California is known for many things–Disneyland, Hollywood, its beaches and more. But now more than ever, with the frequency of wildfires in the state, it seems that people cannot avoid mentioning the fires when the topic of California comes up. They’ve gotten so frequent that Californians residents are no longer surprised when a fire sweeps through. Can something be done?

California Wildfire

California’s yearly fire season

California’s fire season has gotten worse over the years –lasting longer and becoming more destructive. Compared to the prior decades, the fire-affected zone has doubled every year since the year 2000. Unfortunately, it’s believed that this will only worsen over time. After more than a century of suppressing these fires, Californian forests are now overgrown, and this poses even more of a danger. Some parts of the land hold three to five times as many trees compared to previous years. Now that they are crowded into a small space, trees have also grown weak as they compete for water, nutrients and sunlight. On top of that, shrubs and small plants tend to multiply in wet weather, increasing the risk of kindling once dried.

How can this be prevented?

You may think that there is no solution -but some smart tactics can actually be implemented to help limit these forest fires. These tactics aim to restore the forests back to healthy, historic conditions where the trees were widely spaced apart from each other with diverse native grasses and wildflowers growing below. These techniques are often referred to as climate-smart or holistic forest restoration. The most critical thing to do now is to bring back vitality to the forests. Thinning overgrown trees and leaving the largest and most flame-resistant trees can help the land survive the unpredictable climate. With empty spaces left behind by strong flames, new seedlings can be hand-planted at more of a distance apart to prevent the widespread of fire in the future.
It’s only a matter of time before these vast forests become natural casualties to the dreaded California wildfires-so it is important that we do whatever we can to help counteract these catastrophes. At Citygreen, our vision revolves around turning the world into an effective green space where all mankind can sustainably benefit from its natural resources. That’s why we align our products and solutions towards building and nurturing a healthy environment.

Source: News article
Image: https://www.latimes.com/