Shalimar
SF VIP
- Location
- Vancouver Island Canada
Absolutely, Aspbergers Syndrome is truly her super power.
California fires
- Thread starter Don M.
- Start date
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
Indeed. She is an inspiration to many.
AnnieA
Well-known Member
- Location
- Down South
Does Oregon do controlled burns? I know there's a big issue in California with the state stopping scheduled burns on federal lands. There was a discussion about it in another thread stemming from this article.
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?
Excerpt:
Academics believe that between 4.4 million and 11.8 million acres burned each year in prehistoric California. Between 1982 and 1998, California’s agency land managers burned, on average, about 30,000 acres a year. Between 1999 and 2017, that number dropped to an annual 13,000 acres. The state passed a few new laws in 2018 designed to facilitate more intentional burning. But few are optimistic this, alone, will lead to significant change. We live with a deathly backlog. In February 2020, Nature Sustainability published this terrifying conclusion: California would need to burn 20 million acres — an area about the size of Maine — to restabilize in terms of fire.
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Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
Yes, Oregon does controlled burns. The problem in both states however is not the controlled burns or lack thereof. It's the lack of rain fall. In the last twenty years, every year in the part of Oregon I live in there has been 20 inches less rain than there used to be. So the trees and plants that depend on it, aren't getting enough. So the vegetation is drying out. As an example the Douglas fir trees which are prolific here don't get enough water, so they stop sending the water to their lower branches and send it to the growth areas on top of the trees. The lower branches die. The Douglas fir in my yard have lost 3/4ths of their lower limbs because of that. So when the unprecidented heat hits, everything is a tinder box. It's worse in CA.
There is another issue relative to forest management. When funds are tight there are cuts made across the board. If you don't have enough funds you can't do all the things that need to be done. To go into this I would have to get political, so I will stop now.
AnnieA
Well-known Member
- Location
- Down South
Did you read the funding portion of the article?
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
I don't know what article you are talking about. All I know is that there are never enough funds to do the things we truly need to do. And I know we are in crisis mode and so many deny that. Each person believes what they want to believe and often it is not based on scientific facts. I know what's happening where I am. Trees are planation farmed for the benefit of the timber industry. They are planted really close together which doesn't allow for the needed diversity for a viable ecological forest. There's no need to control burn it, because there is nothing there other than the trees in lots of places. People either believe in climate change as the cause or they don't. If they don't there's no getting through.
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AnnieA
Well-known Member
- Location
- Down South
The one I linked in post 132. It's very detailed. A sad read, especially from the standpoint of damage to the climate by the infighting and corruption of government agencies tasked with protecting people and the planet.
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Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
The climate is changing. We have done this to the planet. Be well.
Mrs. Robinson
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nampa,Idaho
We went to the Napa Valley for dinner tonight-specifically to St.Helena-and seeing all the destruction just turns your stomach. On the other hand,the firefighters saved so much,so many beautiful historical buildings. And we only saw one home that had burned to the ground,although I know there were more than that lost. I also know that they are looking at arson as the cause,and happen to know a very interesting story about a possible suspect. I will fill you all in if something materializes down the road....
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
A lot of the fires in Oregon were caused by arson too. It's just that everything is so dry that they explode quickly into fires that are difficult to put out. All they can often do is created a line around them and let them burn themselves out. Glad you are okay. Here the terrain is steep and hard to reach.
Granny B.
Senior Member
- Location
- N. Calif., USA
I couldn't agree more. It's tragic about all the millions of acres burned. And it will probably be the same next year and the year after. Most of the fires around here are caused by lightning.
Luckily we didn't have any major fires endangering us this year but there still were some close enough where we had many days of really bad air quality. Here's a great fire and smoke map I've been using. Zoom in and click on the colored dots and squares to see the readings.
Fire and smoke map
I work at an elementary school and there have been many days where we have not been able to let the kids out at recess because of bad air quality. Finally, last week, with the latest large fire nearby nearly contained, the kids have been able to go outside.
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
I hear you. Thanks for the interesting map. It is very worrisome when it happens close. Whether or not we can breathe is dependant on which way the wind is blowing. Is it blowing the smoke over us or away from us? We had some small fires start not far from where I am, but thankfully they were put out. Yes, it will be like this every year now. One of the things that some people, who don't live near something like this, don't realize is they are not exempt from the effects of climate change. The areas that get hurricanes and deluges of rain get more of them and they are more severe now. If a person decides to move, the place they move to will be affected by something too, soon. People once thought they could move away from earthquake zones, then the earthquakes started happening in areas that had never had them before because of fracking. Did you know that in Wyoming, with the huge volcano just waiting to erupt in Yellowstone, businesses wanted to do fracking there? It would be disastrous. When that volcano goes off it could trigger nuclear winter worldwide. I don't know if they actually started fracking there or not. My friend who kept me up on it got married and moved to Georgia where the hurricanes are. So far he hasn't been hit by them.
Granny B.
Senior Member
- Location
- N. Calif., USA
You're welcome. I have relatives who moved from CA to Idaho thinking they were getting away from earthquakes and were upset when moderate quakes started happening near them. Every place does seem to have its challenges. Guess I'll stay in earthquake territory, but all these fires are tragic on so many levels.
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
Here in Oregon we have some quakes. There's a fault line 130 miles off the coast. There are fault lines under some of the rivers in the northern part of the state, one of them in the area that is currently burning. If a person watches any documentaries on what's happening to the wildlife and people around the planet, they can see that the water is drying up everywhere. Good fertile land is drying out and blowing away. There are documentaries on what each degree of warming of the climate does to the oceans, the wildlife that live there and on the land. It's both fascinating and tragic.
Pecos
Well-known Member
- Location
- Washington State
My Grandson has been fighting fires in Northern California for several week, normally he fights fires in Washington State or Oregon. I hate to think of what inhaling all that smoke is going to do to his long-term health. The last I heard, he was assigned to the Red Salmon fire up in the mountains.
I love him, admire his courage, and worry about him a lot.
Bethea
Member
- Location
- Bonner Springs, Kansas
Have those fires stopped yet or are they still going?
Pecos
Well-known Member
- Location
- Washington State
Still going.
Bethea
Member
- Location
- Bonner Springs, Kansas
Oh my. I'm so sorry.
Granny B.
Senior Member
- Location
- N. Calif., USA
No doubt you are worried about your grandson. People like me are so grateful for his brave service. Please convey my personal thanks to him if you get a chance. Don't know what we would do without firefighters, and those who come from out of state to help in our time of need. I know their working conditions are very difficult.
Hopefully, he does have some kind of mask that helps keep him from breathing all the smoke.
Phoenix
Senior Member
- Location
- Oregon, U S
Good forrest management is practiced here. There are still fires. You really are determined to be a non-believer, I see. That's sad.
Jules
SF VIP
Living on the left side of Canada (BC), we live in fear of fires. There’ve been many more lately. Climate change has allowed many pests like Pine Bark Beetles to multiply and destroy our forests. Once these dead trees are on fire, the spread within and out of these massive zones is rapid.
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RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
I love your grandson! May he stay safe.
Damaged Goods
Member
- Location
- Maryland
Don't know what "here" means but it ain't California. Non-believer, how? Climate has always been changing and will continue to do so even after we all trade in our internal combustion vehicles for bicycles.