California Fires, Devastating Result of Climate Change

California Fires :

Even before we could digest the news of Siberia fires, another monster has popped up in California.

Wildfires across the state are raging without a leash to contain them, killing seven people and destroying more than 100,000 structures.

According to Cal Fire, more than 7,000 fires are blazing across California. Warm climatic and environmental conditions to ignite wildfires in several places were aided by the lightning of the dry storm.

But the Governor of California stated that the California fires due to lightning strikes are lesser than predicted, 289 strikes caused 10 new fires. But more lightning is estimated to hit the state.

Cal Fire reported that since 15th August, more than 1.1 million acres have been charred in California alone, the state department called it the ‘August Lightning Siege.’

Image credit: Jose Carlos Fajardo/AP

The severity and intensity of California fires have only been growing since the year 2000.

In this year until now, more than 7000 wildfires have seared through more than one million and five hundred thousand acres of land whereas, in 2019, only 4,292 fires scorched 56,000 acres of the state making this the dangerous toll in August as the dry season continues till November. 

Two of the California fires that are rampaging through the San Francisco Bay Area – the LNU Lightning Complex Fire and SCU Lightning Complex Fire have emerged to be the 3rd and 2nd largest wildfires ever recorded in the California history. 

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Also read: Siberia Fires, Climate Change is Real and Happening…

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According to the Cal Fire incident report, the SCU fire that’s blazing through Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin region is spread at 363,196 acres and the LNU fire burning through Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, and Lake is spread at 353,000 and growing.

The dangerous smoke from these California fires has engulfed the sky and has forced millions of Californian residents to stay indoors due to the hazardous air quality.

Experts have also warned about the severe heatwave that’s predicted to spread across the country. The deadly smoke of the California fires can be seen from space.

Image credits: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)…

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Also read: Bushfires in Australia Raging out of Control…

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Firefighters battle the California fires…

As the fires rage across the swaths of California, firefighters are battling 24×7 to contain the blazing flames across many regions.

Thousands have been forced by the wildfires to evacuate their homes with the National Weather Service issuing a red-flag warning to take necessary actions to evade the fires.

According to a report, every firefighting personnel is battling in the frontline, more than 190 aircraft with 95 fixed-wings planes dropping loads of water and fire retardants to contain the fire.

More than 14,000 are fighting the California fires where the number of firefighters is just 2,600. Localities and NGOs are assisting in trying to contain the flames that have spread over one million acres. But the hands aren’t just enough to tackle the blazing monster.

Governor of California Gavin Newson has asked the White House to aid the situation.

The Big Basin Redwoods State Park has also been scorched. It is the Nature reserve with giant redwood trees of more than 500 years. The blazing fires have extensively damaged some parts of the park.

Thousands of people who have evacuated are having difficulty in finding shelter as they are hesitating to occupy the emergency aid centers due to the fear of COVID-19.

The concoction of the pandemic and the dangerous smoke of the California fires is called by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a respiratory nightmare.”

The governor has stressed climate change as the main cause of these extreme wildfires.

If measures to curb the global temperatures aren’t taken, the consequences will be much worse, experts warned.

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Also read: Climate Change, Worst Disaster is Yet to Come, Scientists Warn…

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