Fire and (Missing) Ice
Ever since last week, we have had rain, wind, and warm temperatures in our corner. The rest of northern Spain has had wind and out-of-season temperatures. And so, there have been forest fires.
Normally, in northern Spain there aren't many wildfires; Galicia is the exception. Other regions along the Bay of Biscay tend to administer better their forests and mountains, keeping them cleaner, cutting, and replanting. Therefore wildfires are unusual. But this is an unusual fall and winter. By now the first snowfall in the mountains would have fallen. Ski resorts would have opened and down by the sea the grey fogs would have kept everything green and wet. No one could have lit a serious fire, whether by praying to God or to Vulcan. But not this year.
Farmers tend to clean off pastures and fields in the winter. Everything they cut or prune they stack together and set fire to around this time of year to slowly smoulder and gradually burn down. But this year some of these fires have gained traction and gone out of control to torch the hillsides. Pyromaniacs probably saw these fires as a good excuse to get their hand in, and helped others get started. As a result, all along the northern mountains and coast there have been wildfires in the month of December. Some fires have even reached the sea, where they have been quenched by the cold waves. A few houses in Asturias have been ransacked by the flames, leaving the families who owned them with nothing, not even their memories. Those houses were in small villages, and had belonged to the same family over generations. Every memento of their ancestors was lost, as some owners tearfully recalled when interviewed.
It seems wherever one glances around the world, strange things are occurring this end of year, from flooding in South America and England, snow in Mexico, out-of-season tornados in the U.S., lack of snow in the Alps, to wildfires in Australia and northern Spain. And throughout, families losing everything they have, including loved ones. This is the future we worried about twenty years ago and did nothing to avoid. Now, it's a little bit too late.
Normally, in northern Spain there aren't many wildfires; Galicia is the exception. Other regions along the Bay of Biscay tend to administer better their forests and mountains, keeping them cleaner, cutting, and replanting. Therefore wildfires are unusual. But this is an unusual fall and winter. By now the first snowfall in the mountains would have fallen. Ski resorts would have opened and down by the sea the grey fogs would have kept everything green and wet. No one could have lit a serious fire, whether by praying to God or to Vulcan. But not this year.
Farmers tend to clean off pastures and fields in the winter. Everything they cut or prune they stack together and set fire to around this time of year to slowly smoulder and gradually burn down. But this year some of these fires have gained traction and gone out of control to torch the hillsides. Pyromaniacs probably saw these fires as a good excuse to get their hand in, and helped others get started. As a result, all along the northern mountains and coast there have been wildfires in the month of December. Some fires have even reached the sea, where they have been quenched by the cold waves. A few houses in Asturias have been ransacked by the flames, leaving the families who owned them with nothing, not even their memories. Those houses were in small villages, and had belonged to the same family over generations. Every memento of their ancestors was lost, as some owners tearfully recalled when interviewed.
It seems wherever one glances around the world, strange things are occurring this end of year, from flooding in South America and England, snow in Mexico, out-of-season tornados in the U.S., lack of snow in the Alps, to wildfires in Australia and northern Spain. And throughout, families losing everything they have, including loved ones. This is the future we worried about twenty years ago and did nothing to avoid. Now, it's a little bit too late.
Comments
Post a Comment