Climate

May is Wildfire Preparedness Month, and in recent years, Oregon has seen a significant increase in the size of wildfires.

Why it matters: In part due to climate change, wildfire season across the West Coast has become longer, hotter and drier, resulting in devastating damage to public land and private property.

Battery-only electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for 18% of monthly new vehicle registrations across Portland's three counties in February, up from just over 9% a year before.

• Plug-in hybrids kept, well, plugging along, hovering around 3% of new vehicle registrations over the past year.

Forecasters are predicting Portland will see more warm weather this week after several days of record-breaking heat.

Why it matters: The early heat wave that began Friday has seen temperature records broken from Washington and Oregon to Alberta. Canadian firefighters have been tackling dozens of wildfires for days, from British Columbia up to northern Canada.

The Pacific Northwest's temperate climate usually means allergy season arrives here earlier than the rest of the country. Not this year. Due to ample rain and late-season freezing temperatures, things are kicking into high gear right about now.

Why it matters: Allergy season in Portland increased by 26 days on average between 1970 and 2021, per an analysis from Climate Central, a nonprofit climate news organization, Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng report.

Air quality in the Portland metro area, as measured by fine particle pollution, has gotten worse overall since 2012 but still falls within current safe ranges, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.

Why it matters: Fine particles, generated from fossil fuel burning and other sources, can enter our bodies when we breathe, making their way to the lungs or bloodstream and causing myriad health problems.