Malibu Fires Essay examples -- essays research papers

Malibu Fires     Human beings atomic number 18 able to adapt to almost any environment, alassometimes we take advantage of our natural adjoins. We find ourselvesamidst a argue between our lifestyles and disposition. Although we affect nature profoundly with our activities, we in turn are shaped by natures potent forces.Nature can be savage to military personnel, only when we must remember that it merely is followingits course. As a result, we must learn to coexist with it. Fire is a naturallyoccurring phenomenon which human have learned to deal with through divulge history.Yet when crowd out burn uncontrollably, there is great potential for monumentaldamage to all surrounding biomass. The Malibu wildfires are an example of one(a)such instance.     Historically, wildfires had been left to burn rampant for weeks.Fires were caused by different sources such as lightning or human hunters whoprecious to chase animals out of the woods. As prolonged as these fires were,they had limited catastrophic effects on the nomadic humans. This is due to thelow population tautness and the fact that the fires were not very intense. Aspeople began to change from a hunting-gathering society to agriculturists, theysettled in communities. Homes built among the wild brush were unblemished prey towildfires. Initially, wildfires were put out immediately and people were barredfrom ground fires in open spaces. Due to the policy of fire suppression, onlyone percent of all wildfires escaped early control. The land was safe fromfires temporarily, but this set the stage for catastrophe as the brush grew more(prenominal)dense.      there have been more than 20 catastrophic wildfires in Los AngelesCounty since the beginning of organised fire protection. The first "big one"happened in December of 1927. The fire started in the La Crescenta Valley,climbed over the Verdugo Mountain range and destroyed more than 10 0 homes.     In addition to the damage caused in 1927, fires have profoundly affectedthe Southern California environment. Almost every square slub of chaparral landin Los Angeles county has been burned-out at least once, since 1919. on that point arebasically two large fire breeding rationality in Los Angeles county the SanGabriel Mountain range and the Santa Monica Mountains. In 1993, the KinneloaFire ... ...xperience.     Human beings strive to fight nature by trying to change or inflame itsnatural surroundings for the sole benefit of consumption. This is not only enceintefor the environment, but also for its inhabitants. When Malibu was home to theChumash Indians, aging vegetation was periodically burned to foster growth of newvegetation. The Chumash, who were more closely connected to nature than we arenow, learned how and when to cause fires. "A long time past the Chumash werehere and they used to burn the brush every once a nd a while. It did wonders forthe vegetation. the flowers were so beautiful. Then we built houses in theirway. we really should not be here (Resident of Malibu)." Perhaps we shouldlearn from their techniques rather than allowing the chaparral to dry out anddie (causing a high fire risk), we should clear out old vegetation to preventmassive fires and learn to respect the environment in which we live in, notabuse it. Nature is not mans enemy, but should be seen as an ally. Humansneed to learn about their environment in hopes that a better understanding ofnatural processes will help humans to peacefully coexist with it.