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The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, July 23, 2024, p. 28

Los Angeles – Several states in the western United States are suffering from wildfires that were spreading out of control yesterday, while a heat wave continues to dehydrate the region.

More than 30 million people are affected by the weather conditions, with thermometers reaching temperatures above 40 degrees in some locations in states such as California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.

In California alone, firefighters are battling more than 20 blazes, according to official reports.

Two of them forced evacuation orders to be issued in two towns in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, where the flames have devoured 8 square kilometres and reduced several buildings to ashes.

After two wet winters, California entered an early fire season that is looking very activeCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom warned this month.

The flames have already consumed 840 square kilometers of forests and vegetation in the Golden State, a considerably high size compared to the five-year average for the same period, which is around 156 square kilometers.

The state also sent firefighters to neighboring Oregon, where the fires are also raging.

The fire Cow Valleyone of the twenty that are advancing in the demarcation, consumed more than 400 square kilometers last week in a rural region. In Salt Lake City, Utah, just over 40 homes had to be evacuated as another fire spread.

The West, especially California, has suffered through about 20 years of dramatic drought, but the last two years have been relatively wet, with high levels of rainfall that replenished reservoirs and allowed forests and grasslands to grow.

However, 2024 is shaping up to be a hot and dry year, and that flora is rapidly drying out, becoming fuel for wildfires.

Extreme weather events have become increasingly common in the face of global warming caused by the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels, scientists say.