The August issue of the Socialist Standard carried an article titled 'Flaming Forests' Therefore we are not too surprised by the severity of the present conflagration taking place in California. It is the deadliest blaze recorded in the state’s history with at least 38 dead and hundreds of people unaccounted for. 100,000 people have been forced from their homes.
10,000 firefighters supported by tanker aircraft and helicopters are battling 16 major wildfires that have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) over seven days, or roughly 334 square miles (865 sq km). Firefighters from states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada have joined crews from California to battle the blazes. Prison inmates were pressed into helping firefighters, digging fire-break lines to help contain fires or preparing meals at command centers. From the air, some 70 helicopters and large aircraft including a 747, two DC-10s and about a dozen air tankers doused flames across the sprawling affected area with fire retardant. The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 buildings, reducing them to ash.
“This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined,” California Governor Jerry Brown said.
Sadly, the scenario was easily imaginable and likely to be repeated. It’s just the latest unfolding tragedy in what has already been an epic fire season across the United States, burning through more than 8.5 million of acres of land and sending choking smoke throughout much of the West.Although seasonal wildfires are a natural occurrence in California, human actions are making them worse and increasing the damage from them. The California infernos stretch the definition of “natural disaster” since human activities have exacerbated their likelihood, their extent, and their damage. Deliberate decisions and unintended consequences of urban development over decades have turned many parts of the state into a tinderbox. Much of California is naturally hot, dry, and prone to fires for parts of the year. But the state’s population is growing, leading to a significant overlap between the areas of high fire risk and areas with a growing population density. A study projected that by 2050, 645,000 houses in California will be built in ‘very high’ wildfire severity zones.
10,000 firefighters supported by tanker aircraft and helicopters are battling 16 major wildfires that have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) over seven days, or roughly 334 square miles (865 sq km). Firefighters from states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada have joined crews from California to battle the blazes. Prison inmates were pressed into helping firefighters, digging fire-break lines to help contain fires or preparing meals at command centers. From the air, some 70 helicopters and large aircraft including a 747, two DC-10s and about a dozen air tankers doused flames across the sprawling affected area with fire retardant. The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 buildings, reducing them to ash.
“This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined,” California Governor Jerry Brown said.
Sadly, the scenario was easily imaginable and likely to be repeated. It’s just the latest unfolding tragedy in what has already been an epic fire season across the United States, burning through more than 8.5 million of acres of land and sending choking smoke throughout much of the West.Although seasonal wildfires are a natural occurrence in California, human actions are making them worse and increasing the damage from them. The California infernos stretch the definition of “natural disaster” since human activities have exacerbated their likelihood, their extent, and their damage. Deliberate decisions and unintended consequences of urban development over decades have turned many parts of the state into a tinderbox. Much of California is naturally hot, dry, and prone to fires for parts of the year. But the state’s population is growing, leading to a significant overlap between the areas of high fire risk and areas with a growing population density. A study projected that by 2050, 645,000 houses in California will be built in ‘very high’ wildfire severity zones.
A study published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, or PNAS, found that 84 percent of wildfires are ignited by humans, whether through downed power lines, careless campfires, or arson.
“Human-started wildfires accounted for 84% of all wildfires, tripled the length of the fire season, dominated an area seven times greater than that affected by lightning fires, and were responsible for nearly half of all area burned,” the paper reported. Transmission lines appear to be the culprit behind the wine country fires. The utility serving the region, Pacific Gas and Electric, has previously been billed for firefighting costs for fires stemming from its transmission lines.
Long-term trends linked to global warming also exacerbated this year’s fire season, not just in California but in other states too. California saw intense rainfall last year and then a cool, wet winter. The increased precipitation led to more growth in combustible grasses, shrubs, and trees. What followed during the summer was a period of intense, dry heat throughout the state, including the highest temperatures ever recorded in the Bay Area. It was the warmest April through September on record.
John Abatzoglou, a climatologist at the University of Idaho who studies wildfires noted that climate change due to human activity accounted for roughly 55 percent of the aridity in Western US forests between 1979 and 2015. This led to a doubling of the area torched by forest fires than would have occurred in the absence of human-caused factors. The California fires align with what researchers expect to see as average temperatures rise.
Rebecca Lindsey at Climate.gov noted, "Thanks to the interplay between human-caused global warming, the legacy of historic fire suppression policies, and natural variability in drought cycles, California and the rest of the U.S. Southwest are likely to face this kind of devastating fire season even more often in the second half of this century."
So not only is it imaginable, it's predictable, Jerry.
No comments:
Post a Comment