Sustainability First: How Climate Change Impacted California Wildfires

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U.S.A. – As of Thursday morning, this week’s series of raging California wildfires fires have killed five, forced over 180 thousand people to evacuate, and burned more than 45 square miles in the Los Angeles area.

To put it in perspective- that would be the equivalent of if over half of new providence had burned to the Ground since Tuesday morning, and if 60% of the island’s population had been forced to evacuate.

Historically, fire season in southern California was seen as spanning from may to October but Glen MacDonald, a geography professor at ucla weighed in on the crisis talking to the Atlantic, saying rising global temperatures and the climate crisis have contributed to an increase in “fire weather” in the region, pushing conditions to the point where he says the concept of a fire season is no longer necessary, as “now you can have a fire any month of the year.”

And it’s not just a California problem- the un environment programme predicts that extreme fires are on track to increase globally by up to 14% by 2030, 30% by 2050, and even 50% by 2100… 

The Bahamas is no stranger to brushfires, though thankfully we’ve never seen one on a Californian scale. Still, we can all take lessons from this latest fire:

-follow proper fire safety practices when cooking, grilling, or working around open flames;

-have a family emergency plan, know where important documents are in your home in case you ever have to leave home in a rush; and

-continue taking steps to reduce your own carbon footprint and get involved in your local eco-friendly initiatives.