Throughout 2020, we have witnessed several natural disasters including the devastating wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington. Recently, hundreds of thousands of California residents had their power shut off because of impending high winds. The company, Pacific Gas and Electric, decided to shut off their power lines to prevent sparks with the wind and therefore prevent more fires from starting.
Every year, California is hit with wildfires, but some of the more recent fires have been more devastating, including the ones this year. Why is it that California has fires every year, but they continually do not have enough labor and resources to contain them? Part of it may be the state budget for firefighting is too low, especially when there are unforeseen circumstances that cause the fire.
For example, the worst wildfire in California’s history was in 2018 and was caused by the power company PG&E’s equipment. The fire ran rampant and destroyed over 15,000 homes. Because of the large scale of the fire, the state clearly did not have the resources it needed to contain it.
Another factor that contributes to worsening fires is climate change. According to Scientific American, the effects of climate change make fires easier to occur and spread faster.
“Hotter temperatures, less dependable precipitation and snowpack that melts sooner lead to drier soil and parched vegetation,” climate scientist Daniel Swain said for Scientific American.
Based off this information, fires that spread faster are going to require more resources to contain them. With the amount of damage fires have caused California, it is clear that the state does not have enough resources to keep up with the demand that climate change is creating.
In order to prevent future wildfires, a more proactive change needs to keep up with the high risks associated with climate change. It is clear with many natural disasters in recent years that climate change is accelerating and becoming more part of our present rather than our future. In order to protect ourselves and our planet, we must begin planning proactively to meet the demands of climate change and prevent its negative effects.
