34. Wildfires in the West and Climate Change

Sara El-Amine is a progressive senior strategist who was one of the architects of the Obama grassroots movement, playing key roles outside the US White House to pass and implement health care reform, minimum wage, marriage equality, gun violence prevention, climate protections, and more. She is currently Head of Community Engagement at Lyft, where she oversees driver, passenger, and local non-profit engagement for the company. She is also a mom to 1.5 year old, Julius. Climate change has been a key factor in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the Western United States. Wildfire risk depends on a number of factors, including temperature, soil moisture, and the presence of trees, shrubs, and other potential fuel. All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change. Research shows that changes in climate that create warmer, drier conditions, increased drought, and a longer fire season are boosting these increases in wildfire risk. Once a fire starts—more than 80 percent of U.S. wildfires are caused by people—warmer temperatures and drier conditions can help fires spread and make them harder to put out. With Sara we discuss the wildfires happening in the West, effects it’s had for her and her family, the correlation with the wildfires and climate change, local and state-wide action, and what actions you can take on climate change. Contact and connect with Sara: [email protected] Twitter @sara_ela Actions you can take on climate change: https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/7/15749900/how-to-stop-climate-change-actions https://www.activesustainability.com/climate-change/6-actions-to-fight-climate-change/ http://participate.lwv.org/c/9217/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=3804 Climate Change and Wildfires: https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/09/climate-change-increases-risk-fires-western-us/ Wildfire Alerts: http://www.alertwildfire.org/ How you can prevent wildfires in your area: https://smokeybear.com/en/smokey-for-kids/preventing-wildfires https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/wildfire/how-to-prevent-wildfires.html Background Music Credits: https://www.youtube.com/c/mbbmusic https://soundcloud.com/mbbofficial https://www.instagram.com/mbb_music