Nearly 3,354,234 acres of land in California have been burned. Additionally, an estimated 7,718 fires still rage on, and 12,000 firefighters are working tirelessly to save millions of people from these deadly blazes. California is even using prisoners and seeking firefighters from other states for assistance, but it’s not enough; they need more help. Fires continue to spread, and it is getting more and more difficult to contain them. This wildfire season has been the largest ever, affecting thousands of families.
However, these fires have not only destroyed thousands of homes but have also caused a drastic decrease in air quality, causing an escalation in health problems. Since smoke is mainly made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and water vapor, when these molecules enter the lungs, there is an increase of health issues such as coughing, sneezing, wheezing, and sore throats. This heavily impacts children who have respiratory or cardiovascular issues. Unfortunately, this will continue to persist as the wildfires spread.
The increase in smoke means that air quality has significantly worsened over time. It will take a very long time for the air quality to recover back to normal. Forest fires lead to low-quality water, destruction of natural habitats, more erosions, and excess debris that’s harmful to the environment and the people in it. Additionally, a decrease in plant life from the fires will take much longer to purify the air. The fires have also had an immense impact on the climate. Greenhouse gasses, increases in carbon dioxide, and the destruction of forests will all heat up the planet, escalating the rate of global warming. Such an increase in global warming will lead to more climate problems and further temperature increases, making California more prone to future wildfires.
As a result, the same fires that we are trying to stop are also the same fires we started. Many people are careless about their surroundings, for instance, one family was having a gender reveal party, and they had a smoke generating device near dry land which led to one of the biggest fires in the world. If people were more cautious of our surroundings and spent more time to protect the environment, it would impact the world for the greater good. For instance, if families start to garden and plant more trees, we can come together as a society and purify the air. We can decrease global warming and decrease the chances of wildfires if every individual puts in a little bit of effort.
Works Cited
Moy, Bryan. “Wildfires and Public Health: A View from the Front Lines.” US Climate and Health Alliance, 8 Aug. 2016, usclimateandhealthalliance.org/wildfires-public-health-view-front-lines/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020.
Berwyn, Bob. “How Wildfires Can Affect Climate Change (and Vice Versa).” InsideClimate News, 23 Aug. 2018, insideclimatenews.org/news/23082018/extreme-wildfires-climate-change-global-warming-air-pollution-fire-management-black-carbon-co2. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020.
