The California Wildfires
California wildfires are nothing new, but this year’s fires were far worse than most, costing dozens of people their lives and destroying thousands of houses and other structures. Many reasons have been offered, but there is no question that climate change played a significant role.
Climate change is making the world warmer everywhere. It makes dry climates drier and droughts more frequent, more severe, and more persistent. In addition, the warmer temperatures dry out plants and soil faster, because of increased evaporation at higher temperatures.
Perversely, climate change also makes wet climates wetter, because warm air holds more moisture, so rain (or snow) events can unleash more water.
The Los Angeles area gets most of its rainfall, on average, in the months of December through March. In those four months, downtown L.A. averages more than eleven and one-half inches of rainfall. In the other eight months of the year, the average rainfall totals just over two and a half inches, with less than one-quarter of an inch of that falling in the summer and early fall, from June through September.
In late 2023 and early 2024, Los Angeles had an unusually wet winter. In February alone the city received more than twelve and a half inches of rainfall. This promoted the growth of grasses and shrubs, which thrived in the wet weather.
This was followed by drought from May 2024 through January 8, 2025, as Los Angeles received only 0.29 inch of rainfall during those eight months. Combined with warmer temperatures resulting from climate change, the drought conditions dried out the lush vegetation, creating abundant fuel for fires.
Then came one of the worst Santa Ana wind events in history, with winds at times exceeding 75 mph, which is hurricane level. The winds made the fires impossible to contain, because they spread faster than firefighters could put them out, and embers would simply jump over any fire barriers. (There is apparently no evidence to date that climate change has made the Santa Ana winds more violent, so the severe winds were probably just an unfortunate coincidence.)
While the wildfires would have happened anyway, climate change made them worse.
To learn more about what climate change is, how it is impacting our world, and how it might be fulfilling biblical prophecy, read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read it in its entirety for free on this website. Just click here, or go to “Don’s Books” at the top of this page and scroll down to the “List of Contents” under my book, Beyond Blind Faith.
This blog entry was based in part on information in the following sources:
1. “LA fires were larger and more intense because of planet-warming pollution, study suggests,” by Angela Fritz, CNN, January 14, 2025, found at https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/14/climate/los-angeles-fires-worse-global-warming/index.html?utm_source=cnn_Five+Things+for+Wednesday%2C+January+15%2C+2025&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=%2FIXnjoF395j1v%2FMWkrGkrEVQYGHxtK7h30Jw%2FJDl5w2M0YELZQCvH5LWbUiYFhyq&bt_ts=1736940798529.
2. “Historical Monthly Rainfall by Season: Downtown Los Angeles, 1877-Present,” Los Angeles Almanac, found at https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we08aa.php.
3. “How much rain has fallen so far in LA? February is one of the wettest months ever recorded,” ABC-7 News, City News Service, February 21, 2024, found at https://abc7.com/los-angeles-rain-totals-winter-storm-southern-california-weather-rainfall-in-la/14453120/#:~:text=Average%20rainfall%20in%20Los%20Angeles%20by%20the%20numbers&text=The%20average%20seasonal%20rainfall%20is,the%20normal%20for%20the%20year.
4. “What are the Santa Ana winds and how are they impacting the LA wildfires?,” Capradio, Sacramento, California, January 9, 2025, found at https://www.capradio.org/articles/2025/01/09/what-are-the-santa-ana-winds-and-how-are-they-impacting-the-la-wildfires/.
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