Who's to Blame for the Californian Fires

Unfortunately, the wildfires have become a norm for California residents which do not only affect the forests of the state but also the quality of living. I became more aware of the fires when my brother recently moved to California. As I listened to him recount his day of finding ways to avoid going outside into the smog and the several precautions he had to take to simply go out on a grocery run, I realized how it wasn’t only an environmental issue, but a societal one as well. As I did research on the Californian fires, I found an article about why we should stop blaming Climate Change for them. This captivated my interest as climate change has become a non-debatable issue in the world of science. I wrote this article to understand both sides of the argument and was pleased to find experts debating each side. In the end, I was able to have a well-rounded perception of the topic, and I hope you as the reader do too.

The year of 2020 has brought a lot of environmental and societal damage, including the recent California Wildfires. The state of California has experienced the effect of wildfires for several years, so the occurrence of this year’s wildfire is not surprising. The first most destructive wildfire to have affected California was in September 1923 according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (Ca.Gov, 2020) It occurred in Alameda, California in Berkeley where it burned 130 acres of forest with its cause being powerlines. The Story of the Berkeley Fire, a booklet written by Horace A. Johnson goes more in dept about the cause of the fire. He explains how the City Council had failed to provide protection and did not build enough firebreaks in the hills. A firebreak is a strip of land cleared of any vegetation to create a “fuel free” area when a fire presents itself. (Government of Western Australia, 2018) They are often used when creating controlled fires in a forest as well as to create a path for large equipment to come through. (A.Johnson, 1942) Johnson furthers to describe that the lack of water and the high wind velocity also aided in creating the wildfire. His booklet was written in the 1924, though there were several resources and pictures demonstrating the damage caused by the fire, climate change was not discussed.

In the recent California fires, climate change being the cause has been debated by several politicians and scientists. The wildfires began due to 11,000 dry lightning strikes in a short period of 72 hours. Up to now, 1.3 million acres of forests have been burned down by the wildfires, most in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. (Shellenberger, 2020) As California’s oldest state park, the park has some of the oldest coast redwoods and preserves 18,000 acres of forest. (Ca.Gov, 2020) Redwood trees can live to 3,000 years and usually die due to root rot or the weakening of their base due to their height and weight. However, the droughts in California have scientists worried as the redwood trees show many signs of dehydration and some die due to the lack of water. On the other hand, redwood trees depend a lot on fire as it aids in releasing their seeds from their cones into the soil as well as remove undergrowth and allows more sunlight for seedlings. (Szalay, 2017) Before the Europeans arrived in North America, redwood forests burned approximately every 6 to 25 years naturally. (Shellenberger, 2020) Through the past years, some parks have been trying to introduce more fire to stimulate the growth of the redwood trees. (Szalay, 2017)

Most of the population agree that climate change is currently a major issue which is causing severe environmental problems across the globe. Some believe that it is the reason for the raging Californian wildfires, and some do not. The global warming of the earth is tied in with climate change, this causes increasing temperatures as well as the drying out of vegetation, less runoffs in spring and less snowpack. (Leman, 2020) These conditions make it easier for wildfires to ignite and burn a large area of forest quickly, as there is more “fuel” to burn. Though redwood forests do burn themselves naturally, experts say that the intensity and frequency of these recent wildfires show that climate change has an impact on them. The frequency of wildfires has significantly increased as climate change alters the snow and rain fall, therefore the forests and soil are not getting the same amount of moisture and humidity anymore allowing them to dry out fast. (Overpeck, 2018) The image below compares how many wildfires would have occurred with and without climate change in the past years. Both plots increase with time, however with climate change a dramatic increase happens. 

 

A New York Times article written by Kendra Pierre-Louis in 2018 explains that since 1932, five of the ten largest wildfires have occurred after 2010, which correlate with the years where climate change has been most prominent. She further explains that in the past years, the temperature of the earth has increased by one to two degrees Celsius, creating the perfect recipe igniting a wildfire. (Pierre-Louis, 2018) Scientists such as Dr. Megan Kirchmeier-Young (a climate extremes researcher at the Government of Canada) have found that climate change does not only make the fires more severe, but also make the fire seasons longer in some regions. She believes that climate change has a direct relationship with longer fire seasons due to the warming temperatures. (Dunne, 2020)

On the contrary, many believe that climate change is not the main cause of the recent Californian fires, and that politicians are using climate change as an excuse for any environmental issue. An article released by Forbes called Stop Blaming Climate Change for California's Fires by Michael Shellenberger explains the many reasons he believes climate change is an excuse. In his article, Jon Keeley, a leading forest scientist explains that in 2019 had a small number of acres burned due to wildfires compared to past years. He believes that massive fires such as this year’s are not an unusual event but also not a regular one. The redwood forests have burned several times in the past when climate change was not a hot topic, such as in 2003 where 13,774 acres were burned. Many are convinced that it is part of the redwood forest cycle to have intense wildfires the redwood tress grows back after the fire event. (Shellenberger, 2020) If climate change is not the cause of the wildfires, then what is? A lot of scientists believe that policies and the growing population are the greater justification for the ignition of wildfires. The national geographic writes that although considered a natural disaster, 85 to 90 percent of wildfires are a result of human causes such as campfires and discarded cigarettes. (Wolters, 2019) The population of California has increased immensely in the past century, an estimate says that at least 25% of California’s residents live in a fire prone area. This results in a major increase for the probability for a fire to ignite, as this can occur with the spark from a car. With the growing population, more communities are being built and therefore power lines are installed. Downed power lines in wind events are a common cause for wildfires in California, and the increase in them correlates to the increase of wildfires. Many believe that there are not enough policies which are preventing the start of a wildfire. (W.Schoen & McDonald, 2019) For example, Pacific Gas & Electric’s infrastructures such as powerlines have sparked several large fires in California. With regulations on the maintenance and placement of powerlines, a lot of wildfires could be prevented. (Leman, 2020)

Through my research about the Californian Wildfires, most articles discuss climate change as being the main cause. Specifically, in the most recent 2020 fire as it was caused by lighting and not a human. The wildfires are a complicated issue and it can be concluded that there is not only one reason for them, the most prominent causes seem to be population, the climate, and the redwood forest ecosystem’s cycle. 

 

 

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