Wildfires are a fact of life in California but extent and devastation in the American West feel dramatic this year: More than 5 million acres of uncontrolled fires lead to incredible footage on the news & reports of orange skies in Oakland or San Francisco. ↠Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/TerraMaterO...

The 2020 fire season has broken almost every record in terms of frequency and ferocity.
We analyzed several factors like climate change, housing development and fire suppression & management to see what's behind the largest and most destructive wildfires in the state’s history and what can be done to solve the worsening problem?

This video is part of our wildfire series, covering forest & bush fires around the world to create a better understanding and see how they are connected. Have a look at our wildfire playlist (   • Are We Making it Worse? | Arctic Wild...  ) and be sure to subscribe and turn the notifications on so you won't miss a video!

#terramatters #wildfires

Producer: Philip-Jaime Alcazar    / philipalcazar  
Assistant Producer: Katrin Blass
Executive Producer: Eva Schmidt
Motion Graphics: Elias Freiberger
Voice Over: Julian Nightingall
Music: RedBull Audio Library
Sound Design: Hupo Weninger

Production:
Terra Mater Factual Studios GmbH
[email protected]
@terramater

Quotes & Sources:
[1] NY Times / NASA Terra & Aqua satellite data: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

[2] NY Times / NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, National Interagency Fire Center: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

[3] CAL FIRE: California Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), egis.CALFIRE:
https://gis.data.ca.gov/datasets/789d...

[4] UC Berkeley / Boston University / George Washington University; Michael L. Mann et al.: Modeling residential development in California from 2000 to 2050: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...!

[5] San Francisco Chronicle, California Fire Map & Tracker:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/...

[6] University of Colorado-Boulder, Nathan Mietkiewicz et al. In the Line of Fire: Consequences of Human-Ignited Wildfires to Homes in the U.S. (1992–2015) https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/3/3/50...

[7] US Forest Service: Misconceptions and Benefits of Fire:    • Misconceptions and Benefits of Fire  

[8] US Forest Service: Black-backed Woodpeckers and Fire:    • Black-backed Woodpeckers and Fire