Climate Change and Fire Exclusion

After the founding of the united states, this colonial strategy of fire suppression became official federal policy. Suppressing smaller, less dangerous fires meant that forests got denser and when fires did break out, they were bigger and more intense. Denser forests also lead to drought, because there are more trees drawing water out of the ground. And then you have a change in that forest of a bunch of thirsty vegetation that, when they don't get enough water, they die, and they become now of fuel. That feeds into the next fire. It went they burn. And that's where we are to day, trapped in this vicious cycle that builds on itself,. leading to bigger and bigger fires.

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