Devastating 2018 California Wildfires
Killing at least 85 people, these extreme wildfires located in California have finally been controlled and handled, authorities say. It took 17 dreadful days for the state's forestry and fire protection agency to beat back those harsh flames. More than 6,400 firefighters battled these blazes that burnt down more than 153,000 acres of land.
The overall trend in California is frightening too. In only the past three years, six of California’s 10 most destructive wildfires on record have hit. The 2017 Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, which burned well into January this year, owned the record for the largest wildfire in state history for just eight months before the Mendocino Complex Fire developed in August.
It’s relevant to keep in mind that wildfires can have their beneficial advantages. They’re significant for restoring nutrients to the soil, removing decay, and supporting plants like the lodgepole pine reproduce.
But fires in 2018 are 30 percent greater than the average over the prior decade, causing this year greatly worse than most in recent history. And the developing large, devastating, and violent blazes we’re witnessing now are merely a force of nature at this point. Human activity has worsened the risks, the costs, and the harms from fires. The future holds more harmful conflagrations for vast swaths of the United States.
The Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, or PNAS, found that 84 percent of wildfires are ignited by humans, whether through downed power lines, campfires, or arson.
“Human-started wildfires ... tripled the length of the fire season, dominated an area seven times greater than that affected by lightning fires, and were responsible for nearly half of all area burned,” the paper reported.
Firefighters are bracing for more mild weather and winds in southern California that will increase choking smoke as they proceed their battle with these severe fires.
The overall trend in California is frightening too. In only the past three years, six of California’s 10 most destructive wildfires on record have hit. The 2017 Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, which burned well into January this year, owned the record for the largest wildfire in state history for just eight months before the Mendocino Complex Fire developed in August.
It’s relevant to keep in mind that wildfires can have their beneficial advantages. They’re significant for restoring nutrients to the soil, removing decay, and supporting plants like the lodgepole pine reproduce.
But fires in 2018 are 30 percent greater than the average over the prior decade, causing this year greatly worse than most in recent history. And the developing large, devastating, and violent blazes we’re witnessing now are merely a force of nature at this point. Human activity has worsened the risks, the costs, and the harms from fires. The future holds more harmful conflagrations for vast swaths of the United States.
The Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, or PNAS, found that 84 percent of wildfires are ignited by humans, whether through downed power lines, campfires, or arson.
“Human-started wildfires ... tripled the length of the fire season, dominated an area seven times greater than that affected by lightning fires, and were responsible for nearly half of all area burned,” the paper reported.
Firefighters are bracing for more mild weather and winds in southern California that will increase choking smoke as they proceed their battle with these severe fires.
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