Well, this is a bummer. Because the People’s Republik Of California and it’s citizens have been utterly irresponsible in managing their forests and not setting fires, things are doomy
2020 wildfire season in California wiped away 16 years of climate gains
The wildfires that have scorched the West in recent years are not just a consequence of climate change, they also are an increasingly sizable driver of the problem, according to a new study.
The research paper, published Monday in the journal Environmental Pollution, finds that California’s wildfires in 2020 caused twice the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that the state successfully cut between 2003 and 2019. In other words, 2020’s wildfire season, which set a record for the number of acres burned in the state, essentially wiped out 16 years of progress California had made on climate change through efforts such as replacing fossil fuels with clean energy.
Well, except for the Elites of the PRC, including folks like Gavin Newsom and his fossil fueled vacation, who drive in their big limos/SUVs, take lots of private fossil fueled flights, and live in giant mansions.
Since wood is full of stored carbon dioxide — the most prevalent greenhouse gas — it is emitted when the wood burns. As average temperatures have grown warmer, California and other Western states have experienced more heat waves and droughts, which are risk factors for wildfires. Currently, a 22-year megadrought is parching the West, forcing water authorities in parts of California to institute water usage limits for residents. The state is also experiencing intensified heat waves.
Consequently, wildfires have become more prevalent. Eighteen of the 20 largest wildfires in California’s history have occurred since 2000. The eight largest have all been since 2017, five of them in 2020 alone. The biggest fire in state history, the August Complex Fire in 2020, burned more than 1 million acres of land.
The West tends to be dry, and historical data shows that there have been points during previous Holocene warm periods of prolonged drought and wildfires. Nowadays, the eco-loons make sure that brush and dead wood cannot be cleared, sue over fire-breaks, and sue over modernization of things like transmission lines. Pretty much every wildfire can be traced back to incompetence, often with electric infrastructure, mistakes with camping fires, and straight up arson.
Now, we also know how much emissions were created by all that burning wood, and they accounted for 30% of California’s total emissions, making wildfires the second-largest source of emissions in the state, after transportation.
Well, looks like the big wigs in the PRC need to start restricting the peons from taking fossil fueled travel, require turning the heat down and the AC up, limiting their use of appliances. Just to be sure.
Read: Bummer: 2020 PRC Wildfires Ruined Their Climate Apocalypse Actions »