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Los Angeles fire and global warming

Published : Saturday, 18 January, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 382
At the beginning of this year, the world witnessed the worst wildfire in history. On January 7, 2025, Los Angeles was engulfed in flames. The continuous burning of the burning fire has not stopped. In the meantime, 12 more fires, both small and large, have occurred. The fire is not extinguished. It is not possible to accurately understand when this fire will be extinguished. Fires occur for various reasons. It has not yet been possible to determine the exact reason for the fire in Los Angeles.

What is behind such a terrible fire? The geographical structure of the United States is divided into 50 states. Each state is divided into many counties. One of the states of the United States is California. The state of California is divided into a total of 58 counties. Two of the notable counties in California are San Francisco and Los Angeles. California was discovered in 1759. Surrounded by mountains, forests, and oceans, California is unique in its natural beauty. Although California is rich in beauty and splendid, it is one of the best places to visit in the world, but it is quite sensitive in terms of geography. The northern part of California is earthquake-prone and the southern part is prone to fires. San Francisco is in the north and Los Angeles is in the south. The weather in Los Angeles is characterized by stormy sea winds and an unusually low rainfall. The Pacific Palisades mountain range is located in Los Angeles County. The entire mountain is covered with dense pine, cedar, and redwood trees. The Pacific Palisades mountain range is bordered by the Santa Monica Mountains to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. This area of natural beauty suddenly roared like a monster. The flames of a wildfire burned in the mountain forests. The intense heat of the fire instantly turned the natural beauty into a natural disaster.

Where there is less rainfall, the temperature gradually increases. As a result, drought occurs. Drought causes plants to dry out and die, which later turn into flammable materials. If this continues year after year, there will be fires in that area. For example, the epicenter of the recent fires is Los Angeles. According to the data, it is known that there was an intense heat wave in the region in the summer of 2024. The effect of the heat did not decrease in the fall or winter. The city centre received only 0.16 inches of rainfall until October. 0.16 inches of rainfall is 4 inches less than the normal average rainfall. Researchers have analyzed in detail and shown that global warming and extremely low humidity have made the vast dry forest prone to fires.

A fire does hundreds of times more damage to the environment than the black smoke emitted by millions of motor vehicles. The fire burns down the trees. As a result, the level of carbon in the air increases. Black carbon from burning trees is thousands of times more harmful than greenhouse gases. Even after the fire is extinguished, many more harmful substances are released from the degraded forests, which are very dangerous for the environment.

Los Angeles, California, is under special observation by the US authorities. The special technology of the US authorities to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases in the air of Los Angeles is undoubtedly commendable. Even so, there was no escape from the fires. The amount of greenhouse gases released into the air by the smoke caused by the week-long fires has reduced the average life expectancy of people living in the relevant area by 1.78 percent. Another study has shown that the chemicals used to extinguish fires further pollute the air. The Paradise Forest area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a county adjacent to Los Angeles, was hit by a deadly fire on November 8, 2018. The fire started there as a result of some mechanical disturbances in the transmission lines of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. There was a very strong wind at the time. In an instant, that small spark had spread to a vast area of 153,000 acres. Nineteen thousand homes were destroyed. Eighty-five people lost their lives. The financial damage from the fire, which burned for several weeks, was 165 billion dollars. The recent Los Angeles fire is considered a repeat of that fire. Recently, the speed and severity of fires have increased manifold. In 2005-06, the California Fire Service's budget for fire prevention was 800 million dollars. Currently, the budget for fire prevention has increased to 4.3 billion dollars. The fires also caused a lot of damage to crops. The areas most affected by this year's Los Angeles fire are Pacific Palisades and Altadena. People have seen the terrible face of the fire. At least 300,000 homes have been damaged in Southern California. About 100,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes. It is known that the first wildfire entered the Palisades area on the Pacific coast. Then the fire started moving towards the city. The intensity of the fire increased in dry, gusty winds. In some places in Los Angeles, the speed of the fire and the wind was 100 kilometers per hour or more. Most of the city of Los Angeles, decorated with luxurious mansions and bungalows, has now been burned to ashes. Drinking water has run out. There are large areas without electricity.

In December-January, the storms that bring peace start moving out of Southern California at a speed of 60 to 70 mph and start moving towards the Pacific coast. Due to the long drought in Southern California for the past decade, the amount of moisture in the air has decreased at an abnormal rate. Trees and shrubs have dried up. As a result, fires easily form in the forests. In fact, the characteristic changes in the climate are particularly responsible for the creation of fires. As a result of global warming, we are observing the attack of fires with new names. Like various famous storms, we have also seen new names for fires. Some of the notable fires are Firenado, Gigafire, Fire Sea. Coastal fires in Southern California are usually created with the help of deserts.

What is the way to get rid of disasters like fires? Research is underway, reviews are underway, discussions are underway. Has a solution been found? Fire retardants must be installed in suspicious places. We must pay close attention to ensuring that the ecosystem of large forests is not completely destroyed. Temperature and humidity monitoring systems must be strengthened with hundreds of sensors in fire-prone areas. Surveillance of fires must be increased by installing powerful cameras on mountaintops. Data from cameras and satellites must be analyzed on supercomputers to create fire risk models. The use of equipment that emits CFCs must be reduced. The use of fossil fuels must be controlled. Smoke from factories and motor vehicles must be prevented. Above all, human awareness must be increased.

The writer is a Teacher, Cantonment Board High School, Shahid Salahuddin Cantonment, Ghatail, Tangail



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