California Wildfires

[VulcanNervPinch]

I wanted to keep the other thread for sympathy for lifelessheap. That's a terrible thing to have to experience.


However, there were also some questions in the thread about 'why is California having such bad wildfire problems?'. They are bad, they are worsening, and there are clear reasons. It's not random bad luck.


http://time.com/4985252/california-wildfires-fires-climate-change/

Climate change has helped make California’s wildfires more intense

Southern California has warmed by three degrees over the last century, and the whole state is becoming warmer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency warned that the state’s higher temperatures, reduced snowpack and scarcer supply of water make for a more flammable environment, likely to increase the “severity, frequency and extent” of wildfires.

This one is pretty obvious

The fires also tend to be deadlier thanks to urban expansion into high-risk fire zones

California’s population increasingly lives in proximity to high-risk fire corridors, with residential neighborhoods spilling into previously rural or remote territory. As a result, wildfires that can devastate settled areas have become more frequent

Essentially, land/homes in California is so expensive and in demand, construction is spilling more and more into areas where people really shouldn't be going.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/climate/why-california-fires.html

 

[Kaybee]

Unchecked suburban sprawl spreading to terrain that wasn't meant to be built upon leads to bad things?

 

[Pliny Pete]

Climate change is fucking us
This shit shouldnt be happening in November

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Is California going to have a wildfire every other month from now on?

 

[Protectandserve]

Its suburban sprawl, failure to maintain defensible space around residences and communities and improper open space/forest management.

Many of these are started by failing utility lines, so you have that too. Shit infrastructure management.

Public utilities need to be maintaining their lines and keeping the areas around them as clear as possible to prevent them from sparking fires.

Bark beetles are absolutely ravaging forest and trees are down and basically kindling for any fire that starts. That needs to be cleared and forests re planted with bio diverse trees that provide some fire resistance.

 

[Graves The Elder]

most of these fires are started through negligence or downright arson.
the big one up north earlier in the year may or may not have been started by a power
transformer exploding.

the fact that everything is dry is certainly due to climate change.
but we had a similar condition back in the late 70's. there was virtually no snow
in the Sierra for like three years. that's when all the ski resorts went bankrupt and
were sold off.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Suburban sprawl has always been a fact of life in California. So I’m not buying that shit. PG&E’s negligence has played a part. And of course, an increase in the average global temperature would be the most obvious culprit.

PG&E has always been willing to forego public safety if it means more profit. But now their shit has degraded to a point where it causes state wide emergencies. But nothing will be done. Because I’m sure they lobby the fuck out of everyone.

 

[Philo-Publius]

I wanted to keep the other thread for sympathy for lifelessheap. That's a terrible thing to have to experience.


However, there were also some questions in the thread about 'why is California having such bad wildfire problems?'. They are bad, they are worsening, and there are clear reasons. It's not random bad luck.


http://time.com/4985252/california-wildfires-fires-climate-change/


This one is pretty obvious


Essentially, land/homes in California is so expensive and in demand, construction is spilling more and more into areas where people really shouldn't be going.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/climate/why-california-fires.html

Why is this in the Mayberry? 3 degrees difference over the course of a century doesn't start forest fires, moronic gender reveal parties do. Forest fires have raged in California for as long as I can remember, and the cause was always either stupidity or arson.

 

[Philo-Publius]

EDIT. I just realized this is an old ass thread.

 

[AnGrYcRoW]

EDIT. I just realized this is an old ass thread.

 

[blaseblah]

It is much hotter now than when I was a teenager

 

[TeTe]

Fires have decreased globally by 25 Percent since 2003

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...ined-25-since-2003-thanks-to-economic-growth/

They've increased in intensity recently here because California sucks at controlling them.

 

[VulcanNervPinch]

Fires have decreased globally by 25 Percent since 2003

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...ined-25-since-2003-thanks-to-economic-growth/

They've increased in intensity recently here because California sucks at controlling them.

The article is primarily about Africa & the Amazon.
You're comparing fires in Africa & the Amazon to fires in California.
And the headline/link clearly indicates economic change is the primary driver. California has been economically developed for quite some time, while development in Africa is rapid and new.

“When land use intensifies on savannas, fire is used less and less as a tool,” said Niels Andela of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “As soon as people invest in houses, crops, and livestock, they don’t want these fires close by anymore. The way of doing agriculture changes, the practices change, and fire disappears from the grassland landscape.”