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LOS ANGELES (AP) – California is facing further devastation from the wildfires that have ravaged the West Coast, authorities warned Wednesday (Sept. 16), with strong winds and dry heat expected to fan dozens of fires. across the state.
Governor Gavin Newsom said that although firefighters had advanced in their battle to contain more than two dozen large wildfires, the so-called Santa Ana winds could fuel the relentless fires.
“With the wind events that we are currently experiencing and what we anticipate in the coming days, we must be aware that even with high containment numbers, those fires are anything but behind,” he said at a news conference.
Highlighting the scale of the unfolding catastrophe, Newsom said the state so far this year has experienced 7,606 fires compared to 4,972 in 2019.
He said the flames have engulfed nearly 2.3 million acres, 1.5 million of them since mid-August, compared to 118,000 last year.
“These numbers bear fruit on that claim that this is historic,” he said.
Newsom also appeared to lash out at US President Donald Trump, who visited the state earlier this week, saying he “had no patience with climate change deniers” who reject growing scientific evidence that extreme weather events are related. with global warming.
Trump during his visit downplayed climate concerns about the wildfires, saying global warming will reverse itself.
“The scale and magnitude of these fires are at a much higher level than any of the 18 years our monitoring data covers” since 2003, said Mark Parrington, senior scientist and wildfire expert with the US Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Copernicus (CAMS) from Europe.
He added that the fires are emitting so much pollution that thick smoke was visible more than 8,000 kilometers away in northern Europe, underscoring the devastation of the fires.
The thickest smoke from the fires lingers over the west coast of the United States, and cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have some of the worst air quality in the world.
‘RIPE FOR FIRE’
Exhausted firefighters are now battling 79 large fires, and “potentially critical fire weather” is expected in Northeast California, the National Interagency Fire Center said Wednesday.
“With no significant rainfall in sight, California remains dry and ready for wildfires,” state firefighting agency Cal Fire said, adding that the warmer weather expected this weekend will bring a “heightened danger of fire”.
A man stands near some of the destruction caused by the Almeda fire in Phoenix, Oregon, on September 15, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Robyn Beck)
One of the fires near Los Angeles, dubbed the Bobcat Fire, approached a historic observatory Tuesday, but crews managed to protect the structure.
Aside from California, which has borne most of the total death toll of more than 30, the coastal states of Oregon and Washington have also experienced record fires that have invaded major population centers.
In Oregon, 10 people died in drought-fueled hells.
The rain was expected to provide much-needed relief for parts of Oregon and Washington on Wednesday.
The flames on the west coast, some of which were caused by lightning, have so far burned more than five million acres (two million hectares) and displaced tens of thousands of people.
The disaster has brought the issue of global warming to the fore in the US presidential campaign, less than two months before the election.
Historically, it has been difficult to demonstrate a link between individual extreme weather events and climate change.
However, there is growing evidence showing that fires like the ones in the US would not be as intense and widespread without the warming that humanity has caused on Earth during the industrial age.
Overall, climate change has been shown to amplify droughts that dry out regions, creating ideal conditions for wildfires.
The economic impact of this year’s fires is expected to be staggering, with one expert estimating the damage at more than $ 20 billion.
Authorities have also warned that smoke from the fires could worsen the coronavirus pandemic, as people forced to evacuate seek shelter in shared accommodations.
Inhaling smoke and ash could also further weaken the lungs of people infected with the virus and weaken the immune system.
