California Wildfires Reignite Climate Change Concerns
As scorching wildfires burn millions of acres and reduce homes to ashes across California, social media posts capturing the apocalyptic orange skies and smoke-blanketed towns from the fire-ravaged state, have ignited increased concerns over climate change and the dire need for governmental action.
Orange skies in Southern California amid devastating wildfires. Source: "Southern California Fires" by Rennett Stowe is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Climate change activists are stressing the importance of enacting climate policies at the federal level in order to halt the course of global warming before the effects are irreversible. Many scientists believe the world could enter the irreversible stages as soon as 2030.
The unprecedented wildfires across the west serve as evidence of the alarming realities of climate change. The disastrous fires also highlight the need for policymakers to understand the grave threats of global warming and not deny them, as the upcoming presidential election approaches.
In the age of COVID-19, climate change activists have found the ideal platform to bring attention to current crises like the California wildfires on social media. The wildfires have sparked widespread conversations regarding the threats of climate change on social sites like Instagram, where powerpoint-style infographics have become the new medium for sharing information on political and social issues. Although older generations may discredit social media “activists” as merely performative or even disillusioned, this new tactic for spreading news helped to call attention to the California wildfires and has brought the issue of climate change back to the forefront.
Just this year, California has experienced four of the five largest wildfires in state history, and over two dozen major fires are currently burning throughout the state. The past decade of California summers have been categorized by catastrophic blazes, but this year’s fires have already shattered records only half way through the season. With over 2 million acres charred throughout California this year, California Fire Department Capt. Richard Cordova said, “We haven't even gotten into the October and November fire season, and we've broken the all-time record.” These fires have already decimated an area greater than 10 New York Cities.
Although the recent fires were unprecedented in their devastation, record-breaking fires will soon become the norm for west coast states if our elected officials continue to downplay the effects of global warming. Sure, these fires may have been ignited by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party, a careless smoker, barbeque gone wrong, an unattended campfire, etc., but it is climate change that exacerbates these fires into an uncontainable blaze.
The range of climate changes brewing in California, resulting in high heat, low moisture and increased humidity, have created the ideal environment for a wildfire to thrive. Without swift change, those on the west coast will continue to see hotter summers, widespread droughts, harsher storms, and unusual humidity, which will only result in stronger and more frequent wildfires. Placing the blame on the individual — like the expectant parent that has since gained the fury of a nation following their failed gender reveal celebration — distracts from the fact that it is the fault of big corporate executives who are apathetic to the issue of climate change, and it is our collective responsibility to hold them accountable.
The recent California wildfires have also added another layer of significance to the upcoming presidential election, where voters will essentially be voting either for or against climate change action. Since President Trump and democratic candidate Joe Biden hold dramatically different viewpoints regarding the threat of global warming, this election can either mean a chance at reversing the effects of climate change, or four more years of denial and worsening conditions. Under another term of Trump, who dismissively told an official, "I don't think science knows," about global warming when being asked about the California wildfires, it is unlikely that we will see any effective environmental regulation and the effects of climate change will continue to wreak havoc on the nation.
In refusing to acknowledge the threats posed by climate change and the role it is already playing in aggravating the California wildfires, Trump is yet again turning his back on scientists and sending a harmful message to voters that climate change should not be a topic of concern. "Donald Trump's climate denial may not have caused these fires and record floods and record hurricanes,” said presidential opponent Joe Biden. “But if he gets a second term these hellish events will continue to become more common, more devastating and more deadly.”
As fires continue to scorch areas across the west coast, we must recognize climate change as the root of this destruction and hold our politicians accountable to clean up the mess. Climate change activism must not die out as if it was merely an Instagram trend — we must continue to advocate for action against climate change before it is too late.