In the same way that the cooling of the planet created an ice age that ended some 10,000 years ago, global warming is now propelling the Earth into a fire age. The evidence for this new pyric pandemic is undeniable. Fires are everywhere and are more fierce than ever. However, as shown by Stephen Pyne in The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next, this time around humanity is responsible for this planetary ecological shift. The legacies of unwise land use and climate change (themselves the products of colonial conquest, industrial capitalism, and neoliberal globalization) has created a new Pyrocene. Now we have to cope with the devastating effects of runaway wildfires, including the many lives lost and ruined, the massive destruction of property destruction, population displacement, air pollution, and the ruination of ecosystems across the globe. All of these impacts are further compounded by systemic injustices of all kinds, resulting in less powerful communities being disproportionately impacted and unable to recover. As the climate crisis intensifies over the coming years, wildfires will only grow more destructive. The Pyrocene is upon us.
A New Epidemic of Wildfires around the World
Wildfires seem to be ever-present at the moment, raging relentlessly around the world. In combination with the latest round of heat waves, which only exacerbate the fires, they seem to suffocate whole countries at a time. As of mid-August, wildfires burned across multiple US locations, as well as Canada, Australia, Argentina, Indonesia, and Brazil. Russia has been especially hit hard by massive fires in Siberia that have sent smoke traveling 1,850 miles (3,000km) to the north pole. In recent days, experts have found that the Siberia forest blazes are bigger than all the other wildfires burning in the world combined, amounting to nearly 44 million acres (over 17 million hectares) – an area nearly twice the size of Portugal. Much of this fire is burning on top of permafrost, which can also release dangerous quantities of methane (a more potent greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere.
In California, the Dixie Fire, which has been burning since July 13th, has become one of the largest fires in California history. Since it began, the fire has reportedly spread into four counties and covered nearly half a million acres. Although often referred to as “wild” fires, the California blazes were actually sparked by human activity and further aggravated by anthropogenic climate change. According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, there's “very little doubt” that power equipment operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) helped start the Dixie Fire. In order to maximize profits, the company spent millions less than it was supposed to on maintenance, safety equipment, and programs that would have prevented these fires. This public utility is also suspected to have caused many other fires and has recently started rolling blackouts during fire season to avoid causing more, leaving many citizens without a crucial source of electricity. Over 1,500 California fires in the past six years, including the largest and most deadly, were caused by the corporate malpractices of PG&E.
In addition to the infamous California fires, there have also been recent wildfires in Montana, Minnesota, and Idaho that have led to many towns being evacuated and many lives being disrupted. Extreme drought conditions turned native vegetation into tinder, creating ideal conditions for ignition. The fires have overwhelmed fighting capacity, with the US Forest Service stating that it was “operating in crisis mode, fully deploying firefighters and maxing out its support system.”
Across the pond, an atypical summer of prolonged and unprecedented heat waves has fed hundreds of wildfires raging across Greece, Turkey, and Italy. One of the most severe fires occurred on the Greek island of Evia, displacing more than 2,600 people as of August 10. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that these fires are undeniably related “to the reality of climate change.” In early August, Turkey saw over 100 fires blazing across more than 30 provinces.
South America has a huge wildfire problem as well, especially in the Amazon, where fires set to clear land for farming can easily get out of control. This year, the Amazon experienced 267 major fires that burned down over 105,000 hectares (260,000 acres). These fires can be attributed to “a historic drought, rampant deforestation, and lax environmental regulations.”
Climate Change’s Impact
Wildfires and climate change are positively correlated. When one gets worse, so does the other.
Wildfires and climate change are in a positive feedback loop. This means that as climate change gets worse, and conditions get hotter and drier, the likelihood of wildfires increases. When wildfires occur, trees that were storing carbon burn and release it into the atmosphere. This then strengthens the greenhouse effect and further exacerbates climate change. Wildfires and climate change are positively correlated. When one gets worse, so does the other.
Climate change intensifies wildfires in multiple ways; warmer temperatures, drier vegetation, and higher evaporation rates all lead to “tinderbox conditions” which, in addition to droughts, make fires much more likely to catch and spread. Not only are the conditions better for fires, but the season in which those conditions exist is also longer as the planet is warmer for more of the year. For example, a study found that climate change made Australia’s infamous 2019-20 bushfires at least 30 percent more likely.
Wildfires can also permanently change habitats and have been found to cause more damage to areas that did not evolve with wildfire resistance, such as tropical islands. In Hawaii specifically, recent dry seasons have led to more wildfires, burning vegetation, soil erosion and marine sedimentation. These fires also encourage the spread of non-native species that are adapted to wildfires. It is evident that these fires, fueled by climate change, are transforming the environment from its natural state and leading to widespread ecosystem destruction.
Climate Justice’s Connection
Wildfires are not only an environmental issue, but they also have many climate justice implications. These include property concerns, health and human rights concerns, and ecosystem concerns. Forest fires can cause severe property destruction in areas where many people live and work, leading to a cycle of rebuilding and reburning. This leads to trapped populations, groups who lose their source of income but have no financial means to move away and abandon their property. They can also have issues with insurance in fire-prone areas. Recently, “private insurers have fled the market...causing thousands of Californians to lose their insurance.” With no insurance, homeowners must look to the state’s “insurer of last resort,” the California FAIR Plan. This is significantly more expensive and places an unfair burden on people who are already suffering from losing their homes and belongings, and being at risk of wildfire.
Wildfires are also a huge health concern, placing a heavy burden on the healthcare system due to smoke inhalation and poor air quality. As wildfire smoke has recently spanned continents and traveled significant distances, it is clear that the air quality effects are no longer local. A new study approximates that 3,652 people were killed by pollution caused by California’s 2018 wildfires (in addition to those killed directly by fire). This toll on human health has intensified during the COVID-19 crisis. People with underlying health conditions and less lung capacity, such as from smoke inhalation, are more likely to have bad effects from COVID-19. This intersection makes wildfire smoke even more dangerous.
In addition to causing health issues, wildfires can also lead to human rights concerns stemming from communities being displaced, electricity being turned off, and the human toll on firefighters who are often underpaid or incarcerated workers. The state of California uses its incarcerated population as firefighters. This is done under the guise of providing training and giving people job opportunities. The environmental justice issue arises when these people are put into dangerous situations for dollars a day and then often cannot get hired as firefighters after they are released. These inmates can constitute up to 30 percent of California’s wildland firefighting crews, but are only paid $2 to $5 a day in camp and an additional $1 to $2 an hour when they’re on a fire line.
In September 2020, the governor of California signed a bill that “will accelerate the process for expunging the felony records of formerly incarcerated volunteer firefighters” and “is designed to make it far easier for them to earn an emergency medical technician certification.” This bill is a step in the right direction, but also highlights how broken the system has been. Inmates have been putting their lives on the line to earn dollars a day and train for a job that is almost impossible for them to get upon release.
While wildfires can happen anywhere in the world, marginalized and disadvantaged groups can face the brunt of these effects and may not have the resources to rebuild after a wildfire. In Canada, First Nations communities are likely to live in a wildland-human interface, an area where homes and human structures are close to forests and nature, because First Nation reserves often qualify as this kind of land. These are the areas that are at most risk of wildfire.
These wildfires can devastate communities and leave many with no way to rebuild. Environmental justice calls for focusing on the communities that are most in need when addressing wildfires.
These issues pertaining to property, human rights, and health all highlight the extreme danger wildfires pose to current human populations, but often overlooked is the danger they pose to the natural environment. As wildfires burn through ecosystems, they can destroy key habitats for important species, bring animals into closer contact with humans, and lead to the repopulation of those ecosystems with different, fire-adapted species that cannot support the native animals.
When forests burn, the consequences are two-fold. Trees release the carbon they have stored into the air, and the forest as a whole loses its ability to capture CO2. Old-growth forests, like the redwood growths in California, can be almost 3000 years old. This amounts to a huge amount of carbon stored. A new growth forest, replanted after a forest fire, will contain smaller trees that will never be able to capture the same amount of carbon in a human lifetime. Saving old-growth forests and that ability to capture carbon is crucial in the fight against climate change.
The environmental justice concerns of wildfires must not be ignored. Wildfires will increase in frequency over the next few years as climate change intensifies, as will the number of people who lose their homes and lives, the number of important ecosystems that are ruined, and the carbon that is released into the air.
Climate Justice Solutions
While there are many ways to take care of forests and educate the public to decrease risk, these solutions will never be able to resolve the root causes of wildfires. Short-term solutions like implementing forest management and dedicating more resources to fighting fires can help, but they will not prevent fires in the future, especially as climate change progresses and fire seasons intensify. A policy that can help in the short run is increasing the forest management budget. Because so much of their budget goes to fighting fires, they have less money to spend on preventing them. This leads to a reactionary cycle. Money could also go to researching best practices for forest management and control. In California, many are advocating that the state government should take action to prevent rebuilding in fire-prone areas. Some policy ideas in this realm are a tax incentive to move away from fire-prone areas and regulations around developing in wildfire-prone areas. These policies are important actions to alleviate the hardships of living in such an area. While it can be hard to pick up and leave a community, rebuilding in fire-prone areas is not a long-term solution and will only create climate refugees as the years go on. Policies that restrict people from living or buying land in fire-prone areas may be necessary to protect people's lives and livelihoods.
Truly transformative change is necessary to end the reactionary cycle. One way to transform forest management practices is through Indigenous land management. Indigenous communities have developed practices using controlled combustion specific to their areas over thousands of years. Through generational knowledge, local Indigenous populations know what season to set fires in and how to set them, leading to fires that strengthen the forest and leave it healthier. Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and coordinating with Indigenous groups is a crucial step to stopping the yearly cycle of wildfires. Only large-scale, transformational change on this level can stop the destruction of lives and ecosystems. Visit the Center website to learn more about climate justice solutions.
