Fire season has just begun and already records are being set. The August complex broke the record for the largest fire in California history. Six of the top 20 largest California fires have happened this year and three of the top five are currently burning all at the same time.

More than 3 million acres have burned so far in California but let’s not forget Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Three 100,000+ acre fires to the Southeast of Portland are merging together to create a mega fire that is slowly bearing down on the city. Nearly 900,000 acres are currently burning in Oregon, which is almost double the typical acreage burned in an entire Oregon fire season. The city of Malden, Washington, was almost completely burned to the ground while Americans elsewhere were enjoying their labor day holiday.

With all the fires burning, the West Coast has been under a giant smoke cloud which created apocalyptic orange skies (hey at least we can get some good Instagram pics!) and the worst air quality in the world. And while us Americans stress about preventing natural fires, people in Brazil and Africa are happily starting fires to burn their own forests to clear them out for farming and cattle. Thanks guys, let’s just burn everything.

Meanwhile on Twitter and social media the typical polarized partisan bickering continues with Republicans blaming Democratic governors for failing to kneel to Trump to get federal support and Democrats blaming Republicans for blindly ignoring global warming. There seems to be little hope for the unity needed to deal with these massive problems which will only become worse. Prepare your children for more devastating fires, unbreathable air, and unbearable heat because this is the future that we’re giving them.

More reading:

The future has arrived. These explosive fires are our climate change wakeup call

The fires raging out West are unprecedented. They’re also a mere preview of what climate change has in store