People are getting burnt to a crisp and if you live in California, you might be next. The neverending cycle of wildfires continues in California with three major wildfires, San Bernardino’s Line Fire and Bridge Fire as well as, Orange County’s Airport fire being reported on September, 12, 24. In the last year alone a total of 977,932 acres of land have been exposed to wildfires, with that being a thirteen percent increase as compared to the last five years and we are only in September. With no cemented actions taking place to reduce these numbers, residents of California, including myself, are starting to slip into a well of despair and fear.
The question arises as to what the government and California as a whole are doing in order to reduce these numbers, or has the timer of irreversible climate change finally rang upon us?
The condition of California only seems to be heading downhill with a multitude of factors degrading the quality of life. California is ranked at the top of the leaderboard in terms of “Homes at risk for Extreme Wildfires”, with that number being an astonishing 1,279,214. Additionally, the fires today managed to cover a total of 108800 acres of land with 71110 homes and buildings being completely engulfed and torn down to ashes, leaving thousands to evacuate. The ash was reportedly “coming down as if it was snow” as said by residents in San Bernardino. This level of disaster is something that strikes fear in people, including myself.
However, I feel greater fear from the government as the main problem is how California is approaching these fires and that the government is tunnel-visioned on the fire itself and not the cause of it This was not always the case as in 2022 California recorded 96,000 acres of land being burnt by land managers, in the form of a controlled fire. Controlled fires are something that has been implemented in the likes of Yosemite, where researchers found that they helped protect giant sequoias during the Washburn fire in 2022. Additionally, one study from researchers at Columbia and Stanford, states that low-intensity fires, a category that includes mild natural fires and prescribed burns, reduce wildfire risk by about 60 percent. With all this information backing up controlled fires and the benefits, California has decided to ban intentional burns for many decades, arguing that all fires are dangerous and could hurt the timber industry.
I feel that California’s focus is displaced, in a sense that the government holds more importance on the economy than on society. A contributing factor towards this bias is the reality that California is ranked the fifth largest economy in the world with a total nominal GDP of nearly $3.9 trillion in 2023. With California being ranked 5th in the world, it would be quite evident why they put more value on the economy, however, the prosperity of the people is something that is a determining factor of any society’s success. It was reported that people leaving California outnumbered newcomers by more than 700,000 between April 2020 and July 2022. This may be due to other factors, however, if my house got engulfed and turned into ashes, I think that relocation would be an option.
The government needs to understand and value the contentment of its people and implement change before it is too late. This is becoming a reality with the reintroduction of controlled fires by various entities but not by the government directly. If California were to understand the positive effects of controlled fires, the majority of those uncontrolled could dwindle and change can be achieved, however, the reality is that these fires will only continue to exist and worsen with time.
Student Spectrums 