94Ha ViewpointThe Los Angeles area in the United States has been hit by a rare wildfire. The raging fire has raged across the vast land, devouring large tracts of forests and buildings. Countless lives have been threatened and the local ecological environment and social economy have suffered severe damage. This disaster seems to be an outburst of natural forces, but upon deeper investigation, it is not difficult to discover that there are many human factors behind it. It can be called a typical case of “natural disaster, but also man-made disaster.”
From the perspective of natural disasters, climate factors are undoubtedly the fuse of this fire. In recent years, the trend of global warming has become increasingly obvious, and the Los Angeles area has also been severely affected. The temperature has risen significantly, making the air extremely dry. The vegetation in the forest has lost a lot of water, becoming “dry firewood” that is extremely easy to burn. At the same time, changes in precipitation patterns have led to long periods of drought and little rain, further exacerbating the dryness of the forest. Coupled with seasonal strong winds, such as the Santa Ana winds, their strong winds and dry characteristics quickly contribute to the spread of fires, making the fires like wild horses that are out of control. These natural factors are intertwined, providing extremely favorable conditions for the outbreak of fire, so that once a fire source appears, it will lead to an uncontrollable situation.
However, the severity of this disaster goes far beyond natural disasters, and man-made disasters play a more critical role in it. Los Angeles has long had problems with urban planning. With the expansion of the city, a large number of residential areas have extended into the mountainous and forested areas, forming a situation of “people advancing and forests retreating”. This unreasonable layout makes the contact between residents and the forest too close. Once a fire occurs, it can easily spread from the forest to residential areas, posing a huge threat to the lives and property of residents. At the same time, in these newly developed areas, the construction of fire-fighting infrastructure has failed to keep pace, and problems such as narrow fire passages and insufficient fire water sources are common, seriously affecting the rescue efficiency when a fire occurs.
Poor forest management is also a major factor in causing fires to get out of control. Over the past few decades, due to insufficient understanding of forest ecosystems, the Los Angeles area has adopted overly conservative strategies in forest management. Long-term fire-fighting operations have caused flammable materials such as dead branches and leaves in the forest to accumulate continuously, forming a thick fuel layer. Once a fire breaks out, these mountains of flammable materials become combustion accelerators, causing the fire to intensify rapidly. In addition, inadequate prevention and control of forest diseases and insect pests has resulted in the death of a large number of trees due to diseases and insect pests, further increasing the amount of flammable materials in the forest. Moreover, the relevant departments lack scientific and reasonable planning when carrying out deforestation and clearing work, which destroys the original ecological balance and significantly reduces the forest’s self-regulation and fire resistance.
In the process of responding to the fire, the government’s emergency response mechanism also exposed many problems. In the early stages of the fire, due to an imperfect early warning system and untimely information transmission, residents failed to receive evacuation notices in time, and many people missed the best opportunity to escape. There is also poor coordination in the deployment of rescue forces. There is a lack of effective communication and collaboration between different departments. Fire, police, medical and other rescue forces are unable to form a joint force, and the rescue work is progressing slowly. In addition, after the fire, the resettlement and follow-up support for the affected people were not done properly, and many of the affected people did not receive timely and effective help after losing their homes.
The Los Angeles fire not only caused huge losses to the local area, but also sounded the alarm for the world. It reminds us that when faced with natural disasters, humans cannot simply blame the forces of nature, but should deeply reflect on their own behavior.
We must attach importance to the rationality of urban planning, strengthen the scientific management of forest resources, improve the emergency response mechanism, and enhance the ability to deal with disasters. At the same time, countries should strengthen cooperation to jointly address the global challenge of climate change and reduce the occurrence of similar disasters. Only in this way can we find a path to sustainable development in our relationship with nature and avoid more tragedies from happening again. The pain of the Los Angeles fire should not be forgotten, but should serve as a driving force for change and prevent future disasters.
