Region 1 Be PreparedRegion 1 Be Prepared
  • Home
  • About Us
    • ClimateImagination LLC
    • Dave Brauer-Rieke
  • CONNECT
    • Oregon Prepare
    • Newsletters
      • Subscribe
      • Update or Unsubscribe
    • Lutheran Community Services NW
      • LCSNW COVID Stories of Hope
    • LSS of Alaska
    • Lutheran Disaster Response
    • Lutherans Restoring Creation
    • Region 1 Synods
    • Sermons and Devotions
    • VOADs
  • LEARN
    • Resource Library
    • Current News
    • Climate Related News
    • Hammer and Dance Newsletter
      • Subscribe
    • Sermons and Devotions
    • Webinars
  • ENGAGE
    • Calendar of Events
    • Webinars
  • CURRENT CRISES
    • COVID-19
      • Region 1 Synod COVID Resoruces
        • Alaska Synod
        • NWWA Synod
        • SWWA Synod
        • Oregon Synod
        • NWIM Synod
        • Montana Synod
    • Umatilla Flood
    • Wildfires
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Information
    • Schedule an Appointment
September 23, 2020
Smoke hung in the air at Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne, Ore., last weekRachel La Corte/Associated Press

Smoke is back in the West

By Julia Rosen

Over the last month, huge wildfires have laid siege to the West Coast. The shroud of smoke that came with them offers both a glimpse of the future and a reminder of the past.

Once upon a time, smoke was simply part of life in the American West. Many ecosystems evolved to tolerate and even depend on fire, which occurred regularly because of lightning, Native American burning practices, and later, settlers.

In the early 20th century, though, the U.S. government resolved to stamp out wildfires. And for a while, it succeeded, ushering the country through decades of anomalously fire-free, smoke-free summers.

Now, that legacy of suppression has created a fire debt that must be paid back — with interest, because of climate change — either through controlled burns or out-of-control blazes.

And that means learning to live with smoke again.

“We’re going to have to accept that you are going to have seasonal smoke in the same way that you may have seasonal allergies,” said Stephen Pyne, an environmental historian and emeritus professor at Arizona State University.

To learn what that might look like, check out our report from Portland, Ore., where my family’s been hunkered down inside for a good part of the past month.

New York Times Climate News

 

Business Information

ClimateImagination LLC
4262 SE Belmonst St. #401
Portland, OR USA 97215

+1 971-255-9331

dave@climateimagination.com

In Association With

Lutheran Disaster Response ELCA
Lutheran Community Services Northwest
Lutheran Social Services of Alaska
Alaska Synod ELCA
Montana Synod ELCA
Northwest Intermountain Synod ELCA
Northwest Washington Synod ELCA
Oregon Synod ELCA
Southwestern Washington Synod ELCA

Recent posts

  • Disaster Insurance & Important Documents
    February 22, 2021
  • Disaster Preparedness Gift Giving
    February 22, 2021
  • Oregon State Resources
    February 22, 2021
  • Health Preparedness, Information and Training
    February 22, 2021