California Wildfire 2020 – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

• On Wednesday, a wildfire in Plumas National Forest northeast of San Francisco spread 40 km in a day and devoured an estimated 1,036 sq. km.
• In between those events, a massive fire in Monterey County doubled in size overnight, trapping 14 firefighters who had to deploy their emergency shelters.
• Last weekend, a fire burning in California’s Sierra National Forest exploded in size, trapping hundreds of Labor Day holiday campers who could only be rescued by helicopters. Fire officials said they’d never seen a fire move so fast in forestland — 24 km in a day.
• Wildfires have burned more than 2m acres (809,000 hectares) in California this year, setting a state record even as crews battled dozens of growing blazes in sweltering temperatures Monday that strained the electrical grid and threatened power outages for millions.
• The previous high was 1.96m acres (793,184 hectares) burned in 2018.

WHY DO THEY OCCUR?

• According to a report published in Popular Mechanics, there are quite a few reasons for which huge fires occur in California. There is no denying that some of the fires are caused naturally, but one still can’t deny the fact that most of them are man-made.
• Caused by Pacific Gas and Electric’s poorly maintained infrastructure, discarded cigarette butts, fireworks among other things. Such fires are primarily an act of human negligence.

CURRENT FIRE…

• However, the latest fire is a natural one as it was caused by lightning. The main causes of such natural fires are: 1. Climate Change 2. Winds

CAUSE FOR CONCERN…

• When it comes to California wildfires, it now takes days, not decades, to produce what had been seen as a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
• Between January 1 to September 9, the U.S has seen over 41,000 wildfires, compared to 35,000 in the same period in 2019.
• Southern California saw a heatwave where temperatures reached peaks of 54.4C in August – the highest temperature ever recorded on the planet.

• Particulate matter (PM2.5) levels have reached as high as 453μg/m3. The WHO recommended safe limit for PM2.5 is 10μg/m3.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE THEM?

• It is true that one can barely do anything about the strong winds. However, a lot can be done about the climate change bit. This modification begins from living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, ensuring that natural resources are not being overly exploited. Most importantly, ensuring that minimum damage is being done to nature.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE THEM?

• As far as man-made fires are concerned, it needs to be ensured that fireworks are only done in a safe space so that no harm is caused. While disposing off a cigarette, it needs to be ensured the way in which it is being done. It all times needs to be disposed off in a way that it does not even remotely come in contact with any flammable substance, whatsoever.

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