The Daily Show: Ears Edition - If You Don't Know, Now You Know - Wildfires

Episode Date: August 2, 2021

From September 2020, Trevor examines how California's wildfires are fueled by climate change, poor forest maintenance and precariously placed suburban homes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, A Second Look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to Comedy Central.

Why have wildfires been so bad in recent years? Well if you immediately said, duh, climate change, well, then okay. You're mostly right. It's a disastrous new normal. Catastrophic fires once contained a one season, now a heroine year-round battle. Gotta go. A major factor, climate change. In the last 40 years, fall temperatures in California have increased about two degrees,

while precipitation has dropped about 30 percent. Longer dry seasons and extreme events like heat waves that synchronize the risk of fire across enormous landscapes. Climate change is increasing the area burned by the average wildfire more than doubling it since the 1980s. Since 1930. Five of the biggest fires so far out of the top 10 have been this year. California is America fast forward. In other words, a postcard from the future. Oh man, are you serious?

California is basically a postcard from the future? That means the future is also on fire? I mean, it also means that the post office is still functioning in the future, so I guess, woo, we did it. And that reallythe post office is still functioning in the future, so I guess, woo, we did it. And that really is mind-blowing. Five of the biggest fires have been this year? That's insane. Although this is 2020, so I'm kind of shocked that all of the biggest fires haven't been

from this year. Wildfires might be here to stay, which is awful for humans. But especially bad for trees. Because they can't move. Humans can just run away from a wildfire, but trees, they're just stuck there. Can you imagine how terrifying them must be for them? Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Ah! Now, there are a number of ways that climate change makes wildfires bigger and more frequent. For instance, not only does drier wood and leaves make better fuel for fires, but hot weather is also associated with increasing lightning strikes that ignite them. In fact, even small things about climate change can have a huge ripple effect that leads to fires. And I mean, really small things. Millions of drought-stressed trees in California forests were low on south, which is their their their their their, which their, which is their, which is their, which is their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, th, th, th, th, th, th leads to fires. And I mean really small things. Millions of drought-stressed trees in California forests were low on sap, which is their natural defense against the bark beetle.

These are these little tiny bugs about the size of a grain of rice. Bark beetle infestation is linked to global warming as the weather gets warmer. They burrow into the bark of pine trees. The pine trees then essentially become sticks of kindling ready to burn. The beetles took down more than 160 million trees, and that's where some of the largest fires are burning today. Yeah, believe it or not, people, the spread of the tiny bark beetle is yet another way that climate change is making wildfires worse. It's also a great reminder that even though climate change is really bad for us humans,

for some other creatures, it's the best thing that ever happened. It's like how the Trump administration has been a disaster for most people, but great for various reptiles. And I gotta be honest, I never thought the apocalypse would be caused by such a lame villain. I mean, really, guys, Beatles are going to be the reason everything's on fire? Come on, man. The last season of Game of Thrones was bad enough when Dinarius was burning everything down with dragons. Now imagine if she had beetles instead. That shit would make the brand storyline seem exciting.

Let's get back to the kid who's like a bird or something. I don't watch these beetles. So yes, we have to address climate change. But the truth is, climate change isn't the only reason that these fires have been getting worse. There's also at least a century of government's stupidity. Controlled Fire or prescribed fire is the method of burning certain land to reduce wildfire hazards. This method was developed by Native Americans thousands of years ago. These low-intensity fires called curnic c. C climate climate c. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the is climate is climate is climate is thi. Cli. Cli, th. Cli, th. Climate th. Climate th. Climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is climate is th. climate climate climate climate climate climate climate th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl. th. Cl. th. th. th. th. thi. It is thi. It is thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's the. It is thea. It's thea. It is theateatea. theatea. thea. the. the. the. developed by Native Americans thousands of years ago. These low-intensity fires called cultural burnings have built much of California's forests. Without controlled burns, forests would have become overgrown and unmanageable. Overgrown forests create a lot of fuel in the form of dry or dead plants. As European colonization grew in California, native tribes were banned from engaging in cultural

burning and over time state and federal authorities focused on quickly extinguishing any wildfires. For example, the U.S. Forest Service's infamous 10 a.m. policy said that any fires that occurred must be put out by 10 a.m. the next day. This limit on fires did little to reduce the fuel that was growing on the forest floor. And even with these policies, California still has fuel loads waiting to be burned from centuries ago, making prescribed burning far more tedious and expensive than previously thought. Yeah, you heard that right. One thing that would help out a lot is if California had been doing more controlled burns,

which is basically when you burn a little to prevent a lot from burning later. It's the same way you meet your college friend for coffee so that you don't have to have a three-hour dinner with them. And you know, you have to admit, it's pretty unbelievable that California is now doing what they outlaw the native people from doing. I guess it's kind of hard though to kick somebody off their land and take their advice at the same time. This is my property now, you savage. Oh, also before you go go do you have any landscaping tips, like any like mulching techniques or things that I have to learn? Now obviously it's bad enough that wildfires are burning millions and millions of trees. But what makes it an especially big problem for people

is that we've been giving the fires a lot more of our stuff to burn. Since 1990, 60% of all the homes in the United States have been built in the wildland, toe toe toe toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, like, like, like, like, toe, toe, toe, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, toe, th. toe, th. th. th. toe, th. toe, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, to me, toe, to me, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, toea, toea. toea, thean, ththe homes in the United States have been built in the wildland urban interface. We've got houses in places. We didn't used to have houses, and that puts people and property at risk. As more houses are built near wildlands, more of them burn. Fifty years ago, wildfires destroyed a few hundred structures per year across the United States. Now it's more than 3,000.

In California alone, more than 6 million houses are in wild areas. Because urban housing is so expensive, instead of avoiding these high-risk zones, Californians continue to build in a tinder box of grass and trees boxed by windy canyon. Instead of Smoky Bear in the middle of the woods, we need a smoky bear in the middle of suburbia. Uh-uh. You do yourself a favor of Smoky Bay and you stay out of the suburbs. We don't want Karen calling the cops on you. Hello 911. There's a bear in my neighborhood and he's brown. he's brown. But yes, one big problem is that more and more people are building homes in the middle of the forest.

And let's place the blame where it belongs here. With the Keebler elves. Yeah, these guys made living in the forest look so cool that everyone started doing it. You get to be in a tree making cookies all day. thoubts. thoubest, throwns. And if we're honest here, guys, one of the bigger issues is human arrogance. We just think we can build wherever we go. You know, wherever we build a house, that's our land now. It's the same way people in Florida are always surprised when alligators

show up. Oh, there's an alligator in my backyard. No, there's a person in that alligator's house. But the good news is, we can fix these problems. Yeah. Believe it or not, the the th. th. th. th thiiiiiiiiiii. th th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi's thi's thi's thi. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. We's thi. We's thi. We th. We thi. We th. We th. We th. We th. We th. We th. We th. We th. We th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th is thi. thi. thi. thi is thi is the is the is the is theeeeeeeeeeeea. theeea. theeea. theeeeea. theea. We're theea. the is the a person in that alligator's house. But the good news is, we can fix these problems. Yeah. Believe it or not, the wildfires don't have to happen the way they have been. We can stop them if we take action to reduce climate change. We can stop them if we maintain the forests. And we can stop them if we build in environmentally sensitive ways. And as for those Beatles, you leave them to me. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.

This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.