LA fires: Donald Trump's climate denying ways will only inflict more damage
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Fires have devoured neighborhoods, forcing tens of thousands to flee for their lives and so far killed at least five people. But with barely time for California to begin grieving incoming president Donald Trump spotted an opportunity to inflict even more damage.
Legitimate questions about the level of preparedness for the fires need to be answered but in such dire situations, blame usually awaits the ebbing of the crisis. While fires are frequent and natural in this part of the world, the state of California has seen some of the most significant increases in the length and extremity of the fire weather season globally in recent decades, driven largely by the climate crisis.
Years of above average rainfall can lead to increased vegetation, then a rapid swing to dry conditions raises the likelihood of fires that can feed on this vegetation, and become more intense. There is also projected to be a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 per cent by 2030, 30 per cent by 2050 and 50 per cent by the end of the century.
There is not only the risk from the fires themselves, but also the smoke filled air that poses a risk to health for potentially millions of people. What makes it so susceptible to worsening fire seasons comes from the fact that Trump refuses to accept climate change exists.
During another California wildfires crisis, as millions of acres burned in 2020, Trump dismissed an appeal to acknowledge the danger, saying “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”. To have the president of the world’s richest nation and world’s biggest historic emitter use his disaster to point score will be mortifying for the US west coast.D.
