By Mae Tigay
The California wildfires have been a recurring problem for many years, gradually worsening, becoming more frequent and severe than before. Since the start of 2020, there have been about 8,100 wildfires in California, burning over four million acres and resulting in dozens of deaths in this season alone. Donald Trump claims that the cause of these fires is a “lack of forest management” and they simply need to “clean [their] forests,” though the majority are in national parks, under his protection, making it his duty to ensure their management. Regardless, the fires are largely fueled by climate change with the high temperatures and winds in California helping them grow. The largest wildfire in history, the August Complex, is burning right now and has already destroyed over a million acres of land in northern California. These fires have a large impact not only on the communities surrounding them but also on the environment as a whole.
The majority of wildfires are sparked by human incidents, like the gender-reveal party at the start of the month, starting out small and growing to burn thousands of acres; but, the conditions of climate change help the forest fires grow and spread more easily. According to the New York Times, our accountability as humans, “Includes the warming that has been caused by greenhouse gas emissions and the accompanying increased drying. Both contribute ‘to creating a situation favorable to wildfire.’” Essentially, global warming has been making the forests more prone to catch fire because of the hot and dry environment. Lightning in the storms caused by climate change has also been contributing to growing numbers of wildfires. The outbreak of west coast thunderstorms in August was a main cause of this fire season – the largest one in yet.
Wildfires also have a huge impact on the people and environment surrounding them as well. The fires not only force people to move and destroy their homes but they also put public health at risk. Wildfires pollute the air with emissions harmful to human health: “Smoke exposure increases respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations… It has also been associated with hundreds of thousands of deaths annually… Climate change is projected to increase wildfire risks and associated emissions, with harmful impacts on health” (CDC). Lastly, while the California ecosystem is reliant on natural fires, the growing intensity and frequency of these fires make them very destructive. They affect the land and ability for the ecosystem to recover in addition to drastically increasing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air, impacting the health of people and the planet.
Global warming is increasing the vulnerability of forests and the frequency of wildfires, its impact on the world rapidly getting larger. It is crucial for people to understand the ways in which climate change is affecting the world in real-time. Its impact on the forests and habitats of millions of species around the world has a domino effect on the ecosystem and population of the world and we’re running out of time to fix it.
Sources:
https://www.fire.ca.gov/daily-wildfire-report/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-13/climate-change-wildfires-california-west-coast
https://usclimateandhealthalliance.org/wildfires-public-health-view-front-lines/
https://www.nytimes.com/article/why-does-california-have-wildfires.html
https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/wildfires.htm
Photo Source: (AP Photo/Noah Berger)