1. SAGE Lecture Spark
[11/13/18]
The Publisher of the Social Sciences

2. 42 Deaths Make Camp Fire Deadliest in State History
“The Butte County sheriff, Kory L. Honea, has said more than 200 people remain missing in and around the town [Paradise].”
“The fire... continues to rage... east of the city of Chico, is also the most destructive fire in California history, with more than 7,100 structures destroyed, most of them homes.”

3. California Wildfires Continue Deadly Assault on Populated Areas
While the Camp Fire rages in northern California, the Woolsey Fire scorches southern California.
“President Trump alternated between offering sympathy for displaced people and firefighters and lashing out at California’s leaders over what he deemed poor forest management.”

4. Brown Swings Back at Trump: Climate Change is Propelling California’s Fires
“[Gov. Brown] connected the fires to man-made climate change, which is expected to yield longer droughts and extreme weather conditions in California.”
“Trump has sent mixed signals about climate change. He [said] that he was not sure if climate change was caused by mankind, and that he did not believe that preparing for it was worth the potential harm to certain industries.”

5. Global Warming and California Wildfires: A Fact Sheet of the UCS
More wildfires are expected.
“If global warming emissions are not substantially reduced, large wildfires in California are projected to increase 55% [or more].”
A drier climate, for instance, could promote “up to a 90% increase in large wildfires.”

6. Key Concepts
The CA Wildfires: Mass Media and Climate Change
Scientists worldwide suggest the wildfires in California are human-made, whether by downed power lines, careless campfires, or as the product of more dramatic weather from climate change.
Still, our politicians disagree on climate change, and it falls to our news media to report world concerns.

7. Assessment
Writing: President Trump has questioned the link between climate change and the California wildfires. Please construct an argument for why the wildfires are not due to human-made climate change.
Debate: If addressing climate change could make a better world for future generations, but not your own, would you still want to work towards addressing it anyway? Why or why not?
Poll: To what degree do you believe climate change is human-caused/made?
0, 10-20, 30-40, 50-60, 70-80,
Short Answer: If your home state or country increasingly became threatened by the wildfires California is predicted to have, would it alter your views towards climate change?
Current Events Quiz
More than ____ structures have now burned down in the Camp Fire:
The Camp Fire is not the only fire scorching the land right now. There are also wildfires in___.
President Trump believes that the California wildfires can be partly blamed on ____.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a drier climate in California could promote up to a___ increase in large wildfires.
President Trump expressed concern that preparing for climate change was not worth the harm to___.
Answers
7100
Southern California
Poor forest management
4. 90%
5. Certain industries

8.
[Double-click the slide to see the video]
High winds, high temperatures, pervasive drought. These extreme conditions are driving two enormous fires in California, and many more throughout the American West and much of Northern and Western Europe. William Brangham talks with Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University about the ways climate change is contributing to the danger and destruction.

9.
[Double-click the slide to see the video]
Two major wildfires in California have forced thousands to evacuate. At least 31 people are dead, and more than 200 are unaccounted for. CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal is in northern California, covering the Camp Fire.