Californian Wildfires and Population

[tuckerkao]

Is there a possible policy to more evenly distribute the United States populations, so the large cities like Los Angeles don't keep growing. I just read cnn.com and the Californian wildfires burned out of control.

States like Wyoming and South Dakota have a lot of usable lands, in fact they are not too hot, too cold, too dry, or often experience natural disasters such as hurricanes or tornadoes.

I read other posts from some people mentioning about the insufficient water supplies in California. I think it's due too over population. Traffic jams and air pollutions have already become the daily routines and steady rising of the in-city temperatures make the summer season much longer than usual thus cause stronger wildfires.

Click the news link if you are okay to watch the fire burning -
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/10/us/california-fires-maps-photos.html

 

[sophie]

The problem here isn't the cities, so much as it's people living in the scrubland hills and forests who insist (understandably) that CalFire put out each and every fire before it destroys their property. The problem is that California's environment evolved around cyclical fires burning out undergrowth, and when that isn't allowed to happen, the result is detritus build-up, leading to these mega fires that destroy everything. Mega-cities are better for the environment, ultimately, than scattered villages and homesteads.

 

[Arwon]

Also there are eucalyptus trees there now aren't there?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah I think so. Are they officially vulnerable to fire?

 

[Arwon]

They're filled with eucalyptus oil which means they're basically fuel air bombs. They thrive on and promote fire, everything else is vulnerable to them.

They spread fire and use it to distribute seeds pods, and can regenerate from buds in their bark too. They can literally explode and even that can be a reproductive technique. Their oil content is high and forms a mist. Their litter builds up as huge quantities of tinder which is fungus resistent so doesn't break down. During fires their bark and leaves burn slowly and embers of them can be carried by the wind, burning, a long way from the fire front, starting new spot fires.

They've hugely exacerbated forest fires in southern Europe where they've gone feral and crowded out native vegetation. And they're the reason that Australian bushfires are so extravagantly fast, intense and deadly. I was guessing they were an issue in California too.

 

[Cutlass]

The solution is to get more people into cities, and stop the sprawl. Not to sprawl more. Let more of the wild remain wild. For those who choose to live and build in wildfire prone areas, require them to build of flameproof materials, or have no insurance and no government assistance to rebuild.

 

[sophie]

Also there are eucalyptus trees there now aren't there?

There are, but control of the invasive species means they mostly aren't too too pervasive. There are groves of them scattered around, but the problem in terms of flammable plants are much moreso the invasive European annual grasses, that choke out the perennial native bunchgrasses, and dry out and die around June (right around when humidity plummets, temperature spikes and winds start whipping through the valleys), creating TONS of readily available fuel that requires just a tiny spark to engulf entire ridges and valleys in flame.

 

[tuckerkao]

The solution is to get more people into cities, and stop the sprawl. Not to sprawl more. Let more of the wild remain wild. For those who choose to live and build in wildfire prone areas, require them to build of flameproof materials, or have no insurance and no government assistance to rebuild.

The government must provide funds to widen the freeways and major roads in the cities, otherwise there's always a limit to the urban populations.

Unless we can use these Sim City mods: no_commutes_for_jobs, auto_daily_incomes in the real life, people can't just stay at home while still enjoy everything they have.

 

[Zkribbler]

Is there a possible policy to more evenly distribute the United States populations, so the large cities like Los Angeles don't keep growing. I just read cnn.com and the Californian wildfires burned out of control.

States like Wyoming and South Dakota have a lot of usable lands, in fact they are not too hot, too cold, too dry, or often experience natural disasters such as hurricanes or tornadoes.

There are reasons no one wants to live Wyoming and South Dakota. They're bone dry and, in winter, are buried in snow. BTW: California does not got hurricanes nor tornadoes.

I read other posts from some people mentioning about the insufficient water supplies in California. I think it's due too over population.

Los Angeles has been have water problems since the early 1900's. It's built in a desert.

Traffic jams and air pollution have already become the daily routines

Traffic jams, yeah, but not as bad as Atlanta or Houston.

Air pollution was a problem for Los Angeles in the 60's. Most days were 3rd-stage smog alerts. Then the Air Quality Control District was formed. 3rd-stage smog alerts began dropping, then vanished. 2nd-stage smog alerts began dropping, then vanished. Last time I looked, there hadn't been a 1st-stage smog alert for 3 years.

 

[Zkribbler]

Also there are eucalyptus trees there now aren't there?

Only along the "Central Coast." from Ventura up to San Luis Obispo. They're used for windbreaks for agricultural fields. They aren't the problem. The native chaparral is the problem. It reproduces by catching fre and exploding, which scatters the seeds. This is found in rural Southern California.

 

[Silurian]

Why do you need to widen the freeways and major roads in the cities to increase urban populations. In London 37% journeys are made on public transport, 24% by walking and 2% by cycle with only 36% by car.

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-report-9.pdf

 

[Arwon]

Only along the "Central Coast." from Ventura up to San Luis Obispo. They're used for windbreaks for agricultural fields. They aren't the problem. The native chaparral is the problem. It reproduces by catching fre and exploding, which scatters the seeds. This is found in rural Southern California.

I know they were blamed for the Oakland disaster in 1991, thought they might be in this part of the bay area too

 

[Cutlass]

The government must provide funds to widen the freeways and major roads in the cities, otherwise there's always a limit to the urban populations.

Unless we can use these Sim City mods: no_commutes_for_jobs, auto_daily_incomes in the real life, people can't just stay at home while still enjoy everything they have.

These are not problems that are insurmountable. And, in fact, cost less to deal with than sprawl does. At worst you're talking wider roads versus longer roads. And longer roads cost more. At best, more people can walk, bike, and use transit.

 

[sophie]

I know they were blamed for the Oakland disaster in 1991, thought they might be in this part of the bay area too

Central Coast != Bay Area.

 

[tuckerkao]

At best, more people can walk, bike, and use transit.

That's completely true when the crime rates are low.

 

[Cutlass]

That's completely true when the crime rates are low.

Crime isn't the variable here. It's willing to build the transit which is.

 

[Hrothbern]

The government must provide funds to widen the freeways and major roads in the cities, otherwise there's always a limit to the urban populations.

If the urban area is flat enough, bicycles are a much better solution for distances up to 5-10 km, once you have enough bicycle lanes.
Goes well together with a compact city strategy, leaving rural rural also at the edge of a compact city, for fresh air and leisure.
The introduction of electrical aided bicycles has here in the Netherlands become a huge boom in using bicycles, because when the wind is in the wrong direction, or you get older, or the distance is a bit longer, that 20-25 km per hour is guaranteed.
Saves you the cost of a fitness centre, and "lazy sitting in a car" driven obesity as well.

 

[civvver]

There are reasons no one wants to live Wyoming and South Dakota. They're bone dry and, in winter, are buried in snow. BTW: California does not got hurricanes nor tornadoes.

They're also landlocked in the middle of nowhere. Almost every major city is built on a shoreline or river with easy water access. Chicago, Detroit, New York, Houston, San Francisco to name a few. As much as people think oh with modern tech we can just build cities anywhere, it's very expensive to build all that without some natural help from a river or something.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

There are reasons no one wants to live Wyoming and South Dakota. They're bone dry and, in winter, are buried in snow. BTW: California does not got hurricanes nor tornadoes.


Los Angeles has been have water problems since the early 1900's. It's built in a desert.


Traffic jams, yeah, but not as bad as Atlanta or Houston.

Air pollution was a problem for Los Angeles in the 60's. Most days were 3rd-stage smog alerts. Then the Air Quality Control District was formed. 3rd-stage smog alerts began dropping, then vanished. 2nd-stage smog alerts began dropping, then vanished. Last time I looked, there hadn't been a 1st-stage smog alert for 3 years.

California does get occasional typhoons though. But yeah it doesn't compare to the hammering the East and Gulf Coasts get yearly.

LA is not in a desert. It is surrounded by desert but it is not in one. The water problems of the region are real but are offset by the absolutely massive water works the state and city have built over the decades. We came out of a nearly decade long drought intact after all.

 

[Lexicus]

LA is not in a desert. It is surrounded by desert but it is not in one.

Yeah duh it's obviously a plains hill tile.