Wildfire(s) Out West

tbergs

I can't believe people are still this irresponsible. What a catastrophic decision these teenagers made. If we don't destroy it through pollution, we'll burn it to the ground. 

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2017/09/witness_teens_giggled_as_they.html

Go Beavers

Incredibly beautiful area. It's just straight sadness at this point 

brianlux

The Columbia River Gorge has some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen here in the west and the Multnomah Falls area is (was) absolutely breathtaking in beauty. When my wife called me into the room earlier this evening and showed me footage of this fire, we both just kind of stood there dumbfounded.

This stupid act by these kids is particularly disheartening as massive widespread areas over the western US have been blanketed by smoke for several weeks now.  Our area has had weeks of days where we can't open the windows because of the bad air and every day looks like it's foggy out only it's smoky and hot day and night.  I've had an on and off again cough now for about a week. 

Seriously, friends, we have much bigger issues in this world to focus on besides worrying about some fat ass getting his kicks being pissed on.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

We share the earth with o ton of idiots.

BC has been ravaged by fires where no less than 50% of them have been started by man.

The idea of eugenics is looking better all the time.

PJ_Soul

We are once again suffering from a thick layer of smoke sitting over our city. This is the second long stretch of smoke blocking out the sun this summer. The air stinks, the light is eerie and depressing. We had the same for a week 2 years ago. Before that..... it had never happened before in the previous 39 years of my life. This sucks. Obviously, it doesn't suck as much as it does for all the poor people who have lost their homes and/or livelihoods from it. Or for all the people who live under the threat of evacuation for months. I've been saying for a few years now that BC is going just going burn down one of these days. I think that's inevitable, as it gets hotter and drier all the time.

jeffbr

PJ_Soul said:

We are once again suffering from a thick layer of smoke sitting over our city. This is the second long stretch of smoke blocking out the sun this summer. The air stinks, the light is eerie and depressing. We had the same for a week 2 years ago. Before that..... it had never happened before in the previous 39 years of my life. This sucks. Obviously, it doesn't suck as much as it does for all the poor people who have lost their homes and/or livelihoods from it. Or for all the people who live under the threat of evacuation for months. I've been saying for a few years now that BC is going just going burn down one of these days. I think that's inevitable, as it gets hotter and drier all the time.

Yeah, we're feeling the same thing in Seattle as well. Second stretch for us as well. Really hard to breath, stinging eyes, scratchy throat, sun is blocked by the smoke giving an eerie orange glow to everything. It feels like the entire west is burning now. 74 major wildfires burning in 8 western states. Not to mention the massive fires up where you are in BC. Just brutal.

PJ_Soul

jeffbr said:

PJ_Soul said:

We are once again suffering from a thick layer of smoke sitting over our city. This is the second long stretch of smoke blocking out the sun this summer. The air stinks, the light is eerie and depressing. We had the same for a week 2 years ago. Before that..... it had never happened before in the previous 39 years of my life. This sucks. Obviously, it doesn't suck as much as it does for all the poor people who have lost their homes and/or livelihoods from it. Or for all the people who live under the threat of evacuation for months. I've been saying for a few years now that BC is going just going burn down one of these days. I think that's inevitable, as it gets hotter and drier all the time.

Yeah, we're feeling the same thing in Seattle as well. Second stretch for us as well. Really hard to breath, stinging eyes, scratchy throat, sun is blocked by the smoke giving an eerie orange glow to everything. It feels like the entire west is burning now. 74 major wildfires burning in 8 western states. Not to mention the massive fires up where you are in BC. Just brutal.

Yeah, there are 140 fires burning in BC right now. :( We peaked at something like 200. What we've got right now with one is the biggest wildfire that BC has ever had (4 fires all came together to make 1 giant one). Altogether we've lost 1.5 MILLION hectares this summer. It's really depressing and a big blow to the economy. And yeah, the air we breathe is rough. I'm definitely noticing that part. Just when I'm walking around, my lungs feel kind of heavy and like they can't take as deep a breath as usual. I can't imagine what people with lung disease or asthma feel like.

brianlux

Southern California all the way north well up into BC and east to at least Mid Montana.  A rough year and fire season will last at least though mid October.  Good luck to us all out here!

brianlux

I'm not a big cry baby but this article and the photo just simply brought tears to my eyes.  If you've been there, you get it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fire-devastates-oregons-columbia-gorge---and-nature-lovers/2017/09/06/f347789a-9362-11e7-8482-8dc9a7af29f9_story.html?utm_term=.04a42df8b8ae

tbergs

brianlux said:

I'm not a big cry baby but this article and the photo just simply brought tears to my eyes.  If you've been there, you get it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fire-devastates-oregons-columbia-gorge---and-nature-lovers/2017/09/06/f347789a-9362-11e7-8482-8dc9a7af29f9_story.html?utm_term=.04a42df8b8ae

Just devastating to see. Especially when most are caused by us. 

mfc2006

Unreal

Thirty Bills Unpaid

We are definitely taking shots right now. 

F**k man. This is brutal.

riley540

Even up here in Bellingham the smoke is super thick 

rgambs

It's a bummer.
Our efforts at preventing forest fires only make them worse and more destructive.
The Ponderosa pine forests of western NA are ecosystems which function properly and best when fires sweep through every 5 to 25 years, preventing a litter build up on the forest floor which prevents fires hot enough to burn through the thick, fire resistant bark.
Add bark beetles and drought and you have a real problem for human inhabitants.

It's getting to the point that soon the interior of the continent will be the only safely habitable region.
I wouldn't move to the coast because of the storms and I wouldn't move out west because there's no water.
Soon the populations that inhabit those regions are going to have to decide to move inland, otherwise they will lose all they have.  Multiple times over in many cases.
It's a bummer.

PJ_Soul

rgambs said:

It's a bummer.
Our efforts at preventing forest fires only make them worse and more destructive.
The Ponderosa pine forests of western NA are ecosystems which function properly and best when fires sweep through every 5 to 25 years, preventing a litter build up on the forest floor which prevents fires hot enough to burn through the thick, fire resistant bark.
Add bark beetles and drought and you have a real problem for human inhabitants.

It's getting to the point that soon the interior of the continent will be the only safely habitable region.
I wouldn't move to the coast because of the storms and I wouldn't move out west because there's no water.
Soon the populations that inhabit those regions are going to have to decide to move inland, otherwise they will lose all they have.  Multiple times over in many cases.
It's a bummer.

There aren't any issues on the west coast re storms. I consider the southwest coast (northwest to you) the most habitable region on the continent, and it will be for the longest time. Plenty of water up there, and if you actually stick to the coast, wildfires aren't generally a problem. Obviously Southern California is fucked, but there is a lot more west coast than that. The interior it going to dry up and likely become desert, so that's no good. If anyone asked where it's best to settle for the long term right now, I would definitely recommend the Pacific northwest, BC coast, or Alaska (except for the fact that I don't want swarms of people migrating here, lol). I'm starting to think my best move when I retire is to move even farther north up the coast, like closer to Alaska. It will still be wet and cool up there for a while yet.

Jason P

Sad.  I hiked a lot of those trials in the gorge.  We should consider bringing these back ...

rgambs

PJ_Soul said:

rgambs said:

It's a bummer.
Our efforts at preventing forest fires only make them worse and more destructive.
The Ponderosa pine forests of western NA are ecosystems which function properly and best when fires sweep through every 5 to 25 years, preventing a litter build up on the forest floor which prevents fires hot enough to burn through the thick, fire resistant bark.
Add bark beetles and drought and you have a real problem for human inhabitants.

It's getting to the point that soon the interior of the continent will be the only safely habitable region.
I wouldn't move to the coast because of the storms and I wouldn't move out west because there's no water.
Soon the populations that inhabit those regions are going to have to decide to move inland, otherwise they will lose all they have.  Multiple times over in many cases.
It's a bummer.

There aren't any issues on the west coast re storms. I consider the southwest coast (northwest to you) the most habitable region on the continent, and it will be for the longest time. Plenty of water up there, and if you actually stick to the coast, wildfires aren't generally a problem. Obviously Southern California is fucked, but there is a lot more west coast than that. The interior it going to dry up and likely become desert, so that's no good. If anyone asked where it's best to settle for the long term right now, I would definitely recommend the Pacific northwest, BC coast, or Alaska (except for the fact that I don't want swarms of people migrating here, lol). I'm starting to think my best move when I retire is to move even farther north up the coast, like closer to Alaska. It will still be wet and cool up there for a while yet.

Yeah I was talking about the East coast.
Like you said the actual coast in the west will be fine, but it's going to be pretty crowded when the interior shifts closer to the ocean.
I live in the Great Lakes region, it's going to be a solid area for humans for at least a few hundred years.

PJ_Soul

A little less than 50% of wildfires are human caused in BC (and that included vehicles backfiring and shit I believe). It's not actually a majority here. I don't say this as an excuse for those who cause them through carelessness of course - I just feel like the number of human-caused wildfires is often exaggerated, and I like to stick to the facts. Pretty sure the number is indeed higher in the USA though. More people in less space = more human caused fires, I'm sure.

tbergs

PJ_Soul said:

The fact is, a little less than 50% of wildfires are human caused (and that included vehicles backfiring and shit I believe). It's not actually a majority. I don't say this as an excuse for those who cause them through carelessness of course - I just feel like the number of human-caused wildfires is often exaggerated, and I like to stick to the facts.

To be hovering around 50% is pretty staggering though. That's quite a bit on an annual basis. It comes down to what RG mentioned a while back. Fires will happen regardless of if humans start them. Every natural environment has it's drawbacks to human inhabitants. Ultimately, we are populating far too many places that are not meant to be populated long term. Couple that with our impact on climate change and we've basically created our own mass extinction scenario.

PJ_Soul

tbergs said:

PJ_Soul said:

The fact is, a little less than 50% of wildfires are human caused (and that included vehicles backfiring and shit I believe). It's not actually a majority. I don't say this as an excuse for those who cause them through carelessness of course - I just feel like the number of human-caused wildfires is often exaggerated, and I like to stick to the facts.

To be hovering around 50% is pretty staggering though. That's quite a bit on an annual basis. It comes down to what RG mentioned a while back. Fires will happen regardless of if humans start them. Every natural environment has it's drawbacks to human inhabitants. Ultimately, we are populating far too many places that are not meant to be populated long term. Couple that with our impact on climate change and we've basically created our own mass extinction scenario.

 Oh, I think 75% of the world's population needs to be wiped out, lol, so yeah, I agree that population is a factor here, as it is with most shitty things. Too bad capitalism relies on constant growth, eh?

PJPOWER

It is sombering to see the red sun all the way down here in TX due to the residual smoke from these fires so far away.