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| Photo of fires taken near Rocky Mountain National Park. With little coverage, the fires in Colorado have grow to around 100,000 acres on just Wednesday night alone. The fire in the picture above is East Troublesome. It started on October 14th but has grown immensely since then. Currently the fire is the fourth largest fire in Colorado's history. Three of the top five fires in Colorado have been from 2020 alone. Much of the nearby towns have been evacuated with officials still unsure the consequences. With the wildfire is heading east, fire officials are saying it could combine with the state's largest fire Cameron Peak. The two fires seem to be only 15 miles away and could cause massive damage to the region. So far East Troublesome is 5% contained with the fire still rapidly growing. Already the fire has burned and forced to close the Rocky Mountain National Park. All parts of Colorado have been facing droughts in the past year with obvious repercussions. Most of the East Troublesome fire is fueled by winds and dry pine trees. In just 2020 alone there has been around 61 large wildfires in the US. Currently they cover around 4 million acres. Other states with larger fires have been Oregon, Arizona, and Washington. Most of the state and federal government have different ideas about what the fires are from. The Californian Governor Newsom believes that the large amount of fires is from climate change. The Federal government has claimed it is due to lack of forest management. Either way these fires have been getting worse every year and there needs to be some action. Thousands of firefighters have been fighting the flames with local new channels speculating it could cost around 200 million dollars. With the election right around the corner, much of the news has been centered around politics and not enough on issues that are causing theses fires. What do you think is the cause of these fires and what should the solution be? During the Californian fires, many inmates have been used to help fight the flames. In the future should this be allowed? Whose responsibility should it be to keep the fires at bay by managing forests and cleaning up dead or dry brush? Source: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/926838887/colorado-fire-grows-by-over-100-000-acres-in-1-day-hits-rocky-mountain-national- |
Hey Liam,
ReplyDeleteThose are some really interesting questions. It might be a bit matter of fact, and at this point blatantly obvious, but global warming exists. In our area alone, we're not unfamiliar to wild fires at all. I'm sure we can all sympathize with how terrible it is to live under those conditions. Global warming is a very prominent issue and is only going to get worse over time.
As to whether or not inmates should be firefighters, I think that it all hinges on the severity of the situation. If it's a terrible fire that cannot be controlled readily, then I feel it might be appropriate to have an "all hands needed" mindset. Long term, however, would be a very interesting proposal. Lastly, the responsibility should be more on all of us as a whole, instead of just isolating people designated to keep the forests from burning to begin with. It's easier to point fingers once a fire actually starts instead of looking in the mirror and actually realizing that we are a major proponent of the issue from Global Warming.
I think the largest cause for these fires is the rapid global warming that is currently happening. It causes longer hot and dry seasons, which leads too much of the dry and dead brush and leaves that fuel many of the large fires. In terms of solutions and who is responsible for solving the problems, it's not just one person, or one part of the government or one country that is responsible for coming up with the answer to all the worlds problems. Though this may sound cliché, it is on everyone to do their part, however I do think the U.S. government has to do a better job of managing how we handle climate change. With a president that doesn't believe in global warming this could be pretty difficult but we need to work on reducing fossil fuels and also just believing in science and what scientists say are the best way to slow the global climate change that is happening extremely fast. -Rowan CC
ReplyDeleteWhile I think that the government and especially the Trump administration should step up to fight these fires, us citizens should also be educated on fire prevention and how to be the best environmental citizen that we can be. That being said, you mentioned that “much of the news has been centered around politics and not enough on issues that are causing these fires.” I partly agree; I think that the problem here is that the solutions towards fighting the fires have become part of the politics, where the Trump administration’s stance is mitigation (forest management), whereas the general public is pushing for a more long-term, preventative solution towards climate change and therefore the fires. Obviously, I think that the main cause of the fires is climate change; however, the Trump administration does not seem to recognize this long-term aspect, which will only harm Americans in the future. So, a solution to this would be to elect a president in the upcoming election who actually believes in climate change (Joe Biden) and would innact long-term solutions to these big problems, while also working on the short-term mitigation efforts like forest management; a nice balance.
ReplyDeleteHello Liam,
ReplyDeleteYou pose some great questions, first off the federal government is in the wrong here, no amount of fire management is going to prevent every fire, and forest fires are a small part of effects of global warming, if we dealt with these earlier we wouldn't have this fire in the first place. I don't think inmates should be used to be firefighters. Any fire is deadly, and this one certainly poses a great risk to human life, to potentially 'sacrifice' inmates for the greater good inherently assigns more value to a non-inmate life to an inmate life. Prisoners aren't free labor. However, if inmates are offered compensation for their services as well as adequate training to the point that they could work as firefighters upon release, then I support using inmates to fight the fire. The goal with prisons should be rehabilitation and preparation to live a productive life, not being a slave to the state.
Hey Darshan,
DeleteI definitely agree with you that more needs to be done to fight climate change. Something interesting I found was the the federal government actually owns more than half of all forests in California. Forest management is a much easier but less effective way to fight the fires rather than head on tackling climate change. Regarding the inmates, I feel that if inmates are going to help fight the fires they could get a shorter sentence in jail. Another thing they could de could actually allow ex-convicts to get get additional training and become a firefighters. This could help many ex-convicts in the long run to have a stable job and contribute to society.
I agree with Darshan's point that decreasing climate change would decrease fires, which would in turn decrease the amount of fire management necessary. However, at this current moment, it must be said that Governor Newsom needs to take more responsibility for the fires and enact better fire management policies-that's the sign of a good leader, someone who takes responsibility even when he didn't necessarily cause the problem.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the use of inmates to fight fires, I think it's an OK practice as long as the inmates are doing so voluntarily. If they do a good job, and have an otherwise clean record during their time in prison, I would even suggest that they be released earlier. Ultimately though, the responsibility falls on firefighters to stop the spread and extent of these fires, and as global warming increases, more and more firefighters will be needed to lessen the burden and put up a stronger fight.
I agree that the main cause of these forest fires stems from climate change in addition to the wind conditions that make the fires grow to massive sizes and spread over land faster. There are many short-term and long-term solutions to help stop these forest fires, such as reducing carbon emissions which helps stop climate change.
ReplyDeleteIn the future, I think that inmates should continue to be allowed to help fight fires, as they volunteer for these jobs and are trained by actual firefighters. In addition, the system currently in place has benefits as it allows inmates to make a little more money than what they currently earn in prison and gives them training for life after prison, which in turn reduces recidivism. I believe that everyone is responsible, as many people continue to disregard global warning. The responsibility also falls on the government and forest management for not keeping up with certain practices that would have made the forest fires less harmful.
I agree with you that the main reasons for the amount of fires is from global warming. This year has had some record high temperatures which have only been going up for the last decade. Across the globe, there has been evidence of climate change for many years. It is sad to see that many leaders don't believe it is a real threat to not only the country but Earth.
DeleteHi Liam! I enjoyed reading your post and I thought that you brought up some great points in your questions. First off, there is no doubt that these fires are causing a lot of harm to animal habits, the ecosystem, and humans. Not to mention its effects on climate change. I know that forest management does have a lot to do with maintaining forests to prevent these fires. I think it's very important to educate the public on these harmful effects so that we can do something to combat it. In addition making more jobs in forest management may be helpful as well. A lot of times these large fires do overexert firefighters and I do think that in that case, inmates trained for these situations could be beneficial. That is, as others have commented it is voluntary. This is a win not only to alleviate the outstretched fire department but also help the inmate not only get experience in the field and improve their record. -Elizabeth Langley
ReplyDeleteHey Liam! Your questions are really interesting. I definitely agree with Sakshi on the damaging consequences of climate change. I believe that wild fires in both California and Colorado have worsened because of a more intense dry season, which causes there to be an abundance of dry brush that exacerbates wildfires. Climate change is an issue that has to be faced head-on by our federal government, but carbon-reducing and climate friendly policies do not provide much short-term relief. State governments should have the responsibility of managing their own land, carrying out robust forest management programs that include things such as controlled burns. In regard to your question about inmates, I feel that the use of prison labor should be strictly voluntary. Prisoners should receive fair compensation for the work that they do, especially if it is dangerous and life-threatening. I agree with Darshan's statement about prisons needing to have the goal of rehabilitation; work opportunities such as fighting fires can be a way for inmates to reintegrate themselves into society and develop important life skills.
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