The devastating wildfire raging through the suburbs of Los Angeles over a week reflects the grim turn in humankind’s equation with fire. There are thousands of wildfires across the globe each year, some utterly destructive, some manageable. The spike in the frequency of their occurrence has climate experts alarmed. They believe the world has entered the age of fire – the Pyrocene era.
The fire in Los Angeles in California, said to be the deadliest in its history, has so far claimed 24 lives and turned to cinders close to 13,000 structures. According to media reports from the US, so far 40,588 acres of land have burnt already. Of the six main fires, two – Palisade and Eaton – are far from being contained. With heavy wind predicted through this week, the situation might get worse.
Such wildfires are becoming normal through their frequency. Spain, Portugal, Romania, Canada and Australia have experienced it over the last few years. In a video posted on X, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom said there was no longer a particular fire season, it had become year-round in the state. These incidents are linked to climate change. Massive fires, extremely hot and strong, are both feeding off and impacting the earth’s climatic system. Scientists and global leaders are worried whether humankind would be able to handle the new challenge.
Pyrocene era, coined by emeritus professor and fire historian Stephen J Pyne, refers to a new geological epoch characterized by the global influence of human-caused fire activity on the globe. The concept underlines the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires facilitated by a blend of factors including climate and land-use changes. Human influence, particularly in the use of fire, is central to it. Speaking to Al Jazeera recently, he said we now have to live with a fire age, the fire-informed equivalent to an Ice Age.
The age began centuries ago when humans intensified their relationship with fossil fuel such as oil, gas and coal. The usage of such fuel has gone up more than 4000 times since the 18th century when the first coal-fuelled steam engine flagged off with. It’s now scientifically proven that burning such fuel results in change rainfall and dryness patterns through huge emission of carbon dioxide in particular among other chemicals.
California had unprecedented rainfall for two years followed by dryness for a couple more, say experts. The heavy growth of vegetation in the first phase and then the dry spell left enough fodder for fire to gorge on and spread rapidly aided by strong wind. Humans may or may not be responsible for igniting fire – a lightening can cause it too – but the condition for a disastrous fire incident is already in place. It needs only a spark.
In the Pyrocene Age, wildfire would be a regular phenomenon, because it is linked to climate change. Since there’s little possibility of the world uniting to combat it, let alone reverse it, we can expect a new, persistent threat to human civilisations across the globe. We have played with fire for a long time, it’s time to pay the price.
(By arrangement with Perspective Bytes)
