Today’s news article is a rather grim one. As many of you have heard by now, California has been battling a series of fires for over a week. While more details are still being released, one thing is clear: climate change is, at least to some extent, involved. In this article, we’ll be examining the role of climate change in this disaster.
Firstly, here is a quick overview of the situation as of January 15th, 2025 (please note that these statistics are continually changing and are not a reflection of the current situation):
The first fire, the Palisades fire, started on January 7th
The major fires are:
The Palisades fire - the largest and most destructive so far, burned over 23,700 acres, 19% contained
The Eaton fire - burned over 14,100 acres, 45% contained
The Hurst fire - burned 799 acres, 97% contained
The Auto fire - burned 61 acres, 47% contained
Around 90,000 people are under evacuation orders
Over 10,000 homes have already been destroyed by the fire
Casualties: over 20 confirmed so far
The fires are quickly becoming some of the worst in L.A history. They have also impacted air quality as the strong winds are scattering harmful amounts of ash to surrounding cities. There is also a growing concern over the contamination of drinking water.
Although California is not unfamiliar with wildfires, there has been a clear trend of increasingly frequent and severe wildfires According to Professor Stefan Doerr, Swansea University Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, climate change is indeed involved in causing the fire, but “That said, it is too early to say to what degree climate change has made these specific fires more extreme.”
The general consensus so far is that it was a combination of weather conditions that are responsible for the fire’s severity: high temperatures, low humidity, prolonged and particularly strong winds (the Santa Ana winds) as well as an abundance of fuel. The recent years have seen rapid fluctuations in humidity in California, switching between very dry and then very wet. Research proves that climate change has exacerbated this “whiplash” effect. This change between wet conditions, which allowed for the rapid growth of grasses and shrubs, and dry conditions, causing the vegetation to dry up, provided the perfect fuel for a fire; all that was missing was a spark.
And it’s not just in California - such “whiplash” conditions have increased worldwide between 31-66% since the mid 1900s due to climate change. Data also shows that fire seasons are increasing in length across the globe, as are the number of days with weather that is more likely to start fires. More worrying still is what Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, had to say about the implications for the future of our climate, “...that climate models likely under-estimate the changes seen so far, but even those models suggest a doubling of the volatility for a global temperature warming of 3°C - now looking increasingly likely we'll reach.”
The California wildfires have triggered many alarm bells, both literally and figuratively. But amidst everything that is going on, one particular alarm clock remains steadily counting down, as it has been for decades, perhaps even centuries now. Once that alarm goes off, the fate of LA could very much be the fate of many more places in the world. The disasters won’t always take the form of a wildfire, but no matter what they are - whether they’re droughts, floods or tropical storms - their frequency and intensity will increase. As saddening as it is, we must face the reality of climate change and address the problem that is literally erupting into flames as we speak. Regardless of what we do, the Earth’s clock will keep counting down, and things will only get worse from here if we don’t start making drastic changes. As 2050 looms ever closer, the need to achieve the climate and sustainability goals outlined in the Paris Agreement becomes increasingly urgent. In other words: we are running out of time. The California wildfires, and other recent disasters such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton that struck Florida mere months ago, clearly emphasise the need for immediate global action against climate change.
As of this moment, L.A firefighters are actively working to battle the raging flames. We send our deepest condolences to those who have lost family, friends and homes to the fire, and we pray that the flames will be contained as soon as possible.
Credits:
Image - National Geographic
Information - BBC, BCC, The Washington Post, CBS News, Earth.org
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