Utahns should pay considerable attention to the wildfires in Australia; not just because of their tragic nature, which is considerable and worthy of prayers, contributions and any other appropriate help, but because similar things could happen here.
As the devastating fires in Paradise, California, showed in 2018, the Western United States is not immune from such disasters, and the chances they might occur seem to be growing as climate change leads to warmer temperatures and more sustained and severe droughts.
The Australian fires, which as of Monday had engulfed 14.7 million acres and killed at least 25 people and perhaps a half billion animals, have been exacerbated by such conditions.
Utah currently is experiencing healthy water conditions, with snowpack levels above average statewide. That may give people a false sense of security. Droughts have been common here in recent years. In 2018, sparse rainfall resulted in wildfires that destroyed 370 structures.
”Generally, over the last few decades, we’ve been seeing a number of national trends,” a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center told the Deseret News back then. “That is longer fire seasons — fire seasons starting earlier in the spring, lasting longer into the fall.”
Despite the current relatively wet season, that hasn’t changed.
The Verisk state risk report for 2019 said 14% of Utah’s housing stock is located in areas with a moderate risk for wildfires, while another 14% is in areas with high to extreme risks.
Utah also is experiencing steady population growth. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah just released figures showing Utah led all states in growth during the previous decade, increasing by 442,000 people, or 16%, since 2010. And while the state still is only the 30th most populous among the 50 states, that steady growth means more and more people will build homes in areas susceptible to wildfires.
That same Gardner Institute, with the help of a 37-member technical advisory committee, just released a study the state Legislature commissioned on ways to improve the state’s air quality and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The study said Utah’s average temperature has increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years. In some parts of the state, the snowpack decreased almost 80% between 1955 and 2013. Because of this, forests are more susceptible to diseases and pests, which helps wildfires to become more frequent and destructive.
The committee is forwarding seven recommendations to the Legislature. Many of these focus on ways to spur market-based solutions to air quality. Some, however, ask the state to invest more by establishing an “air quality/changing climate solutions laboratory,” and to expand the infrastructure needed to accommodate more electric vehicles. Another is to convert all state vehicles to alternative fuels.
The main recommendation, however, is to adopt an emissions-reduction goal that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions statewide by 50% between now and 2030, the year Utah hopes to once more host the Winter Olympics. Other pollutants are to be reduced 50% from 2017 levels by 2050.
A changing climate, pollution, health impacts and wildfire dangers are interrelated.
If state lawmakers take these recommendations seriously, if vulnerable homeowners do more to protect their property from fires, and if state and federal land management agencies do more to better manage forests and undergrowth, Utah could do a lot to keep a lid on wildfires.
That would save lives and property, while ensuring the state continues to grow and thrive.