I was thinking about the wildfires burning millions of acres in the western USA right now as I noticed a sign while walking a road in the town of Summerhaven, Arizona. Seventeen years ago this town burnt down due to a wildfire and 4 months ago the Bighorn wildfire once again threatened the town. Everyone in the town was evacuated for weeks and forest trails will remain closed till November.
Almost 120,000 acres burned here and now millions of acres are burning in Washington, Oregon and California. Why is our country burning? A whole host of things contribute to the issue. With increased greenhouse gas emissions, there are warmer temperatures drying organic material. Droughts add to the increase of dry vegetation thus fuel for fires. Strong winds and lighting strikes add to the increased size of wildfires.
Controlled burns help and so do homeowner assist programs such as being stated here on this sign:
More people are building in wilderness areas, power lines are above ground and people are not safely putting out campfires and/or participating in creating defensible space. Wind and lightning will continue, but we do need to reduce the fuel a fire survives on. We also should be concerned about the drought affecting so many areas in the west and southwest. All wildfires leave us with devastation of communities along with air and water pollution. The economics and social implications are huge as people try to return, rebuild, and survive never knowing if they will be met with support and success.
As we look to the future, we need to research and support programs addressing greenhouse issues with alternative methods. A closer look should be taken of our own backyard and local neighborhood to ascertain if we could have a wildfire, flooding or other natural disaster concern and what we can do now to prevent it. There is scientific information available so we can be pro-active in understanding and preparing for whatever concern we may have.
While today I am talking about our country burning, we should also think about why coastline areas are flooding. When will we think and do something so we have less loss of life and property? Should we build in the wilderness, on a flood plain, or along a coastline? What can we do now to help ourselves and plan for future building zones or whatever else is needed? Much of our country is burning and we all should be concerned!