The extent of the fires sweeping through the west this
summer is sobering. As I perused an interactive map published by the New York Times earlier this week, zooming in and out on fire after fire, it dawned on me
that several locations I have visited for recreation or traveled through in
just this calendar year – in multiple states even – have now burned in the
summer fires.
The extent of wildfires in the western US on 15 Sept 2020. Map from
InciWeb.
During April, in one of my first hiking excursions since the
coronavirus lockdowns began, with my daughter I hiked among and photographed
flowers and oaks along the western shore of Lake
Berryessa in Northern
California. In the LNU fire to tear through that area this summer,
most of the western shore of the lake burned. In fact most of the coast range
hills down to Interstate 80 between Vacaville
and Fairfield
have burned.
Oak woodland and blooming lupines during April 2020 on the western shore of Lake Berryessa.
To the east of Lake
Berryessa is a hiking
location I visit often, the Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve. It is a teaching and
research reserve operated by the University
of California, Davis but is open to the public for hiking. Like
other places in California
was closed for a time due to the coronavirus pandemic. Within a short time of
opening back up this summer, I briefly hiked there on a warm day. Signs of a
fire several years ago were still evident on the landscape, particularly on the
western side of the canyon, but smaller shrubs and smaller plants have
recovered. According to the maps though, it appears the whole canyon has burned
again.
Also succumbing to the same complex of fires was an area to
the northeast of Lake
Berryessa, a hiking place
I only discovered this spring in my search for more local hiking areas during the
pandemic. Valley Vista
Regional Park
is a small county park located near the scenic Cache Creek and California highway 16
and it features grasslands and lovely oak woodland. This whole area too, it
according to the maps has burned.
Oak woodland at Valley Vista county park earlier this year.
The extent of the LNU complex of fires in northern California during summer 2020. Asterisks mark approximate locations I had been hiking at earlier times in 2020. Map from InciWeb.
Finally, on my road trip through Wyoming
and Colorado this July, I spent a night
camping, and few enjoyable hours hiking in the Roosevelt
National Forest north of Rocky Mountain
National Park. I hiked
into the Comanche Peak Wilderness near the headwaters of the Cache de Poudre
River, a lovely valley of aspens and conifers. Virtually the whole wilderness
was covered by a large fire.
The Roosevelt National Forest in July 2020. At left: Cache de Poudre River; at right: a grove of aspens.
The Cameron Peak fire extent in the Roosevelt National Forest. Map from InciWeb.
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We increasingly see signs that climate change is here now. It
is not just a phenomenon modeled to occur in the future. While scientists are
often reluctant to attribute any specific natural disaster to changing climate,
it is becoming more clear with each passing year that we may be entering
uncharted territory. In the bigger picture, warming seas are making Atlantic
hurricanes more intense. Sea-level rise due to warming and glacier melt is
increasing the frequency of nuisance flooding in American cities. And for the
last several years in the far western US, the fires have become worse and
worse.
The summer fires of 2020 – some call these climate fires –
have been everywhere in the western US. In addition to the very places I hiked
or photographed or camped in this year, other western landscapes have burned. The
beautiful, remote coast of Big Sur: a major
fire. The Mendocino
National Forest: a
massive complex of fires that is still burning. The gorgeous Oregon Cascades: fires
so bad they sent air quality levels in Portland
and the Willamette
Valley to extremely
hazardous levels making the region have the worst air quality on Earth for a
while. In the Sierra Nevada: several large
fires. And northeast of Los Angeles, east of San Diego, and in eastern Washington: more fires.
With each passing year the most pressing question is less
about the science and impacts of climate change (although science will always
be crucial to monitoring, predicting, and responding to climate change), but
rather whether society sees the accelerating pace of change and wants to
seriously do something about it. Without reducing carbon inputs into our
atmosphere, our future may becoming increasingly uncomfortable, costly, and
even deadly.
Burned oak woodland just south of Interstate 80 near Vacaville and Fairfield in northern California. Photo: 16 Sept 2020.
