One of the longest lasting and most expensive
natural disasters in 2015 took place in California.
Where a period of drought has been ongoing for several years.
And this summer, the situation is dire.
The landscape is scorched.
Water levels are at their lowest point and the sun keeps shining.
A highly inflammable combination that rages
through the region's forests every year.
Forest fires hit the southwestern states.
But in 2015, they reach epic proportions.
Fires start spontaneously in four different areas of California,
as well as in Washington, Oregon, Utah and Montana.
As many as 30 fires burn simultaneously at the height
of summer, mobilizing 11,000 firemen from all over the country.
I was driving force simply because you had blocking
weather systems, which were preventing the storm s,
actually coming into California in the winter because the
rainfall in California is almost entirely in the winter.
And actually over the last few years, the
weather patterns have prevented the storms coming in.
The blame for the drought lies with a relatively unknown weather phenomena.
Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
It's characterized by abnormally cooled surface waters in the Pacific,
which push warm waters to the north and south.
El Niño is a phenomenon that we see every two to seven years.
This is a phenomenon which oscillates over decades and which
brings up positive temperature anomaly to the coastal North America.
We have on one hand global warming, which is ongoing.
And on the other hand, California with the
Mediterranean type climate and very little rainfall.
The projection for the future is that if we don't
do anything, there will be less and less water.
On top of that , we can add this decadal variation, with fairly warm water off the
coast of California, which has been there for several years and which reduces rainfall in this area.
The damage caused by these forest fires is catastrophic.
It's the worst dry season in the last decade in the United States.
Fires have consumed 31,600 square kms of land in the southwest.
The equivalent of the entire state of Maryland,
burned to a crisp in a few months.
Six people, including two firemen, lost their lives.
17,000 residents had to be moved to avoid being trapped by the fires.
Financial loss is estimated at $3 billion.
A heavy toll even for these wealthy states.
