California burning
Firefighters are battling blazes across the entire state of California right now. The toll, which is ongoing, is already grim. The Carr Fire, in Shasta County, has consumed nearly 100,000 acres and killed six people. In Mendocino and Lake counties, scarce fire crews mean that the two wildfires burning there may not be contained as rapidly as they could be. Southern California is burning, too — there are major blazes in counties including Riverside and San Bernardino.
All told, 17 major fires are currently blazing, thousands of people have had to evacuate their homes, and more than 700 dwellings have burned to the ground.
What’s especially alarming about this year’s fire season is how difficult it’s been for fire crews to contain the blazes. The Carr Fire, for example, grew from relatively manageable flames into a war zone overnight.
That’s due in part to the effects of climate change. So California must remain committed to its environmental efforts. The state’s leaders must also recognize that the future of life in this state will look different from its past — and even its present.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, the northern part of the world is warming faster than the planet as a whole. Rising average temperatures are drying out California’s forests; the state has a whopping 129 million dead trees. Rising temperatures also dry out topsoil — the area around the Carr Fire, for example, had very dry topsoil following a dry winter and hotter-thanaverage summer.
The result of these conditions is becoming heartbreakingly obvious. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for the state’s leaders to find long-term solutions.
An affordability crisis and urban sprawl have pushed more Californians to buy homes in vulnerable areas. That may prove untenable in the years to come.
While the state has made great strides in meeting our 2020 climate change goals, it remains to be seen whether residents will embrace the stricter changes necessary — like an increased gas tax — to meet our goals for 2030.
Wildfires have huge social costs, because they lead to the tragic loss of life and community. They also have huge economic costs, and the state’s firefighting bill has increased dramatically over the past decade. For the good of the state’s future, state leaders must help residents find a way to turn down the temperature.