Top climate stories of this week: Ray of hope in California, billionaire’s donation to fight climate crisis, and more

After weeks of concern over the wildfires in California, firefighters have reported major progress in containing the blaze this week, with a spokesperson saying that conditions at the Mosquito Fire about 177 kilometres northeast of San Francisco were “looking a whole heck of a lot better.”
Elsewhere in Pakan, flood waters have finally started receding in the worst-hit Sindh province, but authorities have cautioned that it will take months to fully drain the water and warned that water-borne diseases are spiking. In a surprise move, outdoor gear company Patagonia’s ownership has been transferred from founder Yvon Chouinard and his family to two nonprofits established to fight climate change.
Here are the top stories of this week:
Patagonia founder gives away company to help fight climate crisis
Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia, said on Wednesday he is giving away the company to a trust that will use its profit to fight the climate crisis.

“Earth is now our only shareholder.”
Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard has given his company away to a charitable trust and nonprofit organisation which will reinvest any profit not used in running the brand to fight the climate crisis. pic.twitter.com/FHIfh4egjq
— Euronews Green (@euronewsgreen) September 15, 2022
Instead of selling the company or taking it public, Chouinard, who became famous for alpine climbs in Yosemite National Park and has a net worth of $1.2 billion, is transferring his family’s ownership of the company to a trust and a non-profit organisation.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is giving away the company. He and his family have transferred all the company’s voting stock into a trust, with the rest of the shares going to a nonprofit.
Here’s the letter from Yvon: pic.twitter.com/gPUxcuRItN
— Kim Bhasin (@KimBhasin) September 14, 2022
While rich individuals often make financial contributions to causes, the New York Times said the structure of the Patagonia founder’s action meant he and his family would get no financial benefit. Not only will the Chouinard family not get any tax breaks for its decision to give away its wealth, but it will also instead have to pay nearly $17.5 million in taxes as the amount it transferred to the Trust will be considered as a ‘gift’ under American law.

Children, women suffer from water-borne diseases as Pakan floods recede
Children and women are becoming more vulnerable as tens of thousands of people suffer from infectious and water-borne diseases in flood-hit Pakan, government data showed and UNICEF said on Friday, as the total death toll from the inundation surpassed 1,500.

I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakan.
As our planet continues to warm, all countries will increasingly suffer losses and damage from climate beyond their capacity to adapt.
This is a global crisis. It demands a global response. pic.twitter.com/5nqcJIMoIA
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 10, 2022
As flood waters begin to drain away, which officials say may take two to six months in different areas, the flooded regions have become infested with diseases including malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and skin problems, the southern Sindh provincial government said in a report issued on Friday. (Reuters)
California wildfire ‘looking a whole heck of a lot better’ 
Firefighters again prevented flames from entering a Northern California mountain town and reported major progress against the week-old blaze that’s become the largest in the state so far this year. Conditions at the Mosquito Fire about 177 kilometres northeast of San Francisco were “looking a whole heck of a lot better,” according to fire spokesman Scott McLean.
A firefighter manages a backfire, flames lit firefighters to burn off vegetation, while battling the Mosquito Fire in Placer County, California, on Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)
Still, officials are concerned that an upcoming weather system might hamper firefighting efforts over the weekend. Scients say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in its hory. (AP)
Floods in Italy kill at least 10; rescues from roofs, trees
Floodwaters triggered heavy rainfall swept through several towns in a hilly region of central-east Italy early Friday, leaving 10 people dead and several missing, state radio said. Dozens of survivors scrambled onto rooftops or up trees to await rescue.
“It wasn’t a water bomb, it was a tsunami,” Barbara Mayor Riccardo Pasqualini told Italian state radio, describing the sudden downpour Thursday evening that devastated his town in the Marche region near the Adriatic Sea.

At least 7 people dead after heavy rains trigger floods in Italy’s Marche region pic.twitter.com/65xoP1h223
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 16, 2022
“It was an extreme event, more than an exceptional one,” climatolog Massimiliano Fazzini told state TV. He said that based on his calculations the amount of rain that fell, concentrated over four hours and in particular in a 15-minute period, was the most in hundreds of years. (AP)
Watch: Florida souvenir simulates flash flood experience to spread awareness

This souvenir shop in Florida is highlighting the danger the climate crisis poses to the state 🌴😰 pic.twitter.com/9KcxkKreLF
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 15, 2022
As the world grapples over the climate crisis with scorching heat waves and unusually heavy rainfall, several campaigns are under way to raise awareness and curb the crisis. To create an experience on the dangers posed the crisis, a souvenir shop in Florida left its customers shocked creating a flash flood inside the store. A video showing people getting terrified over the sudden flash flood inside the store has surfaced online.
The clip shared Now This on Twitter shows customers checking out souvenirs related to the climate crisis. Meanwhile, water is seen gushing through the doors of the store, leaving them panicked and terrified.
The original video shared The CLEO Institute features a message displayed in the store after the flash flood. “If a few inches can have this effect on you, imagine what a few feet can do. Florida could stop being Florida if we don’t take action soon. Rising seas, extreme heat and chronic flooding are already affecting us,” reads the message.