CALIFORNIA IS BURNING

Climate change is causing wildfires that have incinerated over 1.6 million hectares – Rajika Jayatilake investigates

The California Dream meant different things to different people. American singer Beth Anderson once said: “Everything is just better in California – the wine, the food, fruits and vegetables, the comforts of living. Even the instrumentalists are generous and curious. Everything is wonderful.”

Indeed, the Golden State grows over 400 agricultural products and almost half of all US grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. California produces 90 percent of the world’s almonds and has earned the distinction of being the second largest producer of pistachios in the world. In addition, 95 percent of America’s grapes in over 70 varieties grow there and Napa Valley alone accounts for over 200 wineries – the highest number in the world. But in recent years, climate change exacerbated by annual wildfires has been disastrous to the Golden State and its
40 million residents. In fact, California’s wildfires this year have scorched over a record 1.6 million hectares (four million acres) to date.

With the wildfire season not over at the time of writing, the extent of land burned to ashes is larger than the state of Connecticut and double the area destroyed previously in any single year. Almost all the damage came from five of the six largest fires ever, and it all happened in 2020.

In fact, the wildfires this year have killed more than 30 people so far, burnt hundreds of homes to a cinder and forced thousands of people to flee their neighborhoods. At least 17,000 firefighters have been battling the fires across the state.

Spokesperson for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Scott McLean says: “The four million mark is unfathomable. It boggles the mind, and that number will grow.”

In his acceptance speech at the 2016 Academy Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio observed: “Climate change is real; it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work together and stop procrastinating.”


Many studies have linked large wildfires in the US to climate change from burning coal, oil and gas. According to scientists, climate change has made California very dry, which means that trees and other plants have become more flammable. Wine Country has burned for four years straight.

Two years ago, autumn saw the worst wildfire in California’s recorded history where 85 people died, two entire towns in Northern California were burned and damage to the tune of US$ 16.5 billion was incurred.

At that time, over 86,000 people abandoned California and relocated to Texas, another 70,000 left for Arizona and 55,000 to Washington State. Last year, more than half a million Californians relocated to Texas. From 2007 to 2016, over five million people came into California while six million moved out to other states.

Polls indicate that this consistent exodus is the result of the skyrocketing cost of housing, high taxation and a discouraging political culture. Climate scientist Dr. Kim Cobb says that despite red flags on global warming for years, she was shocked by the wildfires on the west coast this summer.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that August was the warmest on record in California with the past six years showing increasing rises in temperature.

Professor at the University of Southern California Bistra Dilkina foresees people moving across the country because of increasing climatic disasters rather than economic opportunities. In fact, she foresees it as “an actual moving force,” propelling people to relocate with their families.

Moreover, scientists have projected 13 million Americans will be forced to relocate by 2100 because of rising sea levels that will submerge coastlines. Cobb avers: “The science couldn’t be any clearer on this point; the links between warming temperatures and these wildfires are clear – this is going to get a lot worse.”

In the recent past, rolling blackouts as a strategy to prevent wildfires have left millions of Californians in darkness. And they have endured ghostly orange and red skies, and dense smoke from uncontrollable wildfires. Indeed, they must wonder if these catastrophes will descend on them only once in a century or generation… or whether they’re a sign of a new normal.

California’s former governor turned international environmental advocate Jerry Brown says that the fires are making it abundantly clear that there needs to be a global effort to eliminate greenhouse gases.

Brown explains that for 10,000 years, California had a population of only about 300,000 people while in the past 100 years, the population has increased from a few million to 40 million people with over 30 million vehicles guzzling eight million gallons of fossil fuel.

Former US President Barack Obama once observ-ed that “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.”

And Former President of France François Hollande offered another perspective to the need to control global warming when he said: “We have a single mission – to protect and hand over the planet to the next generation.”

Dr. Kim Cobb Climate scientist