The glow from the Santa Clara Unit (SCU) Lightning Complex Fire over the hills and mountains of Del Valle Regional Park near Livermore, California. The SCU wildfires, sparked by intense lightning and thunderstorms, started on August 16, 2020. Photo by Kitera Dent on Unsplash.
As of this weekend, 97 large fires have burned 4.7 million acres across the American West, causing widespread evacuations in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho and Utah. The smoke from these summer wildfires has spread very widely over the region, curtailing outdoor activity and sending many to the hospitals with respiratory ailments, heat attacks and strokes. Will this move us any closer to achieving a consensus on the topic of dealing with climate change?