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During a visit to California, President Trump makes clear that for him it is not climate change but poor forestry that is the cause of wildfires. In reality, however, the situation is more complex.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (left) and President Donald Trump sought conciliatory tones in a meeting Monday, but they disagree on the causes of the wildfires.
US President Donald Trump once again voiced skepticism about climate change during a visit to wildfire-plagued California on Monday. “Watch out, it will be colder soon,” Trump said when meeting with Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials near the capital Sacramento. Cautiously noting that science probably disagrees, Trump responded, “I don’t think science knows everything.”
Shortly afterwards, while visiting a former Air Force station, currently used as an emergency command center, Trump made it clear that, in his view, poor forestry was the cause of the wildfires, an accusation he has made. several times. “If you have dry leaves on the ground, this is the perfect fuel for a fire.”
West coast shrouded in smoke waves
The western United States is currently fighting the worst wildfires in recent history. The three coastal states of Washington, Oregon and California are particularly affected.
In California, fires have already burned 1.2 million hectares of land this year, 26 times more than in 2019, and claimed 19 lives in the last month alone. Strong winds with gusts of up to 55 kilometers per hour intensified the fire on Monday. In Oregon, where about 4 million people live, 40,000 people have so far had to be evacuated.
Clouds of smoke from the fires now blanket the entire west coast in cloudy air. Pollution levels on Monday were all over Washington and the Oregon coast generally in the “very unhealthy” range, no one should leave the house. In many places, air pollution has even exceeded the maximum limit of 500, which is provided by the US authorities. Factors such as ozone level and fine dust pollution are included in the scale. In Oregon’s largest city, Portland, the worst air of any city in the world was measured over the weekend.
Biden calls Trump a “climate denier”
The huge fires give the issue of climate change a new meaning in the election campaign. In view of the crown pandemic, economic crisis and race riots in the country, the issue had taken a back seat in recent months. On Monday, however, Trump’s challenger, Joe Biden, condemned the president’s ignorance of climate change in a video message and used the fires in the West to criticize: If the “climate denier” was given another four years At the White House, “why should we be surprised if more of America is on fire?” A few hours after Trump, Biden’s vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris also visited her home state of California to see the fires.
Experts agree that climate change is playing a role in today’s fires. But other factors are also important, such as the management of forests that President Trump cites so often. In fact, many regions of the western United States have for too long followed the practice of putting out fires as quickly as possible rather than letting downed trees and brush burn in a controlled manner to prevent major fires in the future. Nearly 150 million trees have died in recent years due to an invasion of bark beetles and a multi-year drought, which scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change. Scott Stephens, a professor of forestry at the University of Berkeley, told the San Francisco Chronicle that, in his opinion, California needs to dramatically expand controlled fires on a permanent basis.
Living in regions at risk of forest fires
But by pointing the finger at California, Trump makes it too easy: 57 percent of California’s forests are under the federal government. In fact, the state has already escalated controlled fires, at least as much as possible. Because the window of time in which these fires can occur in a controlled manner is shortened by climate change: according to the Cal Fire authority, the fire season in California has lengthened 75 days in recent decades.
At the same time, population growth and high real estate prices in the “Golden State” have led more and more people to move to regions that are in the danger zone. According to a 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, about a quarter of California’s population – about 11 million people – now live in regions that are extremely prone to fires. “The problem was compounded by decades of poor forest management, lack of housing, and very little money for cultivating land under the control of the federal government,” the study authors summarize the problem.
Additionally, power lines, which extend above the ground almost everywhere in the US, repeatedly start fires in California – a study published in 2019 found that numerous fires in recent years have been started by equipment from the state provider. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). be caused, for example, by downed power poles or trees that have fallen on power lines. PG&E filed for bankruptcy last year and now shuts off electricity regularly if the risk of fire on a utility grid becomes too high to protect against legal action.
Climate change is making this situation worse: Average temperatures in California are rising steadily, this year August was hotter than it has been since records began. At the same time, years of drought with very little rainfall have dried up the vegetation. In mid-August, severe heat storms caused nearly 15,000 lightning to strike California in 72 hours, sparking countless fires. Some of them have yet to be extinguished, including a massive multi-fire complex in Santa Rosa, Northern California. In addition, there are strong winds, which further fan and spread the fire. “In the background there is constant global warming,” climate scientist Daniel Swain of the University of Los Angeles recently told the “Wall Street Journal.” This ensures additional evaporation of moisture from the soil, which robs the plants of water.
Experts believe that extreme weather conditions are the new normal in California. Even in the current crisis, no improvement is in sight in the short term; experience has shown that the worst phase of the wildfire season is just beginning.
