We all know California is on fire all the time. If you search "california fire" on google images, you will be show thousands of pictures of colossal blazes engulfing entire mountains, fields, highways, etc. If you search "north carolina fire" you will find pictures of fire trucks. There is even a website dedicated to reporting whether or no California is on fire: http://iscaliforniaonfire.com/
Believe it or not, it not climate change's fault for this one. Fires are getting so not because the air is hotter and dryer (though that does help) than previous years, but because firefighters are too good at putting out fires.
You see, a fire, in nature, will come through every so often and purge the forest floor of dry twigs, bark, foliage, etc. However, when humans start to live in these forests, they tend to try and stop these fires, so their stuff doesn't get burned. This means the dry twigs and branches and foliage (AKA "dry fuel") that usually gets burned away regularly starts to pile up. This means that when fires do escape the control of prevention efforts, they are massively stronger, faster, bigger, etc, because they have so much fuel. The solution to this is, of course, to remove the dry fuel from key areas; to stop fires spreading before the even start.
The problem is that in a lot of places where fires happen, the fire departments are massively undermanned for this kind of work. This is why robot should do it for us. You can resettle hundreds of robots on a whim to northern California, and they won't miss their old homes. They can work any hour of the day and not get tired or hungry, and if one was to suffer a critical failure, it's family wouldn't be upset.
That's what the picture is about. A team of robots picking up sticks so California doesn't get engulfed in flames.
Believe it or not, it not climate change's fault for this one. Fires are getting so not because the air is hotter and dryer (though that does help) than previous years, but because firefighters are too good at putting out fires.
You see, a fire, in nature, will come through every so often and purge the forest floor of dry twigs, bark, foliage, etc. However, when humans start to live in these forests, they tend to try and stop these fires, so their stuff doesn't get burned. This means the dry twigs and branches and foliage (AKA "dry fuel") that usually gets burned away regularly starts to pile up. This means that when fires do escape the control of prevention efforts, they are massively stronger, faster, bigger, etc, because they have so much fuel. The solution to this is, of course, to remove the dry fuel from key areas; to stop fires spreading before the even start.
The problem is that in a lot of places where fires happen, the fire departments are massively undermanned for this kind of work. This is why robot should do it for us. You can resettle hundreds of robots on a whim to northern California, and they won't miss their old homes. They can work any hour of the day and not get tired or hungry, and if one was to suffer a critical failure, it's family wouldn't be upset.
That's what the picture is about. A team of robots picking up sticks so California doesn't get engulfed in flames.