While watching the news this evening, as I do on occasion, I came across a story pertaining to the wildfires in California. And as the current events fanatic that I am, I naturally had to look it up. And, lo and behold, I found this article. If any of you want to read said article for yourselves, or just look at the charts, here's the link. If not, I probably won't be overly offended.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/wildfires-expected-double-2050-west-warms-8C11122981?ocid=msnhp&pos=1
For those of you who don't want to click on the link, I'll sum this article up; essentially, due to a combination of climate change and manmade pollution, researchers have hypothesized that the severity of wildfires in the western US will double within the next four decades. This article is notable for a number of reasons; first off, researchers from Harvard and Yale, and their findings, are used in this article, which is always a good sign when it comes to credibility. The subject itself isn't just interesting, it could have a major role in determining the way the other half lives (the half west of the Rockies, that is). Part of the matter is that wildfires pose a serious threat to anybody living out west, and cities like Fresno and Reno are already in their path. Should such fires double in severity in the next few decades, essentially the entire west coast would be at risk. I find this an interesting prospect, because my family has a history of bad blood with California...but enough of my personal grievances with the west. What's important is that this could put millions of people at risk, a number which probably includes the families of some of the individuals reading this. This article is also notable in that it discusses the negative effects of smoke, which isn't really something people here in the east, or at least I, had ever really considered. But the idea that pollution would increase smoke production, which could in the long term lead to a significant increase in respiratory illness and pollution from the smoke itself throughout the western US, is supported by the aforementioned professors and, if true, could have a serious impact on major cities such as San Francisco and Portland. This is real, this is happening, and if you've been contemplating a move to San Fran in the distant (or not-too-distant, perhaps) future, you may wish to reconsider. Food for thought.
Very cool. Good writing too.
ReplyDeleteHey Brian, I found your post really interesting and it got me thinking. Are there ways to prevent wildfires? Or is it just natural dry temperature which causes spontaneous combustion? I think its very strange how these wildfires happen too, and hopefully my family doesn't want to move west some point in time.
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Well Chris, there's no real ways to prevent wildfires altogether. You know the old line, "Only you can prevent forest fires"? That's theoretically one of the only ways, but that would only really work in a perfect world where everybody does their part. Plenty of wildfires are started by careless people (although a more profane term comes to mind), flicking matches or cigarette butts into the woods or leaving campfires to go out of control, and more are natural and the result of lightning strikes in particularly dry areas. Part of the problem is that climate change is changing precipitation patterns, which makes the forests drier, which is making fires larger and more frequent. It's quite scary and intriguing at the same time.
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