The months of July through October were particularly challenging for residents of Los Angeles. In addition to a worsening pandemic, wildfires began to take form as the dog days of summer wore on. Wildfires have been an annual event in California and seem to be getting worse year by year. The wildfires in southern California affected my family and friends earlier than expected this year. We were all expecting the usual plot of events to occur.
The fires flare up, are a bit of a nuisance for a month or so and then everything goes back to normal as the
firefighters take control. However, this year was different. The fires seemed to be more severe than in
previous years. Furthermore, there seemed to be more fires this year than in previous years. To add insult to injury,
2018 was California’s worst year in terms of acres burned which was 1.8 million. It is estimated that
over 4 million acres have burned this year due to wildfires in northern and southern California. Many
scientists and environmentalists believe that the increase in severity of wildfires is attributed to climate
change. The data speaks for itself. This past August was the warmest August ever recorded in California.
The annual average temperature for California between the years of 1900 to the early 1980s was about
49 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the annual average temperature in California has increased to about
51 degrees Fahrenheit following the 1980s until today. This increase in temperature is due to
human-induced global change.
My family was, fortunately, able to remain at our house and not have to evacuate. However, many of my
friends and a few of my family members that live in neighborhoods closer to the Angeles national forest,
the site of the Bobcat fire, were forced to evacuate their homes for a short period of time. Fortunately,
there wasn’t any damage or injury to any of my friend’s or family’s property. However, the evacuations
did cause some issues because of the pandemic. My aunt and uncle had to stay at my house for a few
nights until it was safe for them to return back to their home. A few of my friends had to stay at hotels
and with family members until it was safe for them to return home. Although nothing bad happened
to anyone I know, the increase in the severity of these fires worries us about the future. What will
these wildfires be like, in five years, if we don’t take action and they continue to get worse at the same rate?
References:
NBC Southern California. “Map: Where More Than Two Dozen Major Wildfires Are Burning in California.” NBC Los Angeles, NBC Southern California, 29 Sept. 2020, www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/map-california-wildfires-september-update-glass-bobcat-zogg-creek/2435658/.
Borunda, Alejandra. “The Science Connecting Wildfires to Climate Change.” The Science of How Climate Change Impacts Fires in the West, 18 Sept. 2020, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/09/climate-change-increases-risk-fires-western-us/.
Mulkern, Anne C. “Fast-Moving California Wildfires Boosted by Climate Change.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 24 Aug. 2020, www.scientificamerican.com/article/fast-moving-california-wildfires-boosted-by-climate-change/.
Photos: Myself and friends Brendan and Tanner
Assuming you expect the fires to continue to worsen, do you expect the fires to be even worse next year than this year? Or do you think the fires this year were especially bad, even while accounting for the larger trend of worsening fires due to climate change?
ReplyDelete