While most people in the U.S. are looking at Houston and East Texas due to Hurricane Harvey's devastation and also now looking at Florida as it prepares to be hit by Hurricane Irma...there is devastation happenings right now in the States of California, Oregon and Washington. Due to a summer of RECORD high heat and lots of dryness, wildfires have started and caused damage to many homes and areas on the West Coast.


https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/09/wildfires-rage-across-the-american-west/538977/


Most of the pictures in this article are so beautiful but yet scary. The pictures look like are from an apocalyptic movie but they are 100% real. Mother Nature is REALLY angry.

Stay safe to all of those who are in the areas affected by these wildfires. We haven't forgotten about you West Coast!

I live in Washington State near the Oregon border and the air is so bad here. There's a fire next to where I live  which was started by 15-year-olds who were playing with fireworks.  It's the Columbia Gorge fire.

I live in Washington State near the Oregon border and the air is so bad here. There's a fire next to where I live  which was started by 15-year-olds who were playing with fireworks.  It's the Columbia Gorge fire.

Those 15 year olds are a bunch of knuckleheads.

Anyways, I hope that you stay safe.

Those 15 year olds are a bunch of knuckleheads.

Anyways, I hope that you stay safe.

Thanks Man!

Thanks Man!

You're welcome! :).

There has been one in north Los Angeles, near Sunland/Tujunga (actually closer to the hills at the north end of Burbank); it was 90% contained according to the latest news updates.

There has been one in north Los Angeles, near Sunland/Tujunga (actually closer to the hills at the north end of Burbank); it was 90% contained according to the latest news updates.

That's great to hear!.

That's climate change for ya.

That's climate change for ya.

Maybe. It was caused due to a summer of record high heat and also dryness. Wildfires happen often in those states but not so many and over such a big amount of area. However, it seems like the authorities have it covered for the most part.

Maybe. It was caused due to a summer of record high heat and also dryness. Wildfires happen often in those states but not so many and over such a big amount of area. However, it seems like the authorities have it covered for the most part.


Right, I'm not saying climate change "caused" the wildfires; this is of course an observed phenomenon for many years. What climate change does bring to the table is making these wildfires worse than they would otherwise be, as you have observed.

It's possible this has also contributed to the ridiculously strong hurricanes we've been seeing lately. Obviously climate change doesn't cause hurricanes or hurricane season, but the strengths of these storms have been what are supposed to be one-in-a-hundred-year events. Yet we've now had at least two just this year of that magnitude.

Right, I'm not saying climate change "caused" the wildfires; this is of course an observed phenomenon for many years. What climate change does bring to the table is making these wildfires worse than they would otherwise be, as you have observed.

It's possible this has also contributed to the ridiculously strong hurricanes we've been seeing lately. Obviously climate change doesn't cause hurricanes or hurricane season, but the strengths of these storms have been what are supposed to be one-in-a-hundred-year events. Yet we've now had at least two just this year of that magnitude.

Yeah, you're correct in that assessment.

That's great to hear!.

Thanks. I am somewhat familiar with that area, having grown up a few miles away from it.

That's also the general location where the "Station Fire" burned in September 2009. The house from the movie E.T. was threatened in that blaze, but the guy who lives there was able to help the firefighters save it, so it is still standing.

Thanks. I am somewhat familiar with that area, having grown up a few miles away from it.

That's also the general location where the "Station Fire" burned in September 2009. The house from the movie E.T. was threatened in that blaze, but the guy who lives there was able to help the firefighters save it, so it is still standing.

Oh that's awesome.

Oh that's awesome.

Yeah, the place, even though it is a private family home, is still kindof a "landmark" in a sense because it was used in a very popular movie. Also, even though that fire was eight years ago, it is still fairly close to the location of a more recent blaze.