Summary Of As Fires Grow

In John Schwartz’s article “As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West”, he discusses about the frequent phenomena of forest fires in American West like California, New Mexico, and Arizona. He points out the different factors of forest fires, from ignited campfires to climate change and firefighting policies. As mentioned in the article, forests are slowly shifting from being carbon absorbers to being carbon emitters. Furthermore, the author incorporates researches about the impacts and ways of managing forest fires, which includes past and current studies. Lastly, the author explains about several ideas and suggestions to overcome the problem, such as thinning the forests, having prescribed burns, and altering the existing policies.

Therefore, the hotter and drier climate during summer may be the cause of the increased wildfires in American West. In addition, forest fires may contribute to the future climate change because there will be less trees to absorb carbon dioxide and the burned trees will release carbon dioxide that they have stored into the atmosphere, leading to a higher level of carbon emission globally. The article also mentioned about the positive feedback loop which happens when the system is changed toward one extreme, “And because forests provide an important natural mechanism for fighting climate change, the stress of hotter drought could become part of a feedback loop of increased warming.”. As a result of hotter and drier conditions, certain species of plant in the American West are vulnerable to endangerment because of their inability to adapt to the climate