Environmental Science Blog

Over the summer, I have visited Minnesota for a Scout canoeing trip and Oregon to visit family. The biggest surprise for me was the wildfires in both states. In Minnesota, my canoeing crew was forced to end our trip two day early because the fires pushed us out. At one point we could see fires across the lake we were on. I won’t forget that sight for a long time. In Oregon, the wildfires made us anxious and scared the whole time because of the air quality and the potential of fires coming close to us. I visit Oregon over the summer every year for almost 7 years, and nothing ever bothered my visits until now. This hasn’t just affected me. Currently four states have reported large fires, and about 2.5 million acres are actively on fire according to National Interagency Fire Center (https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn).

The cause of this is the hot temperatures, and dryness of these areas. This makes these areas incredibly vulnerable to wildfires so something as small as a cigarette butt can start it. Recently, it feels like the fires have intensified. However, based on statistics by the National Interagency Fire Center the amount of fire for this year up to today is slightly below the average for the last ten years. See the graph I plotted below.

According to the National Park Service, “Nearly 85 percent of wildland fires in the United States are caused by humans. Human-caused fires result from campfires left unattended, the burning of debris, equipment use and malfunctions, negligently discarded cigarettes, and intentional acts of arson”(https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluation.htm). Another small percentage of wildfire causes is lightning. Right now, wildfires are coming up everywhere because of the heat and dryness. This is the result of global warming