© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Your Call

Your Call: How is climate change fueling larger and more frequent wildfires?

Matthew Keys
/
flickr
Valley Fire damage in Middleton, California

  

On the September 23rd edition of Your Call, we're talking about the increasing number of wildfires blazing across California. 

Because of climate change, fire season is now 78 days longer than it was in 1970, according to the U.S. Forest Service. 
 
So far 5,345 wildfires have raged across California this year. That’s about 1,500 more than last year at this time. How is the drought, intensified by global warming, fanning the flames? How are communities responding?
 
Guests:

Chris Denny with LoveLakeCounty.org. 

Hugh Safford is the Regional Ecologist for the USDA-Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region (California, Hawaii, Pacific territories), and also holds a research position in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California-Davis. 

Valerie Trouet is a tree-ring scientist and an associate professor at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona.  

Web Resources:
 

LoveLakeCounty.org

Motherlode: Butte Fire, Relief Resources and Ways to Help

Tassajara Fire relief efforts info

ABC 7 News: HOW TO HELP PEOPLE AFFECTED BY WILDFIRES IN LAKE COUNTY, NAPA COUNTY -- GIVE #WHEREYOULIVE

Unacceptable Risk, Firefighters on the frontlines of climate change:  Unacceptable Risk (film)

Cal Fire: Current Fire Information

Rolling Stones: What Megablazes Tell Us About the Fiery Future of Climate Change

New York Times: After Years of Drought, Wildfires Rage in California

Washington Post: Alaska’s terrifying wildfire season and what it says about climate change

US Forest Service: Climate Change

LA Times: Sierra Nevada snowpack is much worse than thought: a 500-year low

The Guardian: Monster wildfire season grips west coast residents with fears of future devastation

National Geographic: Watch Western Wildfires Burn After Years of Drought

San Jose Mercury News: Many Lake County residents, already suffering from poverty and poor health, besieged again