California faces crisis during drought, heatwaves, energy losses, and fires
Posted Oct. 15, 2021
Staff Reporter
Most Americans cannot imagine going through droughts, heatwaves, and fires. Californians don’t have to imagine it. They’re living it.
“We’re still a long way from the peak of the wildfire season and the peak of the dry season,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Things are likely to get worse before they get better.”
Even though the wildfires have only just begun, they are already bad.
The most recent fires in California were the Fawn fire and the Dixie fire. The Fawn fire started on September 22, 2021. 5% of it was contained as of 7:36 p.m on Sept. 23, 2021. The location of this fire was Fawndale road and Radcliff road, five miles Northeast of Shasta lake. The Dixie fire was located above the Cresta Dam, Feather River canyon. It started on July 13, 2021. As of Sept. 23, 2021, 94% of the fire has been contained.
Global warming has been heating up and drying out the American West for years. The region is now broiling under the combination of a drought and a record-breaking heatwave. According to the Environment Protection Agency, heat waves are now long-lasting and occur earlier in the year, which is dangerous for people because they’ll be unprepared.
“We’re still a long way from the peak of the wildfire season and the peak of the dry season. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.”
- Daniel Swain
As reported by CNN Weather, Californians are set to experience a heatwave. A statewide Flex Alert was issued stating that people need to cut back their electricity.
“This is one of the things you often see during droughts,” said Jay Lund, an expert in Davis, California. “The bigger cities that have a lot of wealth are very well organized, have a lot of long-term planning, and are pretty well prepared.”
“Droughts have long been a future of the west. But global warming is making things worse with rising temperatures drying things out soils and depleting mountain snowpack that normally supplies water during the spring and summer. Those parched soils, in turn, are amplifying this week's heatwave, creating a blast more severe than it otherwise would be.” Swain describes this saying: “It’s a vicious cycle.” 37.3 million people in California are affected by the drought.
According to Drought.gov, there are five categories of drought: Abnormally Dry (D0), Moderate Drought (D1), Severe Drought (D2), Extreme Drought (D3), and Exceptional Drought (D4). Active fires begin at D0. At D1, wildlife patterns start to change. “Trees are stressed; plants increase reproductive mechanisms; wildfires diseases increase,” Drought.gov states. In the D3 category, fires begin occurring in wet parts of the state. For D4, it states, “The fire season is very costly; the number of fires and areas burned are extensive.”
