It’s not just the West: Wildfire season is spreading across the country |
It’s not just the West: Wildfire season is spreading across the country
Spring drought levels are at record highs across the country, and experts worry that the destruction from this year’s wildfire season could be some of the worst our nation has ever seen.
The country is a tinder box — and if predictions are correct, as many as 8 million acres are at risk. Will lawmakers take action to protect the safety of our forests, our homes and the American people? We’ll soon know.
Wildfires are no longer isolated events confined to Western states. Just last month, blazes in Georgia destroyed more than 50 houses and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their neighborhoods. Fires have also ravaged the Carolinas, and state officials in Florida say fire conditions there are among the worst they’ve seen in as many as 40 years.
These states aren’t historically associated with wildfire risk. But the Southeast has shown that it, too, is now susceptible to the widespread devastation these natural disasters can inflict.
We know the reason why this is happening. Climate change has caused hotter temperatures and drier landscapes — factors, scientists say, that fueled the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires last year. Protracted stretches of drought and fierce heat waves are increasing, presenting ideal conditions for intense wildfire activity across the country.
The physical, emotional and economic impacts from these events are enormous. They can end human lives, claim beloved pets, destroy people’s livelihoods, annihilate homes and devastate communities.
But the long-term damage wildfires wreak on public health can extend far beyond a fire’s burn zone. Wildfire smoke often........