Wildfires are part of life in California. Climate change has not caused them, but it has altered everything, making the fires potentially more intense and deadly.
Southern California has been primed for the kind of disaster we are witnessing this month by prevalent droughts, creating highly flammable, dry vegetation; strong Santa Ana winds gusting over 85 mph in the last few days; and record heat with 2024 average temperatures 3.3 degrees above historic averages, making the year just ended the warmest on record for the state.
These fires are not just an environmental and climate disaster. They are also an economic and social one. More people are living in harm’s way. Development and climate change have raised the risks. The fires disrupt lives and families and destroy businesses, industries and jobs. What’s at stake right now are entire livelihoods built off of agriculture, tourism and urban industries that keep these places thriving.
We have an incoming administration that needs to pay attention to the growing frequency and huge cost of these natural disasters, which are exacerbated by climate change. While the incoming Trump administration can expand support to existing efforts, there are opportunities for new and effective approaches that align with his philosophy.
It has become cliché to say that science predicted climate disasters such as the wildfires Los Angeles is facing today, but it did. It is essential to use these data and implement comprehensive resilience policies. These include managing vegetation, creating firebreaks and modernizing infrastructure to protect homes and communities. They also include engaging technologies that are emerging that can help communities better predict, respond to and manage these risks so that human suffering is reduced.
The incoming administration can create more partnerships with technology companies, providing incentives such as investments and tax breaks for development and deployment of emerging technologies that can be deployed during climate disasters. These include AI for predictions and real-time fire detection and response. These efforts can be tied in to greater support for firefighting and first responders that today are hampered by insufficient equipment, technology, real-time information and personnel.
The planet will survive a climate change transition, but it is us, humans, who need the support, actions and policies to make it through safely. Smart investments can be a harbinger of climate resilience.
The fires in Los Angeles County strain public resources to the point of breaking. CalFire’s total funding for fire protection, resource management and fire prevention grew from $800 million in 2005-06 to an estimated $3.7 billion in 2021-22.
To combat this, the new administration can invest in federal land management practices with federal and state partnerships in large-scale forest management and restoration programs, especially to address the backlog in forest maintenance. Provide milestone based rewards to states and communities that implement fire-resilient programs, and encourage more insurers to provide discounts for these milestones instead of abandoning these communities.
California’s ecosystems evolved with fire. What is needed now is for its communities to adapt to the new reality and for us all to support these efforts and focus on resilience. The ongoing divisive rhetoric about climate-change will not solve the problems that are not going away. Awareness, policy and action will. That is where the incoming administration must focus attention.
Deborah Brosnan, Ph.D., is a globally recognized marine scientist, environmental entrepreneur, and climate-risk expert. She works worldwide to create innovative solutions to environmental and climate risks, that support ecosystems and generate returns for the planet, the private sector and communities.
