ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2020-09-11 11:50 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2020-09-11 11:50 pm
Oregon Wildfires
Massive fires are burning out of control in Oregon, near Portland. You can see them on a map.
Back in junior high, my parents and I visited the West Coast on vacation. I looked at the water situation and the way people were building and I said, "This is a bad place to be. There's already not enough water, more people are coming in, and they're building in all the wrong places. It's going to wind up with Water Wars and wildfires."
Most of them thought I was nuts.
But I told you so.
Also, current forecast: this is as least-bad as it's ever going to be on a human timescale. The atmosphere is getting hotter and that part of the country is drying out more and more. It's going to keep burning, patch by patch, until there's not enough fuel left to sustain that kind of fire. And there will be less and less water to fight with.
Back in junior high, my parents and I visited the West Coast on vacation. I looked at the water situation and the way people were building and I said, "This is a bad place to be. There's already not enough water, more people are coming in, and they're building in all the wrong places. It's going to wind up with Water Wars and wildfires."
Most of them thought I was nuts.
But I told you so.
Also, current forecast: this is as least-bad as it's ever going to be on a human timescale. The atmosphere is getting hotter and that part of the country is drying out more and more. It's going to keep burning, patch by patch, until there's not enough fuel left to sustain that kind of fire. And there will be less and less water to fight with.
Re: Well ...
Re: Well ...
The bristlecone thing I've known for ages. As noted above, many westerly species have traits adapted to periodic fires, although current fires exceed the heat tolerance of many, which is a problem.
The nurse logs I learned about while visiting the Hoh Rainforest some years ago. There are trails that go past a few of them and signs to explain the phenomenon.