“Pyrocene” is upon us. At least, that's the idea first introduced by fire historian Stephen Pyne in a 2015 article.
United States Forest Service ecologist Gavin Jones described the Pyrocene in 2023 in an interview with The Explorers Journal as the current era in which people are experiencing more fire events than ever before. The main thing – the actions of people.
The wild fire it is currently ravaging the Los Angeles area of California and beyond, killing at least 11 people so far and over 30,000 acres of land and over 10,000 homes. It is the deadliest fire in the state's history.
As wildfires increase every year around the world, the concern from climate scientists that climate change is on the rise.
The wildest and seemingly unextinguishable fire in several parts of Los Angeles in California, US, which started on Tuesday, has killed at least 10 people and destroyed 10,000 houses and buildings. About 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land have burned, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
All hands are on deck to fight #PalisadesFire in Southern California. California is extremely grateful to the brave firefighters & first responders who battled the wildfires.
We will continue to raise funds and support rural communities as they are affected by this difficult weather. pic.twitter.com/JZrYy85e4z
– Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 8, 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a video he posted on X Wednesday that there is no longer a fire “season” in California. “It's been happening all year in California.”
Pyne, professor emeritus at Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences, agrees. He told Al Jazeera that now “we must have a period of fire, characterized by fire similar to the age of ice”.
Has climate change contributed to California's wildfires?
It is very possible, according to many experts.
The world is getting hotter, scientists warn. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed on Friday that 2024 was the first year of global warming. exceeded pre-industrial levels and 1.5 degrees Celsius.
C3S says climate change is pushing the world to temperatures never experienced by modern humans.
Climate change has contributed to an increase in the frequency, duration and location of wildfires, according to a report by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As a result of all this, says Pyne, global warming is “adding energy to the system, extending the wet and dry seasons, prolonging the fire season, bringing together all the (previously strong) factors that contribute to California's fires”.
How does climate change cause wildfires in particular?
The cause of the California fire, which started on Tuesday in the Palisades area of Los Angeles, is unknown and is under investigation.
“But they are people,” says Pyne. “They can be directly related to people (violent, careless) or in a different way (for example, through faulty electrical wiring). At the moment the origins are unknown.”
Experts say, however, that it is likely that the combination of nature created the perfect conditions for the non-calendar fires. spread as fast as it has.
One reason is that southern California hasn't had much rain in months.
The The latest US Drought Monitor map shows that as of January 7, only 39.1 percent of California is drought-free. All other areas are described as “extraordinarily dry” and some areas are experiencing “moderate to exceptional” drought.
Around this time last year – as of January 2, 2024 – 96.7 percent of California was classified as drought-free. In addition, only 3.4 percent of the state was abnormally dry and none of the areas experienced severe drought.
Excessive dryness causes plants to dry out and become more prone to burning.
Aside from this, Los Angeles has many flammable materials in its neighborhoods, such as low power lines and wooden telephone poles.
Santa Ana's warm winds have also moved inland to the coast and ocean, further reducing vegetation, experts say. When vegetation is dry and conditions are burning, any fire can start a fire, whether it's a lit cigarette, a car or a power line.
Are some natural disasters related to climate change?
Yes. Climate change and poor urban planning and management have increased natural disasters around the world, including heavy rain, stormy wind and flooding.
Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believe that if the global temperature exceeds the pre-industrial average by 2C, the speed of hurricanes could increase by 10 percent.
They also say that climate change could slow down — rather than speed up — the speed at which hurricanes move. This means that hurricanes can dump a lot of water on the land they pass through.
Warm oceans help tropical storms grow faster, Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, said. he told Al Jazeera in April 2023.
In October last year, the World Weather Attribution (WWA) he said that climate change caused by fossil fuel use increased monsoon rainfall in the Niger and Lake Chad region by between 5 percent and 20 percent by 2024, leading to increased flooding.
Asian countries have also met flooding in recent years. In April 2024, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a report that found that Asia is warming more than the rest of the world.
WMO Director General Celeste Saulo said in a statement that “many countries in the region faced the hottest year on record in 2023, and many problems, from droughts and heat waves to floods and storms”. He added that the “frequency and severity of such events” will be exacerbated by climate change.
Will it get worse if climate change is not stopped?
Wildfires are expected to increase over time due to climate change and changes in land use, according to the 2022 report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and its partner, the environmental communication center, GRID-Arendal.
The report said that the number of wildfires worldwide will increase by 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of this century.
In addition, wildfires damage the environment in other ways as well. Regarding the California fires, “when (and) the winter rains arrive, it can lead to landslides and debris flows”, said Pyne, meaning that the cleanup after the fires “will be messy, long and expensive”.
Man-made conditions have also made it difficult to cope with the fallout from natural disasters.
Pyne said “today's homes are full of plastics, synthetics and electronics that can become toxic” when they catch fire.
How do wildfires affect wildlife?
Wildfires burn acres of land quickly and can have a variety of effects on wildlife that live in the wildfire area.
The results depend on the type of wildlife and their habitat requirements, as well as the intensity and frequency of wildfires, according to an article published by North Carolina (NC) State University.
Some species can quickly flee when a fire destroys acres of land. “Some animals, especially those that are immobile or slow to escape, are more vulnerable to the smoke and heat of wildfires,” it says.
Does this affect the environment?
It can. When wildfires alter vegetation by reducing it, some wildlife can lose habitat, and the movement of wildlife can disrupt the ecosystem in the area.
Take snakes as an example. About 33 species of snakes are found in California.
Michael Starkey, a conservationist whose work focuses on snake conservation he told Al Jazeera that rising temperatures and drier conditions make certain areas uninhabitable for certain species of snakes.
Starkey said while snakes may go away, other species may. This is a problem because snakes eat rodents that destroy crops for human consumption. This can affect all food systems.
California is also home to 700 species of vertebrates, which are, in short, animals with backbones and bones. This makes the country the most natural in the US, according to an article published by the US Department of Agriculture in March 2024.
Record-breaking wildfires ravaged California in 2020 and 2021, burning more than 4.2 million acres.
“Sadly, the wildfires killed or displaced nearly 3 billion animals. It made me wonder what is happening to our wildlife,” said Jones, a United States Forest Service ecologist in a US Department of Agriculture news release.
Pacific Southwest Research Station biologist John Keane said spotted owls are another species of stress, according to the article. Wildfire disasters can destroy old-growth trees and dense forests on which spotted owls depend for nesting, roosting, and food.”