Is Climate Change the Cause of California's Wildfires? - Essay Sample

California experiences seasonal wildfires in summer, during which temperatures in some regions average as high as 95°F. The most affected regions in the state lie in the eastern and central zones, including Sacramento and Fresno (Linton). Hazard analyses and identification in the US places California in the Pacific Ring of Fire zone, which is highly susceptible to fire and other hazards like volcanic activity and tsunamis. Wildfires consume hundreds of forest land acreage in dry summers; natural phenomena like the Santa Ana winds accelerate the spread of dry summer wildfires (Webster, p.9). The latter is evident in the current wildfire reporting, where the disaster has consumed 3.2 million acres in 2020 alone (Buchholz). Whereas there are many causes of the wildfires, scientific evidence links the phenomena to climate change.

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According to the state authorities and stakeholders, the major causes of California wildfires include lawnmowers, arson, chainsaws, debris burning, and weed whackers (Webster, p.12). The listed causes are considerably controllable and contribute to smaller fires, easily controlled on many occasions. However, the 2020 California wildfires menace is challenging to handle with thousands of firefighters yielding limited results in the disaster response strategy. California state agencies report that the current wildfire crises are majorly caused by lightning strikes, a natural phenomenon that is very difficult to control (Linton). The lightning strikes are abnormal and are becoming very frequent and severe. News agency and research institutions associate the adversity to climate change.

According to Webster, temperatures in California has been increasing yearly for a very long time (p.3). Other observers, including NASA, report a steady increase in summer temperatures in California State. For instance, the annual temperature in 1880 was 62°F, while the reported average temperature in 1980 was 68°F, according to Doerr and Cristina (p.20150345). A breakdown of the state's climatic changes indicates a 2 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature in urban areas and even in colder regions of the state. Reliable data analyses by institutions, including the California state university and NASA, reveals a consistent rise in temperature from the 20th century and 21st century. Scientists analyzed weather data obtained from 331 observation stations from 1950 to 2000 and noted a temperature in 6 of the state's seven climatic sub-regions (Webster, p.18). Therefore, scientific evidence links California climatic changes to global warming, which results from the emission of greenhouse gasses from human activities.

The implications of increased summer temperatures in California include drying up of some vegetation cover and streams. Globally, climate change due to global warming leads to desertification. Desertification is one of the suitable conditions for the prevalence of wildfires in California. Southern California became a three-degree Fahrenheit warmer in the 21st century, which has many ecological balance implications. Heatwaves resulting from increased earth surface temperatures and drier winds fasten the process of drying of vegetation cover. The drier vegetation catches fire easily when workers burn debris or lightning strikes the ground. The latter implies that climate change has a significant implication on California wildfires.

The prevalence of wildfires is proportional to the state's increased temperatures (Doerr and Cristina, p.20150345). Weather records indicate steadily increasing annual temperatures in California, which correspond to drier summers. California's population is also increasing, which increases human activities like burning fossil fuels, which increases greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The observation backs the fact that California is becoming hotter, and some vegetation cover driers faster in summer. The latter corresponds to the reported acreage of land consumed by wildfires in the past century. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, wildfires consumed more acreage of land in this decade than any other decade (Buchholz). Wildfires between 2010 and 2019 consumed a total of 68468574 acres of land. A further 61215391 acres were consumed by fire between 2000 and 2009 (Buchholz). The trend is the same for the past decades, regardless of enhanced firefighting technology and public awareness drives.

Whereas there is a correlation between California wildfires and climate change, the latter does not overrule other causes of the disaster. Increased human activities like clearing bushes, lawnmowers, arson, chainsaws, debris burning, and weed whacker contribute significantly to increased fire cases in California (Doerr and Cristina, p.20150345). For instance, locals burn vegetation fire to pave the way for agricultural activities. The fires become uncontrollable in some cases leading to wildfires consuming many acres of forest cover. However, invoking scientific data and observation, climate change is the ultimate cause of the numerous wildfires ravaging California recently.

Conclusively, a critical analysis of the observed trend reveals that climate change contributes significantly to increased wildfires in California and other affected US states. Increased greenhouse gases emission leads to an increase in annual temperatures. The higher temperatures lead to drier summers, and hence a higher percentage of vegetation cover drier up or shed more leaves. The frequent lightning strikes in the state ignite numerous fires because the dry vegetation catches fire easily. Historically, wildfires in California have consumed more forestland in the recent past compared to the 20th century. The latter corresponds to increased temperatures due to climate change. It is, therefore, justifiable that increased wildfires in California are due to climate change.

Works Cited

Buchholz, Katharina. "Infographic: Wildfires Burned 68 Million Acres In A Decade". Statista Infographics, 2020, https://www.statista.com/chart/19832/acres-burned-by-wildfires-in-the-us-by-decade/.

Doerr, Stefan H., and Cristina Santín. "Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a changing world." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371.1696 (2016): 20150345.

Linton, Caroline. "Lightning Siege" Hits California With Nearly 12,000 Strikes In A Week". Cbsnews.Com, 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lightning-siege-hits-california-with-nearly-12000-strikes-in-a-week-2020-08-22/.

Webster, M. Faith. Spatial and temporal patterns of long-term temperature change in Southern California from 1935 to 2014. Diss. University of Southern California, 2015.