what's so special about California that it's always on fire? Why don't we have this kind of issue in say Maine, Michigan or North Carolina which all have lots of forest?
Humidity is a major control; low humidity helps fires initiation and spread.
California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
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Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
The former president was very inarticulate about it, which I'd say was the problem. He told us California residents that we needed to sweep our forests and didn't acknowledge that the majority of the public forests were the responsibility of the Federal Govt. A more knowledgeable Republican president could have made a better case that wouldn't get ridiculed. Trump blames California for wildfires, tells state 'you got…
Can you honestly say that any president really understands the science of wildfires (or anything else -- perhaps Jimmy Carter excepted, he did understand the science of nuclear reactors).
Probably not, which is why all but one of them tended to defer to hired experts on many issues instead of spouting the first thing that popped into their head.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks. I enjoyed reading up on that today. As for the federal role, I think a lawsuit is exactly how to solve this. Both parties are for big government, and neither has solved this when they could.
? One party is most definitely not for big government, or at least they claim not to be to garner a large portion of their votes. And, if they are for big government, they've proven time and time again to not give the slightest fuck about managing things that need to be managed, in favor of slashing/redirecting all budgets for more frivolous endeavours. >neither has solved this when they could. Yes, this goes hand in…
Why do you think a lawsuit would be fruitless? Yes courts move slow, but there is clear harm here. The federal government bears responsibility over this land. If they don’t want it, then they should hand the land over to the states, or otherwise compensate those states affected. There have been many disputes about water rights over the years that are similar to this. I would bet this will happen eventually.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#44Yet another record-setting fire started by PG&E. https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/wildfire/pge-may-be...
The elephant in the room is having huge swaths of the state requiring nothing more than a spark to go cataclysmic. Lightning strikes, failing catalytic converters w/side exit tailpipes spewing hot sparks, careless campers, arson, there's an endless list of sources for that spark.
It strikes me as ridiculous PG&E takes so much blame, if there were no power lines California would still be burning.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#45what's so special about California that it's always on fire? Why don't we have this kind of issue in say Maine, Michigan or North Carolina which all have lots of forest?
California is a desert. Those other states are not.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#46At least we saw it coming and made some preparations. I think climate change is a massive problem but we can't put it all on climate change because droughts are part of California history and we can put some of the blame on forest management practices. 100 million dead trees in the Sierra are a massive risk for unpredictable wildfires https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/01/18/sierra-wildfire-risk/ Fire Suppression — And C…
These extreme fire events extend across the entire Northern hemisphere right now (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Greece, Turkey, Siberia etc.). Blaming California specific forest management practices is disingenuous at best.
How does the fires being common across the region absolve California of the accusation of mismanagement? Isn't that more damning?
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
The former president was very inarticulate about it, which I'd say was the problem. He told us California residents that we needed to sweep our forests and didn't acknowledge that the majority of the public forests were the responsibility of the Federal Govt. A more knowledgeable Republican president could have made a better case that wouldn't get ridiculed. Trump blames California for wildfires, tells state 'you got…
Okay, now that he’s gone who do we pin the blame on?
The post you are replying to did not blame Trump for the fires, it said he was incoherent and incorrect in assigning blame. He continues to do both of those things in his role of King of the GOP, so there's no reason to stop pinning blame on him for things he is doing.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#48Yet another record-setting fire started by PG&E. https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/wildfire/pge-may-be...
Would these fires really not have started without PG&E as the most proximate source? The Mendocino Fire Complex, the largest in CA history, was sparked by lightning. Another fire was started by someone sparking it by hitting a metal spike trying to seal a wasp nest. If it wasn't PG&E, it surely would have been something else. The forest was/is a tinder keg waiting for a spark of any sort.
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#49Hopefully the fire quintuples in size
Re: California's Dixie Fire Is Now the 2nd Largest in State History
#50At least we saw it coming and made some preparations. I think climate change is a massive problem but we can't put it all on climate change because droughts are part of California history and we can put some of the blame on forest management practices. 100 million dead trees in the Sierra are a massive risk for unpredictable wildfires https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/01/18/sierra-wildfire-risk/ Fire Suppression — And C…
These extreme fire events extend across the entire Northern hemisphere right now (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Greece, Turkey, Siberia etc.). Blaming California specific forest management practices is disingenuous at best.
They are mainly Federal lands and so it is mainly Federal policy and practice that would be to blame in the US for that aspect of the causes. But the most obvious international common denominator is hotter, drier, windier weather - although I would not be surprised if many countries have similar "modern" responses to forest fires.