California wildfires
Wildfires are a common occurrence in the state of California each fire season, which reaches its highest point during mid to late part of the summer during the late dry season in the state. Wildfires begin in rural areas, often where forests and grasslands are located, but can spread to suburban or urban areas if not contained, causing property damage or even loss of life.
History
Causes
In recent decades, and particularly since the 1990s, California wildfires have become an increased problem in the state, and have been blamed variously on global warming and on illogical environmental policies. "Drought, disease, and insects have left 100 million dead trees browning across California, and in some places, 90 percent of the trees have died. All this dry wood can stoke small blazes into uncontrollable infernos that ravage towns and choke the region with smoke."[1] President Trump 'blamed the wildfires on "years" of poor forest management in California'[2]
- Forbes Magazine reported:
- Californiaâs deadliest year of wildfires has been decades in the making, with overlapping environmental rules, both state and federal, making fuel load reductions in forests and coastal chaparral nearly impossible ...[3]
- CNBC reported:
- 'According to the California Forestry Association, tree density in the Sierra Nevada is too high when compared with the regionâs historical rates, creating an elevated fire hazard.' California timber industry may be a âpiece of the puzzleâ to help reduce stateâs raging wildfires
Here's one solution:
- "This issue could be solved by what are known as prescribed fires, or controlled burns. ... Burning supplemented by thinning generally is seen as the most effective combination in preventing severe wildfires"[4]