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Natural Disasters: Another Reason for Optimism
We have far fewer people dying than we used to
Note: I source my data. To see the source, click on bolded and underlined text, which provides a link.
Photographs of forest fires are horrifying. The suffering not only to people but also animals and the environment are awful to think about. I was so sad when I saw pictures of injured koalas and other animals in Australia. And I’ve had friends who have had to move due to encroaching forest fires.
If we just look at the photos or the news coverage, we would think it’s never been worse.
Actually, it’s been getting better.
Last year, a little over 7 million acres burned in forest fires in the United States. That seems like a lot, but the year before that, it was over 10 million acres. The numbers from 1983 on vary — and it’s true that things were better before the 1990s.
However, if you look at historical data — in 1930, more than 50 million acres burned in America. From the 1920s to 1950, annually more than 10 million acres were destroyed by fire.
While losing over 7 million acres to fire is not a good thing — it is less than 0.3% of the United States’ landmass. The country has almost 2 billion acres.
