Three important lessons from the L.A. fires

As fire crews work hard to finally extinguish the flames, the Los Angeles fires generate awe at the power of wildfire and horror at the tragic loss of human life and property. 

But they can also teach us several important things about scientific evidence, weaponized disinformation, and fighting for our future in the critical times we are living in. 

Lesson 1: Science shows fires are caused by a convergence of factors

If you get most of your information from social media, you might think the scope and scale of the fires in L.A. are the collective result of malicious diversion of river water to keep endangered fish alive, pulsed energy weapons aimed at houses and state legislators who hire too many people from the LGBTQ+ community. 

However, the real factors shaping the ferocity of the fires have nothing to do with these lies. 

Climate change has driven whip-saw swings in southern California’s hillside ecosystems between very wet (good for growing grass and trees) and drought (good for making them flammable), all while temperatures are increasing overall (also good for drying out grass and trees). As a result, the hills around L.A. are tinder dry after five months of receiving almost no rain. 

Building homes within this potentially volatile environment has also expanded massively over the years. At the same time, years of fire suppression undertaken to protect these homes has meant more and more dry wood and grass has built up. It is now far beyond the level that would occur if it had been allowed to burn off in smaller, more frequent fires, as would have occurred naturally. 

Finally, the warm, dry Santa Ana winds that have always streamed from the deserts of Nevada and Utah over the mountains and into L.A., have been particularly fierce this year. When experienced together, these conditions ensure that any source of ignition will explode into massive community-killing conflagrations. 

Lesson 2: The purpose of disinformation politics 

The disinformation campaigns being waged on social media about the causes of the fires have a purpose. They are designed to sow confusion and encourage people to reject the science of wildfire behaviour and its link to climate change. 

Creating anger against state government leaders or others is a co-benefit of the campaign, and together, helps spawn an angry and confused public seeking simple solutions and strongman leaders…to which the chief drivers of the confusion derive the most benefit. 

Disasters caused by climate change are a perfect place for extremist organizing. And the extremists, once in power, will ensure little or nothing is done to address the causes of climate change or to protect people from its impacts.

Lesson 3: It is getting late, time to get busy

In 2024, we reached an unwelcome milestone, when the Earth’s overall temperature has increased by about 1.5 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, this simple and seemingly small number obscures its dramatic implications for the global climate system. 

Los Angeles fires, Spanish floods, Canadian heat domes, and many other disasters pepper our news feeds. These are the too-real stories behind the seemingly tiny number that is destroying people’s lives, driving species to extinction and launching the growing waves of climate refugees. 

Extremist politicians everywhere, supported by their fossil fuel industry sponsors, will tell you that none of this is real, and that everything that is “broken” in our countries is the fault of those who are trying to avert this mounting planetary disaster.  

Don’t believe it, don’t repeat it and don’t ignore the growing necessity of resisting it. Read more, listen more, talk to your friends and family more and prepare to fight for your democracy, for real climate action and for the future of your country and the planet. 

We can’t afford to sit this one out.

Tim Gray is executive director of Environmental Defence.