DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Wildfires in the West

More than 80% of wildfires are man made, it’s causing significant air quality issues.

More stringent fire prevention is needed. Knowledge is power, post signs.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/study-shows-84-wildfires-caused-humans-180962315/

It’s been really bad in Portland the past couple weeks. Yesterday was the first day we’ve seen blue skies in some time thanks to a little drizzle we got. A yellow haze has hung in the city. It’s been tough to be outside at times. I went to Crater Lake this past Monday. It was my first time since I moved 17 years ago. Sadly the view was seriously impacted by the smoke. I couldn’t see the water from the rim.
The top photo is mine. The bottom photo was found online. For comparison sake. It was taken from roughly the same place.

They had "hydration" breaks at the Thorns game on Wednesday every 15 minutes, with oxygen tanks on the sidelines...it has been that bad.

Portland and Seattle have been top 5 in the world for worst air quality due to the smoke.

We need a radical approach to our national parks and open spaces, in response to climate change. They are literally going up in smoke, and we have to dig in.

Unfortunately our president isn’t big on the EPA, but that’s ok. Spider-Man said, “with great power, comes great responsibility”

In 50 years, we will be appalled by our actions. Not by choice, but by necessity, our hands will be forced. Climate projections have been, and are still running on the high end of projections. You get one planet

we desperately need to clean out the highly flammable undergrowth, and branches that break off and fall on the ground like kindling.

We should also create firebreaks throughout our forest system, clearing strips of land so that fires can be contained.

I read that most forest fires are directly caused by man, ether through carelessness, or intentional setting of fires.

These are all areas we can address to help prevent, and lessen the impact of forest fires.

Actually, some of the anti logging policies contribute to the wildfires. There are actually laws in place that make it illegal to clear dead wood and brush from our national parks and forests. The thinking behind this is that nature will take care of itself and that naturally occurring fires will rejuvenate the forest land. It's a nice line of thought if they could contain the fires to small areas.

I actually attended a lecture in Yellowstone about this. In fact, the last time we were there, a couple fires were burning simultaneously and there were no efforts to extinguish them. They did create some firebreak lanes to keep them contained. It seems a lesson was learned after the horrific fire in the late 80's wiped out huge areas of the park when they had a complete hands off policy.