Debunking the myth that arson is more to blame than climate change :: WRAL.com

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By Ivana Kottasov, CNN

CNN – Forest fires ripping through the Mediterranean have killed dozens of people and reduced entire villages to ashes. Some leaders have highlighted the role of arsonists in the devastation, while others have been accused of using climate change as a cover for their own disaster mismanagement. The result is a confusing message of who and what is to blame.

Fires have raged in recent days in Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Algeria, Italy and Cyprus. In the United States, firefighters have also battled fires in 15 states as the Dixie Fire, California’s second largest fire, continues to grow. Last month, parts of Siberia and British Columbia both experienced the biggest fires in years.

Italy’s Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani has acknowledged the role of climate change in the disaster, but recently insisted that 70% of fires in the country were man-made – accidentally or on purpose.

In Algeria, where 65 people, including 25 soldiers, have died from forest fires in recent days, Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud held a similar tone.

“We have known about forest fires for a long time. Dozens at the same time are definitely a criminal act,” he told Al-Nahar television on Tuesday.

Conversely, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been accused of blaming the role of climate change in the fires to deflect criticism of poor forest management and disaster preparedness.

After a backlash, he was forced to make it clear that he meant climate change was “the explanation, but not an excuse, or an alibi.” He however reiterated that his government had “done all that was humanly possible, but in many cases that did not seem to be enough in the unequal battle with nature”.

What is the role of climate change?

Questions are now being raised as to who and what is responsible for the fires. Climate change, arson or both?

While there are many factors that influence forest fires, it is climate change that makes them bigger and more frequent, and causes them to occur in places where they weren’t very common before.

Hikmet Ozturk, a forestry expert from the Turkish Foundation for Soil Erosion Control, an NGO, said that while 95% of fires in Turkey are caused by people, the spread of fires is made worse by climate change.

“The typical summer weather conditions for the region are hot and dry, which means the risk of fire is already high and climate change is increasing that risk,” he said.

A landmark report released on Monday by the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change indicated that 38 weather conditions favoring forest fires have become more likely in southern Europe over the past century. Globally, heat waves and droughts exacerbating fires have also increased.

He found that between 1979 and 2013, “the global burnable area affected by long fire seasons doubled and the average fire season length increased by 19%”, although globally, the area Total burnt decreased between 1998 and 2015 mainly due to changes in land use.

“In summary, there is strong confidence that simultaneous heatwaves and droughts have increased in frequency over the last century globally due to human influence. There is medium confidence that conditions weather conducive to forest fires (bonfire weather) have become more likely in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the United States and Australia over the past century, ”the report says.

In other words, these longer and more intense heat waves and droughts in many places on the planet mean that there is more fuel available because the vegetation is dry and available to burn for longer.

“With higher temperatures, the more fuel will be drier and the relative humidity of the air will be lower. Both of these factors contribute to faster and more intense forest fires, with bigger flames and more energy. , which makes them harder to fight off by firefighters on the ground, ”said Thomas Smith, assistant professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics.

The role of people

Smith said the answer to what to blame – climate change, arson or forest management – is not straightforward.

“None of the polarized views that emerge are correct,” he said, adding that forest fires are complex phenomena caused by many different factors, from weather conditions influenced by climate change to vegetation, to natural ignitions and human activities.

People are responsible for many of the most devastating forest fires. The arsonists may be looking to cause damage, but others have deliberately started fires.

In the Amazon, farmers and loggers have long been known to start fires to clear land for grazing and crops. Others are triggered by neglected electrical infrastructure or by an accident – like the deadly El Dorado fire in California last year that was reportedly sparked by a revelation party of the genre gone awry.

But in most cases, human influence extends far beyond the striking of a match.

Smith said recent changes in land management play an important role in some areas where fire has always been a part of the natural cycle – such as the western United States.

“For thousands of years this land was probably managed by the traditional owners, the indigenous people. The use of fire has always been part of this landscape,” he said.

“But these practices have been abandoned over the last 150 years or so and this has led to a change in the amount of fuel on the ground. The ecosystem gets a little more biomass, a little more heavy fuel, and then when you do have these fires, they tend to be more destructive because there is more to burn because the earth has not been frequently managed by fire. “

Just because climate change is making wildfires more fierce doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be blamed. The opposite is true – the IPCC has concluded that it is now “unequivocal” that humans caused the climate crisis in the first place.

As fires continue to burn across vast areas of the world, people must face the truth – wildfires are made worse by the climate crisis. The climate crisis was caused by the people.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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