Picture: This picture is of a helicopter attempting to put out the flames from a wildfire in Los Angeles. It seems like once these emergency vehicles get the fire under control, the problems will be solved, but that is not the case. Before this blaze is controlled, it burns through miles of land, creating ash and debris. This causes big issues for the surrounding fresh water, also known as drinking water.
Summary: This article is about Wildfires in Colorado that are contaminating fresh drinking water. These effects occur for multiple reasons. The most apparent is that when trees, soil, and other parts of land are burning, they are creating lots of ash and debris that get into water and clog reservoirs and rivers. Also, so many plants and so much soil is being destroyed that it is much harder for rain to be absorbed into the ground to get back into the water supply. In addition, burnt plants can give off water-resistant chemicals, making the land more prone to erosion. These factors decrease the quantity of fresh water. Of course, all of the dirt and ash can be removed from the water, but it takes a much longer time, more resources, and money for these areas. To avoid these issues, various organizations have taken action by replanting trees destroyed by fire. This prevents the possibility of contamination. Other organizations have been altering the setups of forests to make them less vulnerable to wildfires. Both of these methods are helpful, but this problem is still not completely resolved.
Opinion/Reaction: I found this article to be very surprising because I didn't know wildfires had any effect on drinking water. It is always interesting to find out that there are huge associations dedicated to fixing these kinds of issues, and some people are just unaware of them. Wildfires contaminating water is a real problem, and there should be more awareness about it.
Questions:
1) Do you think awareness needs to be raised for this issue? Why or why not?
2) What are some ways wildfires affect drinking water (quality or supply)?
3) What are some ways people are trying to fix this issue?
4) Continued from number 3; Do you think these methods will help resolve the issue? Explain.
5) Think of an additional way to help resolve this issue, and explain why it may not be in use already.
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this i was shocked because I knew wildfires were bad but I never knew that they could be this bad. Now that there is evidence that wildfires contaminate wildfires is a big problem for us. It is such a big problem because of the wildfire we have in the united states alone. Not only do wildfires create problems for the environment it also costs us money and time to remove the ash and dirt from the fresh drinking water.
Question:
Do you think that this a major problem right now? and if so why?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/study-wildfire-rain-runoff-can-harm-tap-water
ReplyDeleteThe article I found was a news article from ABC news. It basically just gives more proof on how wildfires are effecting our drinking water and why it is such a big deal. I think that this problem really needs to be loooked at by the government, and I feel that they should really spend time coming up with possible solutions to fix it.
Kurt Schwabe is a Professor at University of California, Riverside. He is the Associate Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy Associate Director at Water Science and Policy Center. He has multiple degrees in economics but also specializes in similar things we are learning. I chose him as a professional to invite because I feel his opinion might be a little different than ours considering he comes from a different part of the country, and he might mention his opinion on different economic aspects that we did not know or ever consider before.
ReplyDeleteDear Professor Kurt Schwabe,
My name is Sarah and I am a ninth grader from Pennsylvania. This year I am taking an environmental science class, and we are currently talking about the hydrosphere. One of our assignments is to create a blog where we talk about different aspects of the unit we are learning and relate them to our opinions on broader topics we constantly talk about, for example climate change or wildlife. The most recent blog posted in my group was about wildfires and their effect on the environment, agriculture, and fresh water. I have personally never been to the west coast, but I am aware that wildfires happen there constantly. Also, after looking into the degrees you have, and what you specialize in, you seem like an expert on this topic. It would be very interesting to hear your opinion on this. For instance, what affects do wildfires have, not only on the environment, but also on the economy? The initial article this blog is based off of talks about groups replanting and fertilizing after wildfires destroy the land. Do you believe they should be doing this, or do you believe it is a waste of money? Having you respond to our blog would be extremely beneficial to my whole class. Below I will include the link to the blog. Any comment or opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely, Sarah Moore
Link to blog: http://greenisthenewblack11.blogspot.com/2013/04/wildfires-contaminating-fresh-water.html
My first professional responded and told me he did not know much about wildfires, and gave me the email address of another Professor, Richard Minnich, who is an expert in fires.
ReplyDeleteDear Professor Richard Minnich,
My name is Sarah and I am a ninth grader from Pennsylvania. This year I am taking an environmental science class, and we are currently talking about the hydrosphere. One of our assignments is to create a blog where we talk about different aspects of the unit we are learning and relate them to our opinions on broader topics we constantly talk about, for example climate change or wildlife. The most recent blog posted in my group was about wildfires and their effect on the environment, agriculture, and fresh water. I initially invited Professor Kurt Schwabe to respond to the blog, hoping to hear from a professional, but he told me he was not as well informed in this topic. On the bright side, he then gave me your name to try asking you to respond to the blog. It would be very interesting to hear a professional’s opinion on this. Having you respond to our blog would be extremely beneficial to my whole class. Below I will include the link to the blog. Any comment or opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely, Sarah Moore
Link to blog: http://greenisthenewblack11.blogspot.com/2013/04/wildfires-contaminating-fresh-water.html
Questions from Original Post:
ReplyDelete1) Do you think awareness needs to be raised for this issue? Why or why not?
I think that awareness needs to be raised for the fact that wildfires are contaminating fresh water because most people don't realize that the wildfires could possibly contaminate the water with ash and debris and any other water contaminates. I'm certain that the ash and debris contains some type of contaminate that could contaminate the water and affect the overall quality of the water in Colorado. And while preventing forest fires and water contamination helps out to fix the problem, I feel that there should be a way to decontaminate the water in some way.
2) What are some ways wildfires affect drinking water (quality or supply)?
Some of the possible ways that wildfires could affect the quality of the drinking water include ash and debris from the burnings of many trees, grass, and soil, that enter the water, clogging reservoirs and the river itself. The ash and debris itself causes another problem by destroying plants and soil, making the land impermeable and preventing water from returning to the aquifers and replenishing the water supply. Another main problem is that if there are any plants with chemicals that resist against water, there is an extremely possible chance that land erosion will occur with absolutely no chance of it to grow back again, unless you want to wait for approximately forty years or so.
3) What are some ways people are trying to fix this issue?
People are attempting to resolve the problem with the wildfires in Colorado themselves by taking tree sprouts and planting them in areas where previous trees were destroyed by the wildfires to prevent any further contamination to the water. They are also trying to solve the issue by keeping forest setups in check so they aren't vulnerable to any fires. However, both these methods aren't helping the fact that the water has been contaminated with any chemicals that were in the ashes and debris from the fire, but hopefully there is a way to fix that problem soon.
Question from Response #2:
1) Do you think that this a major problem right now? and if so why?
I believe that this is a major problem right now because many people are aware of forest fires, but they aren't thinking of the water supply and what could happen to the quality and purity of the water. Eventually, from my perspective, if the water is consumed with the contaminates in it, people won't realize the fact until too late, when they wind up falling ill due to the contaminates in the water. I believe, as stated before, people should be aware of this problem and take precautions to prevent more water contamination caused by more wildfires, and eventually affect the quality of the water in Colorado.