Since 2012, Not 1 Month Has Passed In California Without A Wildfire Somewhere In The State

[hatrack]

REDDING, Calif. — When Brian Rice fought wildfires in the 1990s, his time on the line was intense during the summer fire season, followed by months to recharge during the cooler winter. But fighting wildfires is no longer seasonal work in California. “There used to be a rhythm to this, and you could at least count on that rhythm,” he said. “It’s a year-round cycle now.”

Since 2012, according to state emergency management officials, there has not been a month without a wildfire burning — a stark contrast to previous decades, when fire officials saw the fall and winter as a time to plan and regroup. The recent historic drought and rising temperatures have heightened an already serious risk for widespread fires in the state.

Just this month, there have been three firefighters killed on the front lines, including two who died during a rapidly expanding wildfire in Northern California in the last two days. Dry conditions and triple-digit temperatures added fuel to that fast-moving blaze, known as the Carr Fire, as it marched eastward, swept over the Sacramento River and pushed into the outskirts of Redding, the largest city in the region. It continued to grow on Friday, burning dozens of buildings and prompting emergency officials to issue an urgent plea for people in parts of Redding and the surrounding areas to evacuate immediately.

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Scientists say that severe wildfire seasons in California may occur more frequently because of climate change. Since the 1970s, temperatures have risen by two degrees Fahrenheit in the western United States. And trees and grasses — the fuel of wildfires — are more dry and for longer periods of the year. That means fire season now lasts three months longer than it used to, starting earlier and often going on through the fall, said Jennifer Balch, a fire ecologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “What’s going on in the background is we’ve got warmer conditions. It’s making our fuels drier earlier and for longer,” Dr. Balch said. “Wildfires are a real in-your-face way we’re seeing evidence of a warming climate.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/us/california-wildfire-redding-carr.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[wasupaloopa]

1. In 2000 we bought 20 acres in the lower Sierra Nevada Mountains and moved there. Every year around

June we had to clear any weeds or brush growing around our house.

We had 4 horses who grazed on the vegetation on our property. We never used our air conditioner for the first few years.

Then each summer got warmer, We started running the air conditioner. It got up to 109 degrees at times.

We no longer had to cut the weeds and brush around or house. They just grew up in the spring and by June they had died off.

There was nothing for our horses to graze on in the summer.

It was open range country and ranchers began to not buy new cattle in the spring because they had to buy feed rather than let them be range fed.