Nearly 1,500 buildings were reduced to ashes, forcing more than 100,000 residents of the American megacity to flee in the face of flames. These fires, with lightning speed, ravage neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades, known for their luxurious villas.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass highlighted the magnitude of the situation, speaking of winds gusting up to 100 miles per hour, gusts worthy of a hurricane, combined with extreme drought.
The fires broke out on Tuesday morning and have already killed five people. The evocation of these tragic scenes by residents testifies to the violence of these flames: “the flames have engulfed our dreams,” confided William Gonzales, a desperate resident of the region.
Drought, heat and violent winds: the devastating cocktail
The climatic conditions this winter in Los Angeles leave no room for doubt: drought, heat and violent winds are a fatal combination for the spread of fires. And the region has not experienced rain for almost ten months, a phenomenon which increases the risk of fires.
In 2015, California had already experienced a historic drought, and the situation has continued to deteriorate over the years, with increasingly dry periods in winter.
The lack of precipitation over several months has dried out the vegetation, transforming grasses and trees into highly flammable materials. These conditions create an ideal environment for fires, which spread with great speed, fueled by powerful winds carrying embers for kilometers.
Faced with the effects of climate change, California appears increasingly exposed to the risk of fires.
The role of climate change
Experts agree that these events are greatly worsened by climate change. And he believes that if the phenomenon of drought is recurrent in California, its intensity and frequency have been accentuated by global warming.
According to Kristina Dahl, vice-president of the scientific organization Climate Central, the increase in temperature, particularly at the start of this winter with temperatures around 20°C during the day, plays a crucial role in the intensification of fires.
Global warming has led to an increase in average temperature of 2°C in southern California since 1895, said climatologists at the University of California at Berkeley. This rise in temperatures is largely responsible for the increased frequency and intensity of fires in the region.
Urban management sub-question
The devastating fires hitting Los Angeles also raise questions about the management of urban spaces and forests. Criticism is growing over the urban sprawl of the second most populous city in the United States, which is leading to rampant urbanization in vulnerable areas, often close to forests and dry lands.
This situation complicates the management of fire risks, a challenge to which local authorities are trying to respond, but faced with increasingly extreme weather conditions, the task becomes more and more difficult.
Controversies over urban planning and the management of natural resources, particularly forests, are amplified by political voices, such as those of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who denounce the policies of the State of California and its Democratic governor Gavin Newsom.
However, scientists point out that the severity of these events is largely linked to climate change and extreme weather phenomena which are becoming more and more frequent and violent.
