Burning California: Experts name the cause of devastating wildfires
Los Angeles and the state of California suffer from wildfires (photo: Getty Images)
Several large-scale wildfires are raging in southern California. The flames have even reached the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, experts have spoken about the likely “main culprit” of this disaster.
RBC-Ukraine tells what to know about it.
About the wildfires in California and their causes
Large-scale forest fires broke out in California after the New Year, in early January 2025. The fire in Los Angeles was recorded on January 7.
Currently, there are three major wildfires in the southern US state of California.
Although it is not the usual season for wildfires in the United States, the fire is spreading very quickly and is adding to the work of all rescue services.
Users are actively sharing online images of the disaster, expressing support for the victims and praying for their safety, while experts are trying to explain its cause.
California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the region.
Special services are conducting evacuation and transporting residents to safe places. Volunteers are actively helping state and local authorities to rescue people.
Some regions have been proclaimed unsafe to live in as the situation is critical.
The causes of the fires in California are still under investigation. Yet, data from the US Forest Service indicate that most forest fires (85%) in the country are caused by people, either intentionally or accidentally.
Meanwhile, experts emphasize that
- there is a significant difference between what causes a fire and what allows it to spread
- the spread of flames is always influenced by at least a few key factors (climate and weather conditions, wind direction and speed, etc.)
Speaking about the fires in California, the main culprit is the Santa Ana winds - extremely strong and dry seasonal winds in southern California (US) and northern Baja California (Mexico) that can occur during the colder winter months.
Wildfires in Southern California are causing unhealthy air quality conditions. If you are impacted, stay indoors and wear a mask if you must go outside. Close all windows, doors and vents. Visit https://t.co/HZcGh6zKFD to see local air quality#PalisadesFire #HurstFire #EatonFire pic.twitter.com/GKY007Tv3u
— California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (@Cal_OES) January 9, 2025
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection warns that Santa Ana's powerful winds and low humidity increase the “extreme danger of wildfires.”
Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), explained that this wind creates an “atmospheric dryer” effect, which literally “dries the air.”
“So some of the strongest winds will be at the beginning of the event, but some of the driest vegetation will actually come at the end, and so the reality is that there's going to be a very long period of high fire risk,” he added.
California's governor admitted that the state's fire season has become “year-round.”
Experts from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a scientific collaboration that studies the attribution of extreme events and calculates the impact of climate change on extreme weather events (heat waves, droughts, and storms), confirmed that climate change is intensifying hot, dry weather in the United States, thereby “creating fuel for wildfires.”
US President Joe Biden canceled his visit to Italy due to the intensification of wildfires in the US.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy already expressed support for the United States amid the wildfires in California.
Sources: Sky News, BBC, World Weather Attribution (WWA), Wikipedia, An Hoai Tran, Kiggy Alianza Dk and Stephanie S. Wilson's Facebook pages, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and Governor Newsom's posts on X, ABC10 YouTube channel.
