Wildfires in all three western US states … dozens missing



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Damages in California, Oregon and Washington

15 deaths, burning more than 4 million acres

Governor of Washington “Climate Change”

On the 10th (local time), only burned houses and cars remain in Oregon, USA, after a large wildfire has passed that continues day after day. / AP Yonhap News

The worst of all time, the wildfires on the west coast of the United States, raged every day, causing deaths. In Northern California in particular, dozens of people are missing, creating a depressing prospect that the number of victims will continue to rise.

According to local media such as the New York Times (NYT) and the Associated Press on the 10th (local time), California authorities said seven more people were killed by wildfires in Northern California. However, there is also the possibility that the number of deaths will increase after searching for 16 missing people. Sheriff Derek Bell said more bodies could be found as crews entered the worst-hit area. NBC News reports that 3.1 million acres have been burned in California alone. Firefighters from Utah, Colorado and Texas have been urgently deployed to California to extinguish the ongoing wildfire.

In Oregon, 900,000 acres have been burned by wildfires to date. NYT explained that this is more than twice the size of the damage compared to the normal season. Oregon Governor Kate Brown said, “I’ve never seen a fire like this in the entire state.” Wildfires threatened the Portland suburbs and hundreds of thousands of residents were evacuated overnight. The possibility of arson as a result of being toppled was also raised. Law enforcement agencies, including the Ashland Police Department and state police, said they were investigating the arson of the Almeda fire that killed at least two people and destroyed about 600 homes.

In Washington state, more than 480,000 acres were burned in the north this week alone, destroying the community itself. Washington Governor Jay Insley said: “We are all in the same big fire situation, including California, Oregon and Washington.” He also said on Twitter that “climate changes are causing these wildfires to occur more frequently and cause more damage, putting us in a dangerous situation.” NYT reports that a total of 15 people have died so far in the Butte County fire in California, one in Cold Springs in northern Washington and two in Almeda, Oregon.

Some argue that climate change has sparked forest fires locally. According to the NYT, Columbia University bioclimatologist Park Williams said the link between wildfires and warming, especially in California, is “simple”: “Warmer temperatures dry out fuel and all that is needed. (for forest fires) is spark. ” said. He published an article last year on human warming and the resulting drought effects in much of the West, arguing that “the impact on wildfires in the coming decades will be greater than has been observed so far.” According to CBS News, Professor John Abbotzogloo of the University of Merced in California said: “There is no question that the fires are accelerating in the western region.” . Although climate change does not necessarily cause fires, it is explained that it works as a factor to generate fires when conditions such as heat waves like this year are met.

/ Kim Yeon Haja [email protected]

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