The world is, quite literally, burning. Last in the series of deadly wildfires were the Camp and Woolsey fires in California, which to date cost the lives of 86 people (over 500 are still missing).
Camp Fire, the more severe of the two, ignited on November 8 and has decimated over 153,000 acres of land in Butte County — it has, to date, led to 83 reported deaths, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Woolsey fire, which ignited on the same day, has rapidly spread in the outskirts of Los Angeles, claiming the lives of three people and scorching nearly 97,000 acres of land in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. While the federal government attempts to play down the role of climate change (exacerbated by human activity) in the catastrophic California wildfires, the latter was proved by scientists to be the ultimate culprit behind the disaster.
While wildfires are natural occurrences in the state of California, particularly in the southern part of the state, the intensity of them has undoubtedly spiked due to the warming of the planet. According to National Geographic, fifteen out of the 20 deadliest wildfires in California took place since the year 2000. In the past century, the average temperature in the state has risen by three degrees Fahrenheit and the last several summers have seen record-breaking heat waves, which brought along with them severe droughts.
Extended periods of droughts result in the drying out of leaves and vegetation, which renders them ever-more susceptible to burning. Shorter bouts of rainfalls, which now occur later in the fall, lead to the sprouting of weeds just small enough to function as kindling right as the ferocious wind currents of the season pick up speed. The combination of all of these factors, along with the encroachment of residential neighbourhoods deeper into the California forests, constitute a recipe for catastrophic wildfires.
Such claims were echoed by Michael Mann, a Penn State University atmospheric science professor, who on PBS NewsHour stated, "We're not saying that climate change is literally causing the events to occur. What we can conclude with a great deal of confidence now is that climate change is making these events more extreme. And it’s not rocket science, you warm the atmosphere it's going to hold more moisture, you get larger flooding events, you get more rainfall. You warm the planet, you're going to get more frequent and intense heat waves. You warm the soils, you dry them out, you get worse drought… You bring all that together and those are all the ingredients for unprecedented wildfires."
Earlier this year, as more than a dozen wildfires were burning simultaneously in various parts of the state, California Governor Jerry Brown has warned that such deadly infernos have become the “new normal” Californians have to face due to the changing climate. Alas, the federal government has repeatedly minimised the role of climate change in causing the fires. While touring the devastation caused by the California fires last week, the U.S. president stated, “I want a great climate and we’re going to have that… And we’re going to have forests that are very safe. Because we can’t go through this every year.” But when posed with a question later on specifically on whether he recognises the tie between climate change and the fires, the president claimed, "Maybe it contributes a little bit… The big problem we have is management."
The truth is that we cannot afford to wait until more of those in powerful positions acknowledge the imminent threat of climate change, or decide to place the well being of the Earth and its dwellers ahead of that of industrial tycoons. Public pressure at this point is thus a must. But in order for sufficient civil action to take place, enough of the population should be thoroughly acquainted with the facts surrounding climate change and its direct effect on the planet. This means that climate change education should be placed at the forefront of the school curriculum and promoted aggressively by both educational institutions and community organisations.