2020 Western United States wildfire season

A view of the wildfires in Los Angeles

In 2020, the Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires.

Intense August thunderstorms lit many wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast.

Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking, fire cloud producing,[1] megafires,[2] burning more than 4.6 million acres (1.9 million hectares) of land. It has killed at least 35 people, with many more still missing.[3]

Climate change and poor forest management practices led to the severity of the wildfires.[4]

2020 Western United States Wildfire Season Media

References

  1. "California's Creek Fire Creates Its Own Pyrocumulonimbus Cloud". NASA. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  2. Freedman, Andrew (September 11, 2020). Western wildfires: An 'unprecedented' climate change fueled event, experts say. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/11/western-wildfires-climate-change/. Retrieved September 11, 2020. 
  3. "Historic Wildfires Rage in Western States" (in en-US). The New York Times. September 10, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331 . https://www.nytimes.com/article/wildfires-photos-california-oregon-washington-state.html. Retrieved September 14, 2020. 
  4. Is climate change worsening California fires, or is it poor forest management? Both, experts say. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved: September 14, 2020.