American inferno

SCORES of people dead or missing, thousands of properties destroyed, widespread looting, a state of emergency – this is not a description of the latest post-apocalyptic Hollywood movie. This is the reality in Los Angeles, America’s most populous county and one of its most affluent, where wildfires have been raging since January 7. It is a powerful reminder that even mighty nations must bow to climate change.

A combination of notable factors set the stage for the inferno. A strong high-pressure system meant Santa Ana winds reached hurricane-like speeds. The near-drought conditions produced the perfect tinderbox. Once sparked, the first flames grew from 20 acres to 200 acres in minutes.

While US investigators probe whether an earlier fire on January 1, due to human factors like fireworks use, might have also played a role, these two background factors have undoubtedly impeded all efforts to douse the flames. The message is obvious.

Early estimates put the fire’s cost at US$150 billion; extreme weather comes with extreme consequences. These consequences are a tale of fire and ice: elsewhere, Arctic blasts have been bringing sub-freezing temperatures in other states.

But there are further lessons.

Spreading as fast as the flames is disinformation. In a playbook the world is now very familiar with, lie after lie after lie has been told by Republican officials for political gain. These officials have made no effort to reckon with climate change.

Instead, it has been falsely claimed that water reservoirs were low, that looting is no longer a criminal offence, and that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are to blame for everything. Ironically, Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook would no longer be fact-checking came on the same day the fires started. Elon Musk has amplified untruths on his platform, X.

What Donald Trump, 78, has done so far in response to the emergency is a glimpse of what he is likely to do once he assumes the White House: play politics, traffic in lies until enough US voters believe him and distract from the real issues.

Already Mr Trump, who is busy feuding with US allies who have been helping the fire response like Canada and Mexico, has hinted he might withhold aid to California, a heavily Democratic state, once in power. There is precedent for this. In his first term, he issued similar broadsides when it came to covid19 and other types of emergency relief.

On climate change, Mr Trump has vowed to reverse Joe Biden’s recent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling. He came to power pledging to “drill, baby, drill.”

But with 2024 ending as the hottest on record and with California being transformed beyond imagining, Mr Trump may well have said “burn, baby, burn."