National Current Event
On Sunday, November 11 2018, CNN released an article about the tragedy in the Golden State, ‘It’s not over yet’ High winds feed California wildfires as death toll rises. This article discusses the horrific California wildfires that are being spread mercilessly throughout the state, destroying thousands of homes, and testing the limits of firefighting resources. It also goes into detail regarding the timeline of the wildfire.
This terrible event affects the United States, since California is included in the fifty states. As Americans within the country, seeing citizens within our nation die due to fires is extremely tragic and upsetting. The fires not only affect those who were lost in it and their family, but also the area that was burned. It will cost a lot of money to fix the damages and repair what has been lost in the fire, as well as provide housing for those who have lost theirs. Overall, the damage to both people and places is going to be very difficult to fix.
In an article titled ‘Woosley fire destroys scores of homes, forcing 200,000 to evacuate; flames get closer to Pepperdine’, published by Los Angeles Times on November 10, 2018, authors Jaclyn Cosgrove, Laura Newberry, Laura J. Nelson and Brittny Mejia discuss the details of the massive Californian fire. Giving a more accurate estimation to how many people have fled their homes and how much land has been burned, they contribute to the article by stating 200,000 people have deserted their property and 35,000 acres have been burned. The affected cities include Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, and Malibu. This devastation is given a clearer reality in this article.
In an article published on November 12, 2018 called ‘Northern California officials fear record wildfire death toll could rise’ by Sharon Bernstein, she gives information on the missing people in the California wildfire. More than 200 people are documented as missing in Northern California, and officials are scared it will just continue to increase. It all stemmed from a camp fire, demolishing over 7,000 homes just above San Francisco in the Sierra foothills. This shocking evidence gives more insight to the tragedy that is still to come. Both of these experts believe that the wildfire will continue to strain California, while only one believes that more casualties are coming.
A solution to this issue is help those in need, as well as control your camp fire. It is horrible to see such losses come from a small, harmless fire. Educate those who camp on how to completely diminish their fire, and don’t allow campers to leave their grounds until the fire is completely gone. Another solution is to put a harsher law on when camp fires are allowed to be burning.
International Current Event
CNN released an article titled ‘A poisoned memorial to World War I: The Forests of Verdun’ On November 10, 2018, by author Joseph Ataman, giving readers the grim reality of the past that cannot be forgotten. Although World War I ended 100 years ago, the scars still remain on the once-battlefield Verdun. Located in France, shells that haven’t exploded yet are still buried in the ground, forcing France to declare the zone, “off-limits”.
This not only affects France, but also those who were involved in the first World War. This forest and its uselessness is just a reminder of the horrific losses that countries in Europe faced. The front is a symbolic marking of the War that is still alive, even in 2018. The inactivity of this land allowed it to conserve the trenches and holes that surround it, preserving it throughout the 100 years.
In an article by Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, author Flora Drury publishes ‘Battle of Verdun is still littered with so many bodies, arsenic and unexploded shells that nothing grows after 100 years’. This article is significant, since it gives details on the forest and how it holds a piece of history. The Battle for Verdun in 1916 was the longest battle in history, with shells, arsenic and barbed wire to show as evidence, even in 2018. France ruled this area as a ‘zone rogue’, even after 100 years, no one has returned to the dangerous, history filled land.
In an article titled ‘France: Forbidden Beech forest covers Battle of Verdun’, published by Forest Policy Research, authors intended to give readers insight to just how dangerous this forest is. “As many as 150 shells fell for every square meter of this battlefield,” this evidence gives insight to just how dangerous the battlefield and forests truly are. 305,440 men died on the very ground of Verdun, a significant piece of history. Both these experts believe that the forest of Verdun is very significant to history, and the outcome of World War I.
An outcome to this significant forest is to one day set it up as a museum or try to gain back the land that was lost. 16 million acres of France’s Northern forest are off-limits due to the dangerous ground and the history enriched in it.