The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Smoke fills the sky ahead of upper school Spanish teacher and Green Team adviser Diana Moss’s car as she is about to drive past the Dixie Fire. The fire has burnt over 963,309 acres.

‘It burns and it burns and it burns’: California wildfires raze 2.4 million acres in midst of climate emergency, community members recover and reflect

by Sabrina Zhu and Arely Sun October 10, 2021

“It was like driving into hell.” A pitch black sky surrounded upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss as she neared the Dixie fire, while she passed through the small city of Red Bluff in ​​Tehama...

Sophomores traveled to the Blackford campus on Thursday for their in-person orientation. The day consisted of various bonding activities in advisory groups.

Sophomores meet in-person for first time during orientation, junior class trip cancelled due to nearby fires

by Sally Zhu and Isha Moorjani August 22, 2021

The Class of 2024 traveled to the Blackford campus on Thursday for their orientation, marking the first in-person gathering of the entire sophomore class. While both the sophomore and junior events were...

The Bay Area Sky turned shades of orange and yellow in September of 2020 due to the fires ravaging the state.

Global Reset: California struck by record wildfire season

by Mark Hu and Arya Maheshwari October 3, 2020

Fires have swept across California with over 3.7 million acres in land burned, as of October 3. The state has been dealing with the lasting effects of a harsh heatwave that prompted the California Independent...

Smoke fills the sky near the property of middle school math teacher Margaret Huntleys sister on the outskirts of the capital city of Canberra. Bushfire smoke consists of water vapor, various-sized particles and toxic gases like nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide.

Global Reset: Australia battles blazing bushfires in war against climate change

by Emily Tan and Brian Chen February 4, 2020

26.9 million acres burned. More than 3,000 homes destroyed. 33 deaths, including nine firefighters, as of Jan. 31, according to the Crisis Coordination Center of the Australian government. And over one...

An expanding animal agriculture industry leads to deforestation to open up new lands, but by cutting down on customer demand by either eliminating or minimizing personal beef consumption, the impact is twofold: forested lands are protected, combating the effects of CO2 emissions, and methane produced by cattle farming decreases.

Cattle and carbon: Why I chose to stop eating beef

by Nicole Tian, Co-Lifestyle Editor January 21, 2020

At the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit held on Sept. 23 in New York City, one speaker’s words were particularly convicting. In a YouTube video from Guardian News, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta...

A forecasted map of approximate regions, highlighted in orange, that may be affected by tomorrows public safety power shutoff. The shutoff was prompted by warnings of a high-speed wind event that increases risk of damage to power lines and fire hazards.

Lights out, flames rise: As Sonoma County continues to burn, “historic” high-speed, dry wind event prompts PG&E to expand power shutoffs to reduce additional fire risk

by Kathy Fang, Arya Maheshwari, and Nicole Tian October 28, 2019

As the Kincade fire in Sonoma County continues to burn and “extreme” weather conditions bring heightened fire risks to northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced plans...

Spare the Air forecast for tomorrows air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area

Fire season in full force as Sonoma fire rages on, wind event pushes smoke into Bay Area and worsens air quality

by Kathy Fang and Nicole Tian October 27, 2019

This is a developing story. Check Harker Aquila for additional coverage on wildfires and outages. As the Kincade fire in Sonoma County rages on, dry, gusty winds continue to push smoke from the wildfires...

A map of regions that will potentially be affected by the public safety power shutoff.

PG&E to shut off power in 17 Northern California counties in second public safety power shutoff of the month

by Kathy Fang, Editor-in-Chief October 23, 2019

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) officials announced today that the utility will be moving forward with this month's second round of public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) today, turning off power...

A map of the Bay Area during the public safety power shutoff, which first hit the Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties Wednesday night, according to data released on Thursday by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Update: Bay Area electricity scheduled to return after second phase of PG&E outage shuts off power to some upper school students, faculty

by Kathy Fang, Editor-in-Chief October 11, 2019

This is a developing story. Check Harker Aquila for future updates. After the conclusion of a hazardous wind event, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) issued an “all clear” yesterday evening...

The sun shines a bright orange-red color due to the smoke. The Camp Fire in Butte County started in November, causing air quality issues through northern California.

How to support the Northern California Camp Fire victims from campus

by Ryan Guan, Executive News Editor December 5, 2018

After the state's deadliest wildfire ravaged several Northern California counties last month and recovery efforts continue, several groups on campus will host fundraisers in order to assist victims. The...

Billows of smoke rise from a forested mountainside over the city of Ukiah in Mendocino County. The Mendocino Complex Fire, which spanned across four northern California counties, was the largest recorded complex fire in Californias history.

Wildfires devastate Mendocino County

by Eric Fang and Mark Hu October 17, 2018

The largest wildfire in California’s history, the Mendocino Complex Fire, began last July and has officially been 100 percent contained as of Sept. 18, nearly two months after its inception. The complex,...

Load More Stories