The largest wildfire burning in the United States is burning in the sacred forests that surround Indo-Hispanic towns in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, reports Reuters. The fires have burned the holy forests that Indo-Hispanic people have depended on for centuries for firewood, pasture, and water. The forests provided the wood for the construction of their pueblos. In many areas, the forests are now gone from what started by two small fires back in early April when a controlled burn got out of control.
Climate change is a threat multiplier. What might have been easy to put out in years past can now accelerate and explode with Pyrocumulus clouds in an environment that has suffered from a 20-year drought that has turned forests into kindling and desiccated the forest understory.
These mountains are also home to ski resorts, some at risk from these fires.
Burning now for more than a month, the largest wildfire in the U.S. was spreading toward mountain resort towns in northern New Mexico on Wednesday, prompting officials to issue another set of warnings for more people to evacuate.
“Day 36,” fire spokesman Bill Morse said at a briefing Wednesday night. “Ever since April 6, this fire has grown day by day by day.”
As night fell, fire officials in New Mexico said the fastest-moving flames along the eastern front of the Sangre de Cristo range on the southern end of the Rockies were headed farther northeast — away from the area's biggest population center in Taos, a well-known tourist enclave 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the Colorado line.
“Currently no issues in the Taos area," fire operations chief Todd Abel said. “The fire is kind of wanting to move to the north and east a little bit. But we’re still going to pay close attention.”
Some aircraft were able to fly to drop retardant on the blaze despite winds gusting in some areas in excess of 45 mph (72 kph). And some evacuation orders were relaxed along the southern flank of the fire near Las Vegas, New Mexico — more than 50 miles (80 km) south of the flames on the northern perimeter.
Just minutes ago, a small fire erupted in Albuquerque.
(THE CONVERSATION) When people talk about ways to slow climate change, they often mention trees, and for good reason. Forests take up a large amount of the planet-warming carbon dioxide that people put into the atmosphere when they burn fossil fuels. But will trees keep up that pace as global temperatures rise? With companies increasingly investing in forests as offsets, saying it cancels out their continuing greenhouse gas emissions, that’s a multibillion-dollar question.
The results of two studies published in the journals Science and Ecology Letters on May 12, 2022 – one focused on growth, the other on death – raise new questions about how much the world can rely on forests to store increasing amounts of carbon in a warming future. Ecologist William Anderegg, who was involved in both studies, explains why.
What does the new research tell us about trees and their ability to store carbon?
The future of forests is on a knife’s edge, with a tug of war between two very important forces: the benefits trees get from increasing levels of carbon dioxide and the stresses they face from the climate, such as heat, drought, fires, pests and pathogens.
Those climate stresses are increasing a lot faster as the planet warms than scientists had expected. We’re seeing immense wildfires and drought-driven forest die-offs much sooner than anyone had anticipated. When those trees die, that carbon goes back into the atmosphere. We’re also seeing evidence that the benefits trees get from higher levels of carbon dioxide in a warming world may be more limited than people realize.
This tells us it’s probably not a great idea to count on forests for a widespread carbon sink through the 21st century, particularly if societies don’t reduce their emissions.
TIERRA MONTE, N.M., May 12 (Reuters) - Wildfires edged towards mountain resort towns in northern New Mexico on Thursday and engulfed an enclave of multi-million-dollar mansions in southern California.
Residents of around 900 houses were under evacuation in coastal California and one firefighter was injured when a wildfire fire torched about 200 acres (81 hectares) in Laguna Niguel on Wednesday, Orange County officials said.
In New Mexico, meanwhile, more than 300 homes and other buildings have been destroyed in wildfires burning since early last month. As westerly winds picked up Thursday, firefighters torched fire breaks and set up sprinkler systems to save ranches and homes around 15 miles (24 km) south of Angel Fire, a ski resort town.
Crews bulldozed containment lines to stop the blaze getting into Black Lake, Angel Fire, and even the Taos area, known for its UNESCO World Heritage Site Native American community.
"We are red flag conditions today so high, high winds," Todd Abel, a leader on the inter-agency team fighting the fire, told a briefing.
Welcome to the Pyrocene.