Opinion

Global Warming's Twin Evil: Wildfires and Drought

Monday 30 June 2008

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by: Dr. Reese Halter, AlterNet

photo
Firefighters approach a burning fire on Fort Hunter Liggett, 21 miles west of King City, California.
(Photo: Orville Myers / AP)

    The 850 fires burning in California alone should be a wake up call that we're unprepared for rapid climate change.

    The hundreds of fires hitting California right now are a wake-up call to both government and California residents: we're unprepared for a rapid climate change crackling at our doorstep.

    The facts are unequivocal, and point to a troubling future ahead. Over 850 fires, scorching some 200,000 acres, have set a new 2008 record for early-season wildfires in California. And from March to May precipitation has been the lowest since the inception of record keeping in 1894. In California as well as throughout the West, mountain snowmelts are occurring earlier, and winter storms are arriving later, extending the fire season by at least several weeks.

    On June 5, 2008 Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state-wide drought. Droughts fuel wildfires. Across western North America global warming has caused prolonged droughts - some areas are now entering their 13th year - and warmer temperatures. These are the same kind of conditions that led to the mega fires of 2003 and 2007.

    What's more, in California and throughout the West, millions of acres of drought have created tinder-dry kindling through weakened forests that have been ravaged by billions of indigenous bark beetles and disease. Currently, there is no serious policy being implemented to clear out these dead trees, fireproof communities and inform residents of a plan of action.

    Why is this happening?

    A mismanaged forest policy has suppressed the natural occurrence of fire, and as a result, many of our California forests are overstocked, and now tinder dry. When lightning strikes occur in combination with drought, mega-fires can't be far away.

    Meanwhile, global warming is known to fuel mega-wildfires, particularly in the northern Rocky Mountains. In addition, over the past two decades mountain ecosystems across the West ranging from 5,300 to more than 8,000 feet above sea level have had the largest increase in big fires. It is these mountain ecosystems that are important for retaining snowfall and releasing it slowly into reservoirs. There are at least 350,000 homes in California that are on the urban/wildland interface and they remain at high risk to ever-increasing threat of wildfires.

    Global warming is also significantly impacting our security by impinging upon our water supply. Even though average snowfalls in California from December to February of 2008 were recorded, by May state-wide water reservoirs that feed, drive and grow the state's economy - the eighth mightiest on the planet - were only slightly above 53 percent of their respective capacities.

    The drought from March to May along with warmer temperatures evaporated at least 30 percent of the Sierra Nevada snowpack - which accounts for the brunt of California's annual water supply - directly into the air by-passing the solid (ice) to liquid (water) phase.

    While the California House and Senate continue to debate where the state will secure more water for our future, we are running out of time.

    Across the state the moisture content of grasses and brush are near or at 5 percent (usually at this time of year they should be around 20 percent) - conditions mimicking tinder-dryness usually found in October - at the end of the fire season.

    What can Californians do at the state and local level? The state needs to mobilize its massive prison population to help thin out the overstocked forests and fire-proof the communities most at risk. The state needs to significantly beef-up its fire protection and emergency system because, like it or not, wildfires burning with greater ferocity and higher intensities and more prolonged droughts are on their way. At the local level, every home-owner can help removing dead trees, excessive brush, overhanging vegetation on roofs and keeping fuel cans at least 100 feet from homes. There's no room for carelessness, whether it's making an illegal campfire, lighting firecrackers this 4th of July or tossing lit cigarettes out a car window. We need to come together to solve this problem before anyone else loses a home, or even a life.

    -------

    Dr. Reese Halter is the author of the upcoming book "Save Money - Go Green." He can be contacted through www.DrReese.com.

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Comments

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You can see what is

Fri, 07/04/2008 - 01:42 — Anonymous (not verified)
You can see what is happening in the American west if you fly over it in an airplane. I flew to California about a week ago from the east coast with a stopover in Denver on my way over and in Pheonix on the way home. I saw dried up lakes and river beds, a dust storm, abandoned farmland and a shockingly drier, more barren landscape than I have seen in the past. Open your eyes America and pay attention! We are running out of time to turn our environmental problems around. We need an immediate withdrawl from Iraq and an uncompromising commitment toward renewable energy, conservation, and stopping climate change.

Dear Dr. Halter "The state

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 01:58 — Monk (not verified)
Dear Dr. Halter "The state needs to mobilize its massive prison population to help thin out the overstocked forests and fire-proof the communities most at risk. " Dr. Reese Halter Given the US overpopulation of prisons, your proposal sounds outrageous. Perhaps an easy way around dealing with the cost of global warming, but I see this fraught with all kinds of problems. Will the police round up people to work? Are they good workers? Will they escape and cause problems? Would this be a form of punishment? Having worked in mental health right after mental institutions were almost self supporting, I saw how they kept inmates, patients back them, who were good workers. I kept many people who should have been released. Then you suggest that the state must deal with finding more water. What about dealing with the source of CO2 pollution? What about limiting the use of electricity? What about living with our means and conserving even more? You do a good job of pointing out the problems. And you do make several other proposals but leave out any difficult choices. What about a public works program akin to the WPA? What about eliminating cars on the road? What about restricting trucks and heavy equipment? Wouldn't these be better ideas?

Climate change is only

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 01:09 — Jim Rabideau (not verified)
Climate change is only partially too blame for the exceedingly dry conditions in the state and federal forests. The problem was exascerbatted commencing with the fur trapping, especially beaver, in the early 19th century. Taking out flood control in the lowlands and high mountains has caused the lack of retained water from snow melt for over 150 years. The removal of beaver and their dams has been disasterous to the natural, historic water storage as well as flood control. Some western Tribes are restoring beaver in their historic watersheds for that reason; some States have studied the problem but done little. Some federal agencies are tinkering with restoration in areas that aren't yet politically sensitive to the cattle and sheep communities that lease the lands . Those factions don't want beaver dams; beaver can become a nuisance if not managed like other wildlife in our modern society, but failure to utilized them for water and flood control is short sighted and lends itself to the high water conditions all over Western and Central Canada, as well as our western watersheds. Building more flood control dams on our large western rivers is counter productive; the water needs retention in the higher elevations. The governments, as well as the livestock and timber interests have got to cooperate in the solution. The press ought to do some research and see who is working this unpopular challenge. Pasco, WA

It is becoming increasingly

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 01:03 — Richard Schwartz (not verified)
It is becoming increasingly clear that the world is approaching an unprecedented catastrophe from global warming and other environmental threats. It seems immoral and insane that with all the problems facing humanity, we are currently raising about 60 billion farmed animals annually for slaughter worldwide, and that number is expected to double in 50 years or so. According to a 2006 UN FAO report, animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouses gases (in CO2 equivalents) than all the cars and other means of transportation worldwide combined. It is essential tat there be a major move toward plant-centered diets.

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