Hot Topic: We Need to Talk About the West Coast Wildfires
As pictures of orange, ominous skies appear across the news and social media, horrific wildfires continue to be a destructive force of nature throughout the Pacific Northwest. With such a rapid rate of expansion, these fires have created mandatory evacuations, poor air quality, a surge of climate change concerns and an overall sense of anguish and despair amongst millions of American citizens during this difficult time.
The initial El Dorado Fire began early Saturday, September 5 after a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” was used at a San Bernardino County gender-reveal party. It has continued to spread throughout California and into parts of Oregon and Washington state, according to Hollie Silverman and Amir Vera of CNN. This comes after an already difficult year of wildfire trauma in California, with a record-breaking 3.2 million acres of Californian land having burned this year alone, creating concerns for meteorologists and scientists everywhere. Research additionally shows that these exceptionally quick-moving and catastrophic fires are most likely a product of climate change, says Jill Cowan of the New York Times. The unlikely mix of severe heat waves, dry weather and other extremes continue to exacerbate the consequences of the wildfires appearing in the Pacific Northwest.
And in less than two weeks, the most recent of these fires has quickly become one of the most dangerous in history. Data from the National Interagency Fire Center reveals that in total, 79 wildfires over the past two months have together burned almost 5 million acres of land, including homes, national parks and entire towns along the way.
Unfortunately, some members of our own community have been affected by this tragedy. Elon junior Allie Forsterer’s hometown of Medford, Oregon, was recently evacuated and has experienced the poor air quality witnessed throughout the country.
“My family in southern Oregon has to evacuate,” says Forsterer. “Also, the air quality was hazardous in my town, and we couldn’t see across the street for multiple days.”
Luckily, Elon University students can aid the victims of these wildfires. Efforts such as donating, sharing stories and advocating for local charities are all safe and helpful ways to support the frontline workers and those who have been most impacted by these natural disasters. The Red Cross provides a great guide for college students hoping to provide any kind of assistance for those affected.