The megafires of California
Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires in the western Unite States

Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace In the western United states, with Southern California being the hardest hit area. There's a reason fire squads battling more frequent  blazes in Southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the “Santa Anna Winds". The wildfires themselves ,experts say, are generally hotter, faster ,and spread more erratically than in the past.

Megafires also called ‘siege fires’ are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 5000,000acres or more -10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are amongst the bigger ever in the California in term of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports.

One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers , has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason ,experts say, is related to the century long policy of the US forest service to stop wild fires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush , now the primary fuel for mega fires.

Three other factors contribute to the trend ,they add. The first is climate change, marked by a 1 – degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states .Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were  20 years ago .Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

Complete Notes below
ONE WORD AND / OR  A  NUMBER

Characteristics of wildfires conditions today compared to the past ;

- occurrence      –      more frequent

- temperature   –      hotter

- speed                –      faster

- Movement       -     (1)…………. more unpredictably.

- Size of the fires      (2) …………..  greater on average than two decades ago.

Reasons wildfires cause more damage today compared to the past

-Rainfall (3) ………………. Average

-More brush to act as (4) ……………..

- increase in yearly temperature.

- extended fire (5) ……………………..

-More building of (6) ……………………  in vulnerable places

Please watch the video to find the answers.