Fires on the west coast of the USA

• US President Donald Trump has visited the California wildfire area.
• In a meeting with officials and emergency services, he downplayed the threat posed by climate change.

Trump criticized what he saw as poor forest management, which he cited in recent years as the reason for the spread of wildfires. However, California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the president clearly. You can clearly feel that the heat and drought are increasing. Climate change is real, Newsom said.

“It’s going to start to get cold, just watch,” Trump told California Minister Wade Crowfoot. He replied, “I wish science would agree with you.” What Trump said: “Well, I don’t think science really knows.” Crowfoot had previously warned that climate change must be recognized and worked with science.

Scientists believe the climate crisis has been shown to exacerbate extreme weather events such as drought and heat, which can contribute to more violent forest fires. Trump has expressed skepticism multiple times in the past about whether climate change exists and, if so, whether it is caused by humans.

At least 35 deaths

Open the text boxClose text box

• Wildfires in the western United States left homes burned, cars destroyed and nature charred.
• In California alone, 24 people were killed, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.
• Eleven others died in Oregon and Washington, according to US media. Tens of thousands are fleeing.

The fires are becoming an electoral problem

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden also addressed the wildfires at a performance in Wilmington, Delaware. Rather than basing his policy on scientific knowledge, Trump operates as a “climate arsonist,” Biden said. Although “the West is literally on fire,” Trump continues to deny climate change.

The governors of the affected states are sounding the alarm. “This is a wake-up call that we must do everything we can to combat climate change,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Sunday on CBS television.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee complained to ABC broadcaster that “while the entire west coast of the United States is on fire,” the president denies that it is not just wildfires, but “weather fires.”

Thousands of firefighters in action

More than 30,000 firefighters and helpers are on duty to control the flames. According to the authorities, some 19,000 square kilometers of land have already been charred. In Oregon, about 4,000 square kilometers of forest area burned, twice the number in an average year. The flames threaten not only property, but also people’s health.