Columnist Carl Kline

Climate change is here, so let's work together

By Carl Kline

Columnist

Posted 1/14/25

Catastrophic is the only word I can think of to describe the fires in California. As of this Sunday morning, as I write this, 16 people have died. That number is expected to rise as fire personnel …

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Columnist Carl Kline

Climate change is here, so let's work together

Posted

Catastrophic is the only word I can think of to describe the fires in California. As of this Sunday morning, as I write this, 16 people have died. That number is expected to rise as fire personnel and residents are able to return to devastated neighborhoods. Five thousand structures have been destroyed and at least 100,000 people have been displaced. And it’s not over.

Even as the series of fires in the Los Angeles area approach a week of burning, firefighters are still hard at work; with at least two major fires only slightly contained.

One of the significant problems is the winds. They can reach 100 miles an hour and carry fire and ash significant distances. Another problem is the drought. This area of the state has experienced little rainfall. The trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris are without moisture and flammable. Because of the fires, some 40,000 people are also without power.

The efforts to fight the fires are extraordinary. Crews have joined those on the scene locally from several surrounding states and from both Canada and Mexico. The governor has called out the National Guard. So many donations have been coming into fire stations it’s been intruding on their work and they’ve asked some non-profits to help.

My fear is that as the fires are contained and the impacted pick up their lives and move on, we will continue to ignore the causes. Our climate is not just changing; it has changed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did a 2021 study that concluded climate change is the main reason for the increase of fire weather in the western U.S. And it has certainly increased. In the last two decades the West has seen increased heat, extended drought and a thirsty atmosphere. Earlier this month, the soil moisture in southern California was at just 2% of historical records for that day.

On the other hand, sometimes there’s too much rain. In August 2024 parts of western Connecticut and Long Island received more than 10 inches in a 24-hour period. Almost 14 inches was recorded at one site in Connecticut. But these events seem more common as the world warms and moisture drops in buckets.

I’ve been reading an article about the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. It was set aside in 1923 as a potential source of oil for the Navy. Actually, there has been little activity in the 23-million acre reserve since 1923. Roughly the size of Indiana, it is the home of migratory birds in the thousands, caribou herds and polar bears. It’s the largest unbroken land mass in the U.S. But that may well change in the near future. ConocoPhillips is putting the infrastructure in place for some 200 oil wells to produce some 180,000 barrels of oil a day. It’s expected over a 30-year lifespan to produce a “carbon bomb,” with some 250 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Can we see and appreciate the relationship; new oil drilling in Alaska and catastrophic fires in California? The whole world is warming. More carbon in the atmosphere means more fires and floods on the ground.

It’s not even about political parties. President Biden had an opportunity to end any new drilling on federal land. But even though as a candidate be vowed to end it, he approved the new ConocoPhillips project in Alaska in March 2023. We know where his successor stands: “Drill baby drill.” Both presidents will visit California and give their condolences to the fire impacted. And powerful corporate contributors to politicians will continue making the decisions about our common climate future.

I saw a wonderful video recently of people loving and caressing animals: a cow, a cat, an elephant, a goat, a lion, a bird; you name it. What if we could start thinking about the other creatures.Humans may have bigger brains but what if we had bigger hearts? What if we put the caribou first; or the polar bear; or sand hill cranes that migrate to Alaska? How many creatures died in those California fires and how many also lost their homes? All life is in this climate struggle together. We are all related.

Repeat with the Lakota: “All my relatives!”