At least five people are dead in the wildfires that are claiming a large part of the Pacific Palisades region of Los Angeles and nearby locations. As is their habit, the media are blaming climate change for this raging inferno. [emphasis, links added]
And some scientists, such as fire expert Jennifer Balch, blame warming conditions partially caused by the fact that the jet stream has dipped farther south than usual.
“Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States,” said a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
But Jon Keeley, a scientist working for the US Geological Survey, says that just isn’t so.
Keeley has been studying the connection between various climatic conditions and fires for the past forty years.
“I don’t think these fires are the result of climate change,” he told Michael Shellenberger. “You certainly could get these events without climate change.”
Keeley correctly pointed out that the conditions causing this type of fire have existed for thousands of years in this part of California.
There have been many Januaries, he says, that were very dry, and other years that there were Santa Ana winds in January.
The only difference, he says, is the dramatic increase in the population of southern California in the last hundred years.
A study conducted in 2017 by Keeley and a team of scientists concluded that similar conditions have existed many times in the past.
“We’ve looked at the history of climate and fire throughout the whole state,” said Keeley, “and through much of the state, particularly the western half of the state, we don’t see any relationship between past climates and the amount of area burned in any given year.”
— Rothmus 🏴 (@Rothmus) January 9, 2025
This team of scientists has studied 37 climatic regions of the United States.
Another scientist, Daniel Swain, agrees with Keeley, saying there’s “no sure connection” between such fires and climate change. Fire Chief David Acuna pointed out that 95% of wildfires in that area have been started by humans.
These fires in the chaparral, fostered by drought conditions and Santa Ana winds, have been called the most destructive in Los Angeles history.
They have so far burned over 42 square miles, an area as large as the city of San Francisco. Over 130,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes.
At least 1,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged. Over a million people are without power. Estimated losses have exceeded $57 billion.
This unfortunate series of events will be long remembered in California history. But the conditions fostering such blazes have long existed, the only difference being that this time people got in the way.
Top image via Libs of TikTok / X
Hundreds of fascinating facts about the climate change scam can be found in Lynne Balzer’s richly illustrated book, Exposing the Great Climate Change Lie, available on Amazon.
