As of August 15, 2012 more than 70 wildfires swept through the US burning in at least 13 states west of the Mississippi River, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. As scorching temperatures and low humidity refuse to give in potential for these fires to continue out of control is favorable. The National Weather Service said a weather pattern developing in parts of Oregon could produce "explosive fire growth". Also, thunderstorms could form at any time having the ability to create new fires due to lightning strikes sparking new flames. Thousands of firefighters along with the Marines, U.S. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard due all the can to fight the fires that had already burned through 6.47 million acres. According to the National Interagency Fire Center these fires surpassed the 6.36 million acres that burned through the western US at this time last year. Overall, the wildfires are only 3.4 million acres short of the record amount of acres burned which took place in 2006, burning a total of 9.87 million acres.
Many speculate that global warming due to human activity, such as deforestation, is the culprit for these wildfire tragedies. Others say at this point it’s time to put the blame game away and take action, meaning the leadership of the president and congress. They need to step up and work on rebuilding our country instead of worrying about everyone else. Issues that could be addressed to help this type of tragedy include water management, fire protection-more aircraft, manpower, and flood control.The image to the left shows one of the many wildfires burning out of control in Colorado (2012).
Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/16/us/western-wildfires/index.html
Image sources: http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/07/2012-US-Wildfires-Google-Crisis-Response-4-537x357.jpg
http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2012/06/11/280898-colorado-wildfire-2012.jpg
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