The western United States is on burning and it’s very terrifying. Oregon, Washington, and California are widespread with wildfires burning out of control, the ash, flames, and soot changing the skies into apocalyptic.
In Oregon, where at least 35 active fires are burning nearly 370,000 acres of land, the flames turned a once-enchanted forest into an eerie nightmare.
Look at the pictures below. The pictures of a tourist attraction called the Enchanted Forest in Salem, Oregon is both eerie and charming, the playful decor turned a blood-red by many nearby fires to the East.
#OregonFires Enchanted Forest in Salem Oregon looks downright Apocalyptic today. pic.twitter.com/DzgaJzuoFo
— Jesse (@UglyBoyJ2) September 8, 2020
3 pm in silverton, oregon today,,, why is no one talking about these wildfires pic.twitter.com/cyOdpRihm4
— laundry sauce (@keira_dawn_) September 9, 2020
This is nuts. Downtown Stayton at 12:22pm. Be safe, everyone. #KGW #Oregon #Fire #Smoke #LionsheadFire @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/ff4MKKU4qm
— Christine Pitawanich (@CPitawanichKGW) September 8, 2020
Absolutely no filter involved here. This is the morning sky over San Francisco at 8am. Orange, dark and ashy bc of wildfires. I was two days away from my 8th birthday when Mt. St. Helens shook the planet. I’m from Seattle-Tacoma and i remember the sky looked just like this. pic.twitter.com/zgOkT2Ou5f
— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) September 9, 2020
The sky over Oakland keeps getting darker and more orange. My phone kept color correcting the actual hue so I busted out my real camera @sfchronicle pic.twitter.com/ENv4WSOhUy
— Jessica Christian (@jachristian) September 9, 2020
Climate change plays a big role in making these kinds of wildfires even severe, by making heat waves more severe and dry which turn vegetation dry.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told CNN that the destructive fires are “shocking” but not “scientifically surprising.”
“This is in line with essentially every prediction for what could happen this year and the trends we’re seeing over years and decades,” Swain told CNN.