Los Angeles: Dryness, heat and strong winds the “explosive cocktail” for fires – The role of human factor

They shock the images of the destructives in , with firefighters fighting with flames and thousands of civilians evacuating their homes in order to save themselves from the fiery lailapa in the second largest city in the United States. At least five people have their lives while fortunes have become ashes, resulting in political confrontation on the grounds and factors that caused the ruthless fires in Los Angeles, with analysts and experts commenting on the phenomenon. ADVERSE Dryness, heat, very strong winds, all these factors converged this winter in Los Angeles and can explain in part the huge, destructive fires raging there, although scientists do not regard climate change as responsible only by making reference to the expansion of the urban fabric of Los Angeles. “ We watch fires spreading when it’s hot, drought and wind blowing: all these factors are present in southern California, ” said Christina Dal Vice-President of Climate Central Scientific Research Organisation. CORVERSE High temperatures According to her, “the most clear proof” of this is the high temperatures observed since the early winter in Los Angeles, with mercury reaching about 20° Celsius. Large fires in winter are rare in California. Based on Louvain University data, two have been recorded since 2000: one in 2017 (when 1,102 square kilometers were destroyed) and one in 2002 (23 square kilometers). Although the cause now raging in the Los Angeles area is not known, “the climate change that people contribute to increases the heat, which causes the outbreak of fires, ” commented Patrick Gonzales climateologist at Berkeley University, California. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu Due to climate change “the temperature has increased by two degrees in southern California since 1895”, he added. 2024 is expected to be the hottest year ever recorded in the US, which also applies to other countries, while scientists recall that climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather phenomena. Current fires are the fruit of “the perfect conditions ” for such disasters, appreciated by Maria Lucia Ferreira Barbosa of the British organization Center for Ecology & Hydrology. The drought California was affected in 2024 by the El Niño effect that caused severe rainfall and consequently increased vegetation during the first half of the year. In the second half there was drought in the southern part of the state. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu From 1 July 2024 to 5 January they fell in downtown Los Angeles just four millimetres of rain, much lower than normal. “ Current California fires are unprecedented, in the sense that they are unusual at this time of the year, ” said the Apostle Voulgarakis meteorologist at Imperial College, London, who observed that the time of the fires in California is being extended. REUTERS/David Swanson Recent report of the UN Environment Programme concluded that the number of particularly severe fires would increase by 14% by 2030, 30% by 2050 and 50% by the end of the 21st century. But other anthropogenic factors also contributed to the current situation. Exogenous factors Californians are increasingly moving into fire-threatening areas because housing costs along the Pacific coast are increasing constantly. This is, for example, the area of Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada, on the border between California and Nevada, which attracts more and more new residents, despite the increased risk of fires. REUTERS/David Swanson The California authorities burn more than 500,000 acres of vegetation every year, but no one knows if this is enough. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, appreciated that “these fires could easily have been avoided, ” but“ the unreasonable regulatory rules in California prevent any action. ” For his part the newly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, appreciated that “responsible” for this “real disaster” is California Democratic governor Gavin Newsome.