A massive wildfire is causing serious damage in the Los Angeles (LA) area of the United States. The flames have rapidly spread to several areas, including Pacific Palisades, Hollywood Hills, Pasadena, Altadena, and Sylmar. As of the 11th, the wildfire has claimed 16 lives and engulfed more than 12,000 buildings.
The current LA wildfire is the result of a dangerous combination of strong winds, severe drought, and an unusually dry winter. Notably, the primary cause of the wildfire's spread is identified as the "Santa Ana" winds. Santa Ana winds occur when high pressure over the desert in the southwestern United States pushes into the low-pressure areas along the Pacific coast of Southern California.
The characteristic of the Santa Ana winds is that the winds flow downward. As this process occurs, the air compresses and heats up by about 10 degrees for every kilometer (1 km) of altitude decrease. As a result, the air becomes warmer, humidity decreases, and the wind speed increases. For this reason, it is also referred to as the "devil's wind." In some areas, wind speeds have exceeded 100 miles per hour (about 160 km), exacerbating the spread of the flames.
Daniel Swain, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), noted, "It’s like the atmosphere is acting like a hair dryer," adding that these strong winds have made the Southern California region more dangerous.
◇ Climate change fuels extreme weather that spreads wildfires
The background of the current large-scale LA wildfire also includes extreme drought and abnormal weather patterns due to climate change. Southern California typically experiences its rainy season between December and February. Usually, sufficient rainfall during this period saturates the soil and vegetation. However, recently, Southern California has not seen any rainfall for eight months, with the last occurrence of more than 2.5 mm of rain being in early May of last year.
The United States Drought Monitor has reported that the Southern California region is in a state of severe drought. In particular, some areas of San Diego County are experiencing the driest winter in 150 years. These conditions act as risk factors that can escalate a small spark into a major wildfire. Most of the large wildfires in California over the past decade have occurred in conditions that are hot, dry, and accompanied by strong winds.
Experts have emphasized that this wildfire is not merely a natural disaster but a calamity resulting from climate change. Max Moritz, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, warned NBC, "Climate change is making rainfall patterns irregular and extreme," adding that "the extreme alternation between wet and dry periods increases the risk of these large wildfires."
In fact, Southern California transitioned to a state of extreme drought just months after dealing with flood damage from heavy rains in March. Professor Moritz stated, "This extreme climate is exposing communities to greater disasters," warning that "climate change is likely to bring unprecedented levels of large disasters we have never experienced before."
He emphasized, "The current climate signals show that we have become more vulnerable to extreme and destructive events," stating that "immediate and practical action is needed to respond to climate change."