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BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 35 martyrs, 75 injured in occupation targeting of civilians seeking food aid in Rafah, Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Da Silva: What is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide
Da Silva: Even the Jewish people do not want this war; it is revenge by a government against the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state
Brazilian President Lula da Silva: What we are seeing is not a war between two armies. [What we have is a] completely professional army that is killing women and children in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas: We affirm our readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention
Hamas: We welcome the continued Qatari and Egyptian efforts to end the war waged by the Zionist occupation against our people
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli occupation forces blew up Noura Al-Kaabi Hospital, designated for kidney dialysis patients, in the northern Gaza Strip
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli drone targets a car on the Ayta al-Shaab-Debel road in southern Lebanon
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The remaining airlines that have not yet complied with the ban are urged to take this into serious consideration to ensure the safety of their aircraft and passengers
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Saree: The YAF, after successfully imposing a partial ban on air traffic at Lydd Airport, are now working to impose a full ban on air traffic at the aforementioned airport in the coming period

Impact of climate change on California’s wildfires

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 11 Jan 2022 16:52
3 Min Read

Wildfires have recently become a more serious environmental concern in California, as the summers become hotter and the fires burn longer, causing long-term effects on the environment and ecosystem.

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  • Impact of Climate Change on California’s Wildfires
    Impact of cimate change on California’s wildfires

According to a recent study published in the journal Science Advances by UCI's Department of Earth System Science, fires in the Sierra Nevada ecoregion, a geographical and ecological area in eastern California, have "increased considerably" in recent decades.

The study, led by project specialist Aurora Gutierrez and co-author Dr. James Randerson, discovered that the reason for the increase in fires is a change in vegetation composition and residential development caused by 20th-century fire suppression policies. As a result of these changes, "a new fire regime of infrequent, high-intensity fires" arose in the mid-to-late 1900s.

With population growth and housing development changing land-use patterns, there has been an increase in "denser, more flammable vegetation with a more connected landscape for fire spread."

According to Gutierrez and Randerson, higher temperatures caused by climate change, specifically hotter, drier summers, lengthen the fire season. This, in turn, raises the risk of a fire by drying fuels, increasing their flammability and spreading patterns.

Current climate change patterns further alter the structure and function of the Sierra Nevada ecosystem, and the ecoregion's evolution in response to global warming is unknown.

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Gutierrez and Randerson correctly predicted an increase in fire frequency by examining its relationship with temperature: "the likelihood of fire occurrence increases nonlinearly with daily temperature... a 1°C increase [yielding] a 19% to 22% increase in [wildfire] risk."

The study also stated that "current estimates of past and future fire occurrence relationships may underestimate climate-driven changes in the ignition and initial fire spread." This suggests that focusing on efforts to reduce extreme temperatures may be beneficial in fire prevention even when red flag conditions are not present.

According to the study, the effect of daily temperature on fire occurrence is closely related to the likelihood of the fire escaping human control. Activities that pose a minor fire risk under normal conditions can significantly exacerbate fire spread during hotter periods when vegetation is dry.

Despite temperature conditions returning to normal, Gutierrez and Randerson discovered that fires that started during these heat waves, even if they only lasted a few days, can grow into larger wildland wildfires that are difficult to contain. A higher initial rate of fighter spread was found to increase the resilience of these disasters to subsequent periods of cooler, more humid conditions. 

Aside from the environmental impact, the study found that these heatwaves have a variety of human consequences, stating that "increases in summer heatwaves... will contribute to more hospital visits and higher mortality."

Although the current temperature rise is gradual, the resulting fires and their increased frequency reduce the quality of both air and life in the western United States.

  • Climate change
  • California
  • California Fires
STOP THE HEAT: A Climate Change Coverage

STOP THE HEAT: A Climate Change Coverage

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