The Danger of California Wildfires and How to Curb These Disasters

Emergency and Disaster Management: Climate Change: The Danger of California Wildfires and How to Curb These Disasters
Introduction
Dry vegetation, rising temperatures, and drought conditions significantly contribute to wildfires in California, which are deteriorated by the adverse consequences of climate change. For instance, in 2020, California experienced the worst season of wildfires in the history of the United States of America (USA). Notably, there were about 10,000 blazes that burned more than 4 million acres, accounting for over 4% of the land area in the state (Lai, 2021). Currently, California is renowned for its devastating wildfire seasons that occur from late summer to early autumn. In the last two decades, the wildfires have become increasingly more destructive and intense since they take longer to control, which leads to the destruction of the natural habitat of many animals and plants. The research proposal focuses on how climate change contributes to the prevalence of wildfires in California and what emergency management measures can be implemented by the federal, local, and state governments to combat these disasters.
Problem Statement
This research will examine whether the primary cause of wildfires in California is climate or not, and come up with possible solutions to prevent the high prevalence of this disaster. In particular, climate change has been proven to be a key factor that contributes to the increased prevalence of wildfires in California. For instance, California is said to be experiencing longer warmer seasons during summer, which makes the vegetation dry due to the lack of rainfall. On that note, dried vegetation serves as the kindling for forest fires.
The issue of wildfire appears to be getting out of hand, which is why something should be done to protect forests from this devastating catastrophe. Since 2020, there have been approximately 15,800 fires in California that have burned about 6 million acres of land (Bennett, 2021). About 12% of the wildfire ignitions worldwide occur naturally, such as lighting, and it is difficult to prevent. However, the actual problem is intentional or accidental human-caused ignitions that account for around 90% in California (Bennett, 2021). The common causes of fire ignitions include fireworks, unattended campfires, car fires, throwing burning cigarettes carelessly, arson, burning debris, and equipment malfunction, such as power lines, tractors, and trucks. As such, negligence is the significant challenge that lead to wildfire ignitions in California, and which can be prevented by implementing proper measures.
From the look of things, the latest wildfires in California are more devastating than what used to be experienced in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The following figure shows the comparison of wildfire's magnitude in the past and currently.
Figure 1
The High Prevalence and Detrimental Effects of Wildfires in California
(Source: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148908/whats-behind-californias-surge-of-large-fires)
Figure 1 depicts the total area affected by wildfires in California, and the average size of these fires has been increasing. Idaho State University’s remote sensing ecologist, Keith Weber, who is also a principal i...