California has been the scene of horrifically damaging wildfires for the last few years – fires that have been made worse by climate change, which has led to lower humidity, drier forests, and hotter winds.
The fires have also been exacerbated by problems with the state’s electricity infrastructure. Its biggest power utility, PG&E, has been the cause of many fires as its power lines have ignited blazes, which have then spread rapidly due to climate conditions. They’ve responded with widespread power blackouts to prevent fires, but these blackouts have themselves had brutal consequences for Californian families.
Besides being horrible, dangerous, and very expensive, California’s experience with wildfires holds some very important lessons for the rest of the world. The fires have exposed how underprepared even the richest parts of the world are for the challenges posed by climate change.
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For generations, California has had wildfires. For generations, they have been manageable, and they have been managed. But not anymore. Climate change has dramatically intensified the fires and it has made them more frequent – new fire records are being set virtually every year, year after year.
This has put ever-growing pressure on California’s disaster infrastructure. The state – which is the world’s fifth-largest economy, larger than the UK, and home to some of the world’s biggest companies – is wealthy. Its average income of over $70,000 is much higher than the US average of $56,000.
Yet despite this wealth, the relentless pressure of the fires is slowly eroding its ability to keep up. A rich place can bounce back from one devastating fire. Bouncing back from a devastating fire every year for the next 40 years is a different story altogether.
Read also: ‘Clear, manage and educate’ – how to handle the Cape’s fire hazard
What’s happening first in California is going to be happening next elsewhere. So-called 100-year floods could soon be happening almost annually in many of the world’s flood plains. Hurricanes will become more intense and the storm surge associated with them will be much more dramatic – hurricanes may also become more frequent. And as the wet bits of the world get wetter, the dry bits will get drier, with more frequent and intense droughts.
If California’s experience teaches us anything, it’s that the time to work on preparing for climate change is now. Denial is pointless and wastes time. Globally, we need to acknowledge reality and start to build for it. This means resilient infrastructure and energy-efficient buildings. It means ending plans to build in flood plains and along vulnerable coastlines. It means changing how our cities work and planting different food crops.
Climate change impacts will happen in SA. More floods, more droughts, more fires, more damaging storms. And if rich California is struggling to deal with this, what will happen in SA? The thought is daunting.
The unfortunate reality is that South Africa is facing the changed environmental future from a position of economic weakness. With a huge and growing debt burden and deep structural problems, it’s unclear where the country would get the capital necessary to make changes.
However, the potential costs of climate impacts should not be ignored. Farmers, for example, already understand that the changes in rain patterns and water accessibility are hurting their bottom lines. Acting by investing in technology or considering new crops or different land use could make a huge difference in performance over time.
Similarly, at a higher level, it will be cheaper to invest in getting ready for climate impacts now than it will be to rebuild after they’ve hit. And investments in climate resilience may have the added benefit of boosting economic activity by creating jobs and encouraging innovation.
