California Wildfire

• California is suffering the aftermath of the most devastating wildfire in its history. The fire has destroyed thousands of homes across 55,000 hectares.
• In mid-July to August 2018, a series of large wildfires erupted across California, mostly in the northern part of the state. On August 4, 2018, a national disaster was declared in Northern California, due to the extensive wildfires burning there
• In November 2018, foehn winds caused another round of large, destructive fires to erupt across the state.

Analysis:

• California has always been prone to wildfires every dry season. In California there is increase in dry and overgrown forests, which it described as effectively being large-scale tinderboxes.
• According to US Forest Service report, federal and state restrictions have caused timber harvesting in California to decline more than 70% between the late 1980s and 2012.
• Climate change has also been an important factor in this case. In recent years there has been record-breaking temperatures, earlier springs and less reliable rainfall.
• California has two fire seasons. One, from June to September, is driven by warmer, drier weather in Western California. The other, from October to April, is driven by strong gusts called the Santa Ana winds in Southern California; these spread three times faster and burn closer to urban areas.
• Moist, forested areas are the most likely to face greater threats from wildfires as conditions in those areas become drier and hotter.

By: Vishal