CHRISTMAS IN HADES- CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

Christmas is approaching. People are expecting to have a good time. People are looking forward to sharing fulfilling time with their loved ones. People are looking forward to exchanging gifts with their loved ones. Those selling Christmas merchandise expect to make good sales. Christmas is rather an all-encompassing festival.

When I was young it was great to be part of Christmas. It was great because I was certainly going to get new clothes. It was great then because there was interesting program lineup. It was then great because pastries would be served, pastries like cake for example.

However, in parts of California, USA, the coming Christmas is not bringing smiles to the faces of some people.  Why? The reason is that wildfires are wiping away some swanky settlements of California. Wildfires have their season in California, however, this year (2017) the fire season has overstepped itself, so to speak. California governor Jerry Brown calls the phenomenon “the new normal”. The season is now extending into Christmas. It appears to be a Christmas in Hades! It is in these very homes, now burnt to ashes, that perhaps many a sweet Christmas had been celebrated.

The raging fires are leaving in their trail burnt homes- entire homes, for that matter burnt communities. In the news CNN said the raging fires have burnt space in California the size of New York City and Boston combined (December 13, 2017). Supposed you were in one of those communities, should the celebration of Christmas be on your mind?

The wildfires are raging in Southern California, just months after Northern California had its share of wildfires (October, 2017). Some areas the wild fires have struck in Southern California are Santa Barbara, San Diego, Ventura and Carpinteria.

Obviously, if you were in those areas what should be on your mind is how not to lose your mental and emotional balance, strengthen them for the rebuilding and restoration task ahead. The Christmas mood should be pushed to the back burner.  

Why is the fire destroying such an expanse of space including life and properties therein? The fire could have remained in a particular area but that is not the case. It is not happening that way because wind (Santa Ana Winds) is spreading the fire facilitated by dryness. The speed of the wind and dryness of vegetation determines the rate at which the fire spreads, and quantity of property destroyed.

What could be the source of the raging fires, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to say it is a new normal? New normal, to my mind, means it is something to expect to happen normally in future after its first happening. Is the source of this “new normal” natural or manmade?

By attribution I have indicated that wind and dryness cause the wildfires to spread. There is yet another factor. That factor is heat. The source of all these three factors is Santa Ana Winds which I have already referred to. These winds occur seasonally resulting in the fires that strike California, USA. The shrub of South California under these conditions becomes ignitable.

The Santa Ana Winds themselves derive their origin and strength from the Great Basin.

Though wildfires in California (South California and Northern California) are seasonal, California Governor Jerry Brown is saying this particular wildfires in Southern California (December 16 wildfires are still raging) is as a result of manmade climate change given the unusualness of the current wildfires. The one material that Santa Ana carries which could be related to climate change is heat. So the obvious question, for me, is to what extent has global warming contributed to heat that Santa Ana brings to the ignition of shrub in Southern California?

However, there is a quick and sharp rebuttal to Governor Jerry Brown’s position. Climate change skeptics argue that a look at the records show that there have been more severe wildfires in Southern California than the ongoing wildfires which Governor Jerry Brown is attributing to climate change. So the debate as to whether climate is manmade or natural rages on like the wildfires themselves.

However you look at it wildfires are destroying life (even if it is animal life- horses are being burnt in Southern California) and property. Wildfires are burning life and property elsewhere on planet Earth. Australia is another example of a country that suffers from wildfires seasonally.

For sure the natural environment was not designed, whether by evolution, series of extinctions or premeditation, to be Hades for living organisms. I am still of the opinion that it behooves man to ensure that there is a balance of chemistry in the natural environment to achieve and maintain a clean and natural environment, not a Christmas in Hades.