 |
| Source: https://wildfiretoday.com/2021/09/18/two-fires-merge-in-sequoia-national-park-and-spread-into-a-giant-sequoia-grove/ |
The Sequoia National Park is put in danger after the Colony and Paradise Fires sparked by lightning are spreading rapidly. The fire increased on Saturday because of the wind speed rising and the smoke inversion lifting, allowing the sun to heat up the vegetation. With all this combined, it led the National Weather Serviced to claim that there were critical fire conditions in the Sequoia National Park where thousands of giant sequoias reside. The fire has spread to one grove of sequoias; however, officials are unable to determine the multitude of damage as the area is remote and hard to reach. This fire is especially concerning considering that the Castle fire that occurred last year killed an estimated 10%-14% of the sequoias in the world. As of right now, the fire has 0% containment and the fire has grown to about 21,777 acres.
Although these fires are persistent, sequoias have adapted to fires. When their cones are exposed to a gust of heat, they release seeds, allowing for seedlings to be distributed. Moreover, their bark is thick and even if 95% of their crown is scorched, they could still live. However, if fires are hot enough, the sequoias are exposed to a possibility of burning. Furthermore, with the drought stressing the trees, it is harder for them to battle the high-intensity fires caused by climate change and dry vegetation. For this reason, the trees have been wrapped in aluminum foil that is fire and heat resistant, giving some protection to the trees. This foil can also be used for buildings, allowing the prevention of airborne embers from fires from entering homes through vents and various openings.
Although homes can somewhat be protected by his foil, there was a forced evacuation and officials are bulldozing a line between the fire and the community. Firefighters thought about burning duff around the trees as the technique has been used for many years to stop wildfires from burning more wildlife. However, the Forest Service has had difficulties with limited resources and small-time windows to conduct the burns due to “rising temperatures, dwindling precipitation and long, more active fires seasons” (Wigglesworth).
 |
| Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/18/california-wildfires-giant-ancient-sequoias-fire-conditions |
With an increase in wildfires in California, it is important to understand what can be done to help prevent more. Philip Higuera, Elizabeth Dodson, Alexander Metcalf, and Solomon Dobrowski from the Washington Post have various solutions that they think should be implemented. They suggest that prescribed fires and cutting down trees are a great way to remove dead vegetation and prevent fires as it removes fuel of many fires. Additionally, they add that the cutting down of trees also benefits the economy as it creates jobs and provides materials. They also suggest the reconsideration of how we build and develop. For example, power lines that are damaged could cause fires which could kill a lot of wildlife. Furthermore, they emphasize that leaders must take action, and forest management near vulnerable communities should be more well funded. Tom Corringham, Rosana Aguilera, and Janin Guzman-Morales from The Hill wrote something similar, however, also articulated that for high-risk populations, masks and filtration systems should be given. Moreover, they also state that there should be a clear and defensible space surrounding homes to protect them and also diminish risks to firefighters. Both articles emphasized that Climate change was the most prominent problem that everyone should address, claiming that a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is key to prevent global warming.
With an increase in wildfires in California, it only puts more national parks and wildlife at threat. While climate change is a large issue to tackle, if everyone plays their part by reducing their carbon footprint and living more sustainably (even if it is in a small way), we could start to make tangible change. The fires surround the giant Sequoias is saddening and unfortunate as it provides not only aesthetics of a national park, but a habitat to lots of wildlife.
Questions:
What can the federal or state government do to better implement climate change solutions and policies?
How have the California fires affected you or someone you know? What were their suggestions on battling this crisis?
How can the California State government provide more aid for victims?
Climate Change and Politics in Congressional District in California: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/18/politics/drought-climate-change-california-21-congressional-district/index.html
US Views on Climate Change and Energy: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/11/25/u-s-public-views-on-climate-and-energy/
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/22/there-will-be-more-wildfires-what-should-we-do/
6 comments:
Firstly I do think that climate policies must be taken to possibly lessen and slowdown the increasing problem of forest fires. Though I doubt that there will be any solution that would completely end the problem of forest fires. Due to this I think adaptation policy would be more suited for this. This does seem to be the path the current California government is taking considering the many preventive measures it is taking according to your blog. Reading the CNN article you linked discussing the issues of a water infrastructure bill I do think this is a good policy that should be a good adaptation policy to help farmers in California. Though I think its benefit would be more for farmers rather than forest fires I think it would still help the situation.
I think the federal government needs to do more to address the root of the problem, which is the climate change that is contributing to longer and more destructive fire seasons. Large federal actions such as passing the Green New Deal are necessary to give us a chance of slowing climate change. However, because passing it through Congress is unlikely to happen (mostly because of the filibuster and conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin), it's up to state governments, especially those most affected by climate change, like California, to pass their own versions of the Green New Deals, or similar measures to reduce carbon emissions. California also needs to address the immediate problem of the fires by spending more money on forest management and building fire-resistant infrastructure -- you mentioned specifics in your blog post.
Ella, I completely agree. While Biden has promised to create a better climate change program in the United States while he was campaigning, he has yet to do so. Like you said, this is because Congress most likely is not going to pass the Green New Deal. If the federal government can't do what should be done, states must step in to help alleviate the situation. While each state may not implement something like the Green New Deal, having something implemented in some states may encourage and inspire others to do the same. In the meanwhile, those states will at least become slightly more sustainable by reducing carbon footprints, and h hopefully adding more sustainable infrastructure. Again, I completely agree that more money needs to be allocated to forest management, fire-resistant infrastructure, as well as aid for those in need and areas more prone to fires.
Wildfires have clearly been occurring all throughout earth's history, however there is a clear trend emerging with the changing of the climate which emphasizes concerns over the current and future magnitude of these fires. Taking a look at a list of the 20 largest fires in California's state history, the data confirms this trend nearly perfectly, as taking a look at the years of these largest fires you will find that they have almost all occurred since 2000 and up to today. Among these top 20 largest California state fires, 4 have occurred this year (2021) already, 5 occurred last year in 2020, 2 occurred in 2018, and 1 in 2017. That means that in the last five years, 12 of the 20 largest fires in the state's history have occurred. Earlier in August and in response to the Dixie fire, Biden signed off on a Presidential Disaster Declaration to provide various categorical grants to help bolster recovery of people who lost homes, businesses, and other properties. While this is a very helpful act, I believe that federal funding should be provide each year for the prevention of wildfires and wildfire response, and that there can be a priority shift to preventing fires versus only responding to their damage once they happen. Increased wildfire monitoring, safer construction of power lines, and investments in technology that could help put out wildfires and save large portions of forests that would otherwise serve as fuel for fires are necessary steps to take, especially with scientists and people having knowledge of the increased frequency and severity of fires due to climate conditions. This all of course however is specific to fires, and there needs to be further and broader action taken to prevent the debilitating effects of rising global temperatures. The current Paris Agreement various nations have entered is projected not to be sufficient to meet the overall goal of limiting global temperature rise to a 1.5 degree Celsius by the end of the century; more needs to be done. Acts such as the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act should be pursued in more states than just California, leading the transition from carbon emitting energy sources to clean and electric energy. The Green New Deal as well could be beneficial for the country and further shift the workplace to become more oriented towards clean energy industries.
Wildfires seem to have become a constant in our lives by now. Orange skies, smoke, poor air quality, all of these things have been faced by Californians for a few years now. Wildfires need to be taken care of because they affect people’s lives and also lots of people lose their lives every year to wildfires. The question of how to do this is the hard part. I like some of the solutions the experts have stated in your article. It is important to take certain measures like forest management, using the foil to cover trees and houses, and more. I also agree with Pascal that adaptation is very important. Climate change is here and it won’t go away soon so we must adapt before it's too late. Otherwise, there will be great consequences. The state government must continue to adapt, continuing the current trend. However, I do think we must also eliminate the root source of the problem which is of course our actions as humans. We must lower carbon emissions like you said and make tangible change toward the elimination of climate change and global warming. This is the only way to truly stop these wildfires from happening so consistently and ferociously. It is also important that California provide aid for victims whenever necessary. Providing foil is a step in the right direction. Helping those that are affected is a must. It is important that everyone gets treated if they are affected by these wildfires. In terms of providing more aid, I believe we can allocate more funds to this issue since it's a current issue that is causing lots of problems. Of course, COVID and pandemic may be more important at the moment but this issue is also very important. I would personally deal with this issue before homelessness. Treating the homeless is very important but it doesn’t take lives.
Like my other classmates have said, we need to focus on treating the root of the problem, climate change, as well as learn how to handle droughts and fires better as a community. The Green New Deal will hopefully help with this but that’s a process that’s end goal is in 2050. It seems like a good plan and I support its goal completely. I think we also need to focus on quicker changes. While we’re cutting back on our fossil fuel emissions, we also need better forest management. We need to be more proactive. Cutting down dead trees and helping clear some of the dead brush from the forest seems like a great start. I think we can also use technology to help us. Flying over forests with drones often might give us a better view on danger spots in forests and it might help us catch fires early on so that we can assess them and see if we need to step in. Dedicating more resources to our firefighting departments and making routine forest checks a norm could possibly help us fight these fires better as we do our best to reduce our own effects on the environment. Perhaps also encouraging and funding more environmental research will help. All of us need to work together to reduce our carbon footprint and adapt to the present and future. We need mitigation and adaptation.
Post a Comment