Historic Fires Devastate the U.S. Pacific Coast

9/15/2020

Climate and fire scientists have long anticipated that fires in the U.S. West would grow larger, more intense, and more dangerous. But even the most experienced among them have been at a loss for words in describing the scope and intensity of the fires burning in West Coast states in September 2020. Lightning initially triggered many of the fires, but it was unusual and extreme meteorological conditions that turned some of them into the worst conflagrations in the region in decades. Record-breaking air temperatures, periods of unusually dry air, and blasts of fierce winds—on top of serious drought in some areas—led fires to ravage forests and loft vast plumes of smoke to rarely seen heights. - NASA Earth Observatory

18 Comments

Austin McAvoy

9/16/2020 12:34:23 pm

One of the biggest things is that although wildfires happen every year, they never get this bad. As the environment begins to heat up they will only get worse. The reason this relates back to our module is because our environment changes drastically it can create the potential to set up harder soils that can affect the environment during an earthquake. Making things safe and rebuilding is the best we can do to prepare for the future

Mia D'Antuono

9/16/2020 03:25:27 pm

As the earths climate is changing it is becoming a better condition to produce wildfires, and keep wildfires burning longer. The smoke produced has been enough to carry into the stratosphere. This article connects to our module by wildfires being a different type of natural disaster, and is a common secondary hazard of an earthquake. With the current California wildfire having been ignited by accident it should be a good way to show populations in earthquake prone areas to take precaution to not be another person to have accidentally started a fire. As the United States continues to repress natural wildfires, when a wildfire is finally started it is always going to be devastating.

Teanna Ong

9/17/2020 04:17:07 am

Due to climate change, unusual and extreme weather behavior have been occurring across Earth. The fires on the west coast of the US were initially caused by lightning from extreme weather. Thick plumes of smoke made their way to the atmosphere, all the way into the stratosphere, which will contribute significant carbon emissions. Pollution from the fires have diminished air quality and worsened climate change effects.

This article is important to the course module because the environments on Earth are always changing, and the fires are another example of a natural disaster that we should be aware about. Since I learned that the fires were initially caused by weird weather patterns from climate change, I am becoming more aware of how serious climate change is and understand how geological processes on Earth are effected by climate change.

Cierra Gonzales

9/17/2020 11:48:04 pm

Our weather has gotten more extreme over the past decades which is making it harder to predict, this article shows what is happening that is a result of climate change and the lack of controlled burnings that we should be doing to help the forest. It reflects the disasters shown in the module and how we should be doing something to prevent these fires from happening.

Sierra Montez

9/18/2020 11:56:17 am

The intensity of fires have increased immensely throughout time. Some extreme weather behavior has caused these fires to happen. This makes a great connection to what is going on in our module since wildfires is a hazard from earthquakes. It's unfortunate that these events have been going on throughout the years even without an earthquake appearing. Over time, we have adjusted and improved our ways of preparing when these fires do occur.

Amanda Stohn

9/18/2020 03:32:12 pm

The west coast of the United States is experiencing decimating fires currently, which adds to the record breaking amounts of smoke, destruction, and overall chemical emissions of the fires we have seen in that region so far this year. The smoke that is being emitted even broke into the stratosphere. Scientists are doing what they can to observe, extinguish, and prevent wildfires, even when the meteorological conditions are perfect ingredients for a wildfire, as they were this season. This article connects to our current module, about earthquakes and tsunamis, because all three of these events are natural disasters that affect populations globally every year. Researchers are doing all that they can to study these types of destruction so they can design and implement methods to contain and lessen the damage of these nearly inevitable tragedies. I found it very thought provoking that the smoke entered the stratosphere, as smoke has been affecting many nearby states and regions to the west coast, so smoke in the next level of the atmosphere will probably affect even more people in a variety of global locations.

Majestic Moler

9/18/2020 03:35:57 pm

Many people have different opinions on how these fires are being started. You can go online and see things reaching from fireworks, high winds, electrical lines, lightening, arson, and much more. The news in Oregon is solely focusing on climate change as the main cause, being that unusual temperatures and high winds have been the ignition or spark of these fires, literally. This is relative to our module because things like fire(s) and destruction of buildings, etc, are realistic results of natural disasters such as earthquakes.
This article hits home a bit differently for me than others in comments. I was born in Oregon, near Oregon City, moved to Tacoma, Washington when I was six years old and spent 2017-2019 playing college basketball in Salem, Oregon. All places that have been highly impacted and centered around these fires. My immediate family whom reside in both WA and OR state are dealing with these unhealthy and life-altering consequences of this catastrophe. The air quality reached a level that was clarified as the worst in the entire world. My family in Oregon have been on level 1 evaucation for the past 2 weeks, awaiting the results of two giant fires that could possibly join forces. They are still struggling with these fires and who knows when it'll all be over unfortunately.

Emily Johnson link

9/19/2020 08:34:32 pm

Wildfires can be caused by a variety of conditions. Even though the wildfires on the west coast were caused by natural causes, a single change in the usual weather can have drastic effects. This article is relevant to our class because it shows that weather and the earth itself can be unpredictable and hazardous. If natural events can be this devastating, I would hate to see what would happen if humans caused natural disasters like this one.

Alexandra Silva

9/20/2020 01:44:25 pm

As the climate of Earth changes and temperatures rise, the opportunity for wildfires increases. The fires currently happening in the Pacific Northwest are an example of wildfires being caused by an increase in intense weather conditions such as record breaking temperatures, dry air, high winds, and lightening. This connects to the earthquake and tsunamis module because it describes how natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, and tsunamis are caused by changes in the Earth's interior and atmosphere and how catastrophic they have potential to be.

michael wolman

9/20/2020 01:50:48 pm

Climate change is something that has been going for a while now. Every year we notice it. It has caused weather behavior to change all over the world. It has caused fires with lightning.Fires can cause bad pollution in the air which makes climate change worse.This connects to the module because it explains how natural disasters like wildfires and earthquakes. They are caused by changes in the earths atmosphere and interior. This article made me more aware of climate change and how we need to help fix it.

Leland

9/20/2020 04:56:51 pm

The world has always been prone to natural disasters. The fires that swept through the west coast are a testament to how the world works. We need to be prepared and ready for all scenarios and constantly be evaluating our standards for what to expect. I say this because the world is ever changing, along with the rules of survival. These wildfires were possible through pure chance. Chance that lightning storm would happen during record breaking hearts, with serious droughts, and strong winds that followed.

Cameron Gilluly

9/20/2020 06:17:17 pm

This article is about how even though there have been fires on a large scale, we have not seen fires so widespread like the ones happening in the northwestern states. This relates to our module because the fires change the composition of the soil. The soil becomes harder, making it easier for earthquakes to happen on a bigger magnitude.

Ben Pigeon

9/20/2020 08:04:00 pm

There have been many wildfires in the west coast recently and nothing is really being resolved. Now more than ever are so many wildfires spreading in particularly in the west which is crazy. One of the ways that this relates to our module is the amount of change that the Earth constantly undergoes. We also learned about how experts work to find new ways to predict earthquakes, just like they are trying to prevent wildfires.

Jorge Alvarez

9/20/2020 08:10:09 pm

As climate changes and the earth becomes warmer the more risk we are at with wild fires. Also the wild fires have seemed to grow larger and last longer due to the climate getting worse by the day.The way this relates to our module is because wildfires are under the category of natural disasters. When I finished reading this article it made me more cautious on the issue at hand because I can understand that changes need to happen.

John Silva

9/20/2020 08:38:34 pm

This article discusses the fires along the west coast and how it impacts the environment with the carbon and smoke being released into the air.

This article connects to our module because we are talking about natural disasters and how they impact the environment

I found it incredibly surprising that in California, six of the top 20 largest fires in state history have occurred in 2020.

Alyssa Linnabary

9/20/2020 09:01:59 pm

1. A very brief summary or take-away from the article.
- The article is basically talking about how lighting has triggered most of the severe fires and climate in the U.S. It also mentions record-breaking dry air, blasts of hot winds, drought, and high air temperatures which has caused destruction to the forests.
2. An explanation of how this article connects to this module's contents.
- how this article connects to the module is the natural disasters of fires and how they’re caused and the damage that is done.
3 Any other relevant comment or thought-provoking closing.
- no relevant comment really.

Shayne

9/20/2020 09:59:37 pm

Wild fires and other natural disasters happen all the time so we should all be prepared. This article reviews how the California wild fires have been devastating to our environment. 6 out of the worst 20 wild fires in California's history have occurred in 2020. This article relates to our module because it speaks on how natural disasters affect the environment.

Charles C

9/20/2020 11:52:22 pm

The intensity of wild fires in the west coast is growing larger due to record breaking temperatures. Wild fires are part of what were covering with natural disasters in the world and how they affect our environment.

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Historic Fires Devastate the U.S. Pacific Coast

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