs Center.
Two-thirds of Oregonians
(66%) responded there is only
a small chance or no chance
at all of reversing the direc-
tion of climate change. More
than 1,150 Oregon residents
aged 18 or over took part in
the survey, conducted Aug.
9-17. A similar number
(67%) said the wildfire crisis
in the state will continue to
increase.
The concern Oregon resi-
dents have about the environ-
ment is not without evidence.
According to NASA data,
Earth’s average surface
temperature has risen about
2.12 degrees Fahrenheit
since the late 19th century,
an increase caused by human
activities such as the burning
of fossil fuels.
Most of the increase
has occurred in the past 40
years, reports NASA, with
the seven most recent years
being the warmest.
R e s e a r c h p r ov i d e r
Rhodium Group reports the
U.S. contributes 11% of the
world’s carbon emissions into
Inciweb/Contributed Photo, File
Flames from the enormous Bootleg Fire in Oregon’s Klamath and Lake counties silhouette a
firefighter in July 2021. It was one of the country’s largest fires this year.
to just 13% who favor support
for the economy over the
environment.
The su r vey showed
broadly that Oregonians see
climate change as causing
severe events such as hurri-
canes, flooding and forest
fires. Among the respon-
dents, 81% believe climate
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Partly sunny
Pleasant with
sunshine
Partly sunny and
beautiful
Pleasant with
partial sunshine
Pleasant with
clouds and sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
91° 62°
87° 61°
84° 58°
79° 53°
78° 54°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
93° 60°
90° 58°
87° 59°
84° 54°
81° 54°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
78/57
88/57
89/59
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
91/64
Lewiston
85/55
93/60
Astoria
73/53
Pullman
Yakima 90/58
82/54
94/62
Portland
Hermiston
90/61
The Dalles 93/60
Salem
Corvallis
86/53
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
94/54
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
92/54
94/58
96/55
Ontario
96/55
Caldwell
Burns
88°
65°
85°
51°
99° (2003) 39° (1961)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
89/55
0.00"
0.00"
0.06"
1.93"
1.66"
5.37"
Today
Medford
OHSU: COVID-19 hospitalization
rate to flatten, could even decline
By JEFF MANNING
The Oregonian
SALEM — After weeks
of explosive growth, the
expansion of the coronavi-
rus delta variant appears to
be peaking.
The number of new
COVID-19 cases requir-
ing hospitalization, which
skyrocketed in August,
should start to flatten after
Monday, Sept. 6, and will
begin to decline in October or
November, said Peter Graven,
the leading data scientist at
Oregon Health & Science
University, Portland. Graven
has been modeling expected
coronavirus-related hospital-
ization numbers on a weekly
basis since the beginning of
the pandemic.
Yet the pandemic is far
from over. The potential high
point next week of hospital-
ized COVID-19 patients
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
93/48
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
surge in critically ill Orego-
nians.
“We still have lots of people
getting sick,” he said. “There’s
still a ton of transmission
going on out there. For anyone
who works in health care, the
next month will continue to
feel like crisis mode.”
There’s another develop-
ment worrying Graven —
the beginning of school. It
remains to be seen whether
teachers and students will
be able to maintain a tight
masking discipline all day, a
necessity against the highly
infectious delta variant.
So far, children under 12
are not eligible to take any of
the vaccines.
“I am concerned about it,”
Graven said. “There is pretty
good evidence that we didn’t
have outbreaks (in schools.)
But this fall is different — it’s
the normal full day.”
IN BRIEF
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
could reach a record setting
1,208.
Graven attributed the
expected turnaround to more
masks and more vaccines.
“We’re seeing evidence
that people have changed
their behavior to protect
themselves and others,” he
said, “and that will need to
continue if we’re going to be
able to free up space in our
hospitals.”
August proved to be the
third deadliest month in
Oregon since the start of the
pandemic.
Graven’s data show mask-
ing rates have ticked up to
about 80% and Oregonians
have refrained from gath-
ering in indoor markets,
grocery stores, bars and
in large groups. In addi-
tion, more people appear
to be getting vaccinated in
response to the alarming
Wed.
NE 3-6
N 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
99/61
respondents said strong indi-
vidual actions and govern-
ment regulations are needed,
while 11% of respondents
said no action is needed.
The survey also asked
what actions respondents
had taken to address climate
change. Some 61% of respon-
dents said they have “dramat-
WINDS (in mph)
94/51
94/48
0.00"
0.00"
0.09"
4.37"
8.68"
8.74"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 93/53
92/58
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
91/62
96/65
84°
59°
83°
53°
102° (1955) 34° (1898)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
80/55
Aberdeen
87/57
88/66
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
79/59
change is at least partially
responsible for creating
longer, hotter summers, and
80% believe climate change
is at least partially responsi-
ble for the drought.
What needs to be done for
humankind to mitigate the
impacts of climate change?
More than half (60%) of
ically” reduced their use of
gas-powered vehicles while
57% said they have “exam-
ined and reduced import-
ant emissions behaviors.”
One-third of respondents
(34%) said they have commu-
nicated to elected officials the
need for policies to combat
climate change.
Would Oregonians be
willing to pay more for gas to
help offset emissions? Some
65% said yes, but amounts
varied — 13% said less than
25 cents, 9% said 25 cents
to 50 cents, and 12% said
between 50 cents to $1 extra.
Others were willing to splash
out more: 9% said they would
pay $1-$2 extra, 7% said
$2-$4 extra, and 15% higher
than $4.
The survey also included
data on race and socioeco-
nomic backgrounds. Nine-
tenths (93%) of respondents
were white or Caucasian;
4% were Hispanic or Latino;
3% were Native American;
2% were African American,
and 2% were Asian or Pacific
Islander.
Respondents also listed
their geographic locality —
44% were from the Portland
area; 28% were from the
Willamette Valley, and 28%
were from other parts of the
state. There also was a ques-
tion on political affiliation;
41% were Democrat; 22%
Republican and 13% were
nonaffiliated.
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:24 a.m.
7:22 p.m.
6:55 a.m.
8:09 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Sep 13
Sep 20
Sep 28
Oct 6
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 108° in China Lake, Calif. Low 23° in Yellowstone N.P., Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Nearly 80% of August deaths
among those without shots
SALEM — Nearly 4 in 5 coronavirus
deaths in Oregon during the first four weeks
of August were among unvaccinated or
partially vaccinated individuals, according
to new data released by the Oregon Health
Authority.
And roughly 5 in 6 of the 51,391 known
COVID-19 infections during the same period
were among people who were unvaccinated
or not fully vaccinated, according to a state
report released Thursday, Sept. 2.
The share of so-called breakthrough cases
and deaths among fully vaccinated Orego-
nians remains tiny compared to the 2.4 million
Oregonians who were fully vaccinated as of
Aug. 28, demonstrating the effectiveness of
vaccines at preventing severe COVID-19.
Since the start of the pandemic, the state has
identified 13,166 breakthrough cases, which is
defined as a person who tests positive 14 days
or later after receiving their full course of vacci-
nations, which is two shots of Pfizer-BioNTech
or Moderna vaccine or one shot of Johnson &
Johnson vaccine. That’s slightly more than one
half of 1% who have been infected with the
disease after being fully vaccinated.
The health authority report says 650
people with breakthrough cases have been
hospitalized — 0.027% of vaccinated Orego-
nians. And the 113 Oregonians who died after
a breakthrough case amounts to 0.0047% of
those vaccinated.
— EO Media Group
CORRECTION
In the Page A1 story “Pendleton’s three new principals introduce themselves,”
published Tuesday, Aug. 31, the photos of Patrick Dutcher and J.P. Richards were
misidentified.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
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90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
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