Wildfire, California | Here’s what the climate scientist says about Trump’s denial

Since August alone, wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington have devastated 2 million acres of forest and claimed at least 36 lives.

US President Donald Trump visited the forest-ravaged state of California on Monday. The president then engaged in an open conversation with various local government representatives in California. Secretary of State for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said Trump must acknowledge that it is not just forest mismanagement but also climate change that is causing the huge fires that are ravaging the west coast of the United States.

“Okay. It’s starting to get cold. Just wait and see,” Trump replied.

“I wish science would agree with you,” said Crowfoot.

“Actually, I don’t think science knows,” Trump responded.

– On the specific point, Trump is wrong, Cicero Climate Research Center principal investigator Bjørn Hallvard Samset tells Nettavisen.

Read also: Governor of California to Trump: – Climate change is real

True, Trump is right that the weather will be somewhat cooler as it approaches fall and winter, but in a climatic context and when it comes to global average temperatures, the research shows the exact opposite.

– Burning stronger than ever

Samset also works for the UN Climate Panel and is a contributor to the upcoming UN climate report, due to be released next year. He has also been awarded the Research Council’s “Mediator of the Year” award. The climate researcher says that climate change is a major reason fires on the west coast of the United States are allowed to grow as large as they do.

– Wildfires are more powerful and bigger than before, affect more people and create more problems than before. Climate change contributes to the forest fire itself, says Samset.

– If you look at the purely weather, then it burns on average more and more powerfully than we have ever seen in California and the entire west coast of the United States. The fire season lasts longer. Some say that there is no longer a fire season, but that it lasts all year. For this to happen, it must be warm and dry. The world as a whole, and California in particular in this case, is more than a degree warmer than 150 years ago. This has two consequences. One is that all combustible materials such as houses, wood and vegetation are warmer and drier and therefore easier to ignite if a spark appears. Also, vegetation and soil evaporate, so you lose more water. If you look at a single tree, it’s drier and warmer, says Samset.

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– These are the initial conditions for a fire. These fires often start with a lightning strike or with cars or vehicles creating a spark when they hit a stone on the road. These are accidents that would have happened anyway. But since we have a hotter and drier climate, the fires are getting bigger and hotter, he says.

Blame it on poor forest management

President Trump has emphasized forest mismanagement as one of the main causes of devastating wildfires. During his visit to California, a reporter asked him if climate change was a major factor in wildfires.

“I think it’s mostly about forest management,” Trump responded.

“When trees fall, they dry out a lot after a short period of time. Almost like a match. And they can explode. It also goes away.” When you have dry leaves on the ground, it is like fuel for fires, “Trump said. .

– Too easy to blame forest management

Samset thinks it’s too easy to blame poor forest management.

– It is clear that when houses are built in forest areas, work must be done to remove combustible material such as dead wood and leaves. But this is a huge job. It’s not just sending a class from school to ask them to collect some sheets. It requires solid machinery to do this. California authorities say they don’t have the ability to do this alone, Samset says.

– But this is part of the climate adaptation that must now take place in California. It is not realistic to keep people away from these areas. No one expects to depopulate California because of the fires, says the climate researcher.

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– One of the reasons this comes up with forest management is a previous federal policy, of which the Smokey Bear campaign was a part, which meant that one should not have any wildfires. It gradually became clear that this was not sustainable. Nature in the United States must burn. It is part of the natural cycle. A few years ago, it was decided to do this differently. You had to make sure that forest fires did not destroy buildings, but let forests burn. And then all of a sudden there was a century old forest that could burn, says Samset.

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The Smokey Bear campaign is an attitude campaign that began in 1944, which aimed to raise awareness of the public about preventive measures against wildfires.

Samset says the problems with the wildfires will continue as people return to burning buildings and rebuild their burning houses.

The states themselves have a small forest

Trump apparently shifts the problem and responsibility for forest management to the state government. But in reality, it is the federal government that owns nearly 53 percent of California’s forested areas, while the state itself owns just three percent, according to the BBC, citing figures from the governor’s office. The remaining areas are owned by individuals, companies or indigenous groups.

In the state of Oregon, the federal government also owns a significant portion of the forest area. In Washington, the state owns only 12 percent of the forest, while 43 percent is owned by the federal government and 36 percent is in private hands.

It moves to flammable forest areas.

Samset says that population growth also plays a role.

– In California, as in many other places, there is the problem that there are many people who need a place to live. In San Francisco, for example, house prices have skyrocketed. Therefore, it is desirable to build more houses and village areas in forest areas. This means that people move to areas where there have traditionally been many wildfires. Therefore, we are more exposed to the effect of a fire when it starts, says Samset.