Dear colleagues and friends,
Regarding the terrible impact that climate change is having on different locations on the planet, an esteemed colleague shares this written article with us
by Yasna Palmeiro Silva, published on February 9, 2024 in The Converstation magazine and translated by us for this space. Let's check it out...
Chile has experienced one of the worst fire-related disasters in its history. From February 1 to 5, 2024, a series of huge forest fires broke out, leaving at least 131 people killed. This number is likely to increase as more people are located who have succumbed to the fire during these terrible events and/or people now seriously injured die.
But even this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are people with burns, post-traumatic stress and other mental health disorders. Existing diseases have been exacerbated by interruptions in some public services and by the loss of homes and livelihoods for many people. In addition, in the long term, the effects of smoke inhalation have yet to be seen.
This isn't really a “climate disaster”, or even a “natural disaster”. It is a disaster caused primarily by our decisions and the lack of preparation to face a more extreme climate hazard. As an academic disaster researcher in Chile, I think there are lessons we can learn from these fires.
So why did these events turn so deadly?
Fire-prone conditions
The weather, of course, played a role. Weather conditions have made Chile very prone to fires this summer, especially in the central region of this long and slender country, where it's hot enough for fires to break out, but humid enough for vegetation to burn.
Temperatures were high, above 35°C for more than three days before and during the fires in some places. The conditions were dry, in addition to a longer-term mega-drought, and the relative humidity was low. It was also very windy.
It is very likely that these conditions were influenced by El Niño, in addition to human-induced climate change. However, even when the fire hazard is extremely high, they can still be prevented from occurring, expanding, or being fatal. But to achieve this, other factors are needed in this formula: social factors.
Formula for a perfect (non-natural) disaster
My colleague Ilan Kelman has defined these disasters as “a situation where people's capacity to face a hazard or its impacts using their own resources is exceeded”. This is exactly what happened in Chile: a deadly combination of extreme weather hazard and inadequate social preparation.
In addition, regional authorities and the national government have suggested that some fires started intentionally, since there were four simultaneous outbreaks and a state prosecutor claims that paraffin and benzine fire accelerators have been discovered. No arrests have been made.
The most devastating fires occurred in urbanized areas with significant changes in land use and where urban planning regulation has always been inadequate, resulting in houses without construction regulations and narrow streets with limited access to emergency services when needed.
There was also limited preparation for the expected hot season, either in the form of seasonal public campaigns for heat waves and fires, or evacuation routes and plans.
Chile's national early warning system, which sends a mass alert via text, audio and vibration to anyone using a compatible mobile device, also faced challenges. Several antennas were affected by the fires and were not working properly, so many people didn't receive the message in time. And those messages that were sent only said “evacuate”, so a lot of people didn't know where to go. This caused traffic jams and traffic jams, some of which were engulfed in the middle of the fires.
Climate-related hazards should not become disastrous
Climate change means that Chile is likely to be even more prone to major fires in the future. However, the risks to human health posed by this can be reduced through appropriate preparedness and response plans.
Villa Botania, near the city of Quilpué in central Chile, emerged from these fires as an interesting example to learn from. This small town was surrounded by flames but was barely affected.
That's because the residents were prepared. A community-led project managed waste and controlled vegetation and weeds, to ensure that there was less flammable material when a fire broke out. Villa Botania demonstrated that a climate-related hazard doesn't always end in a massive human disaster, and lessons can be learned from that.
Chile recently created a national policy on disaster risk reduction, but it still needs to include disaster risk and climate change in its planning regulations. This can save lives, as demonstrated by the success of anti-seismic building regulations in this country prone to earthquakes since the 1970s.
In a changing climate, we must prepare the systems that prevent a disaster from happening in the first place. Sometimes this is forgotten, as most resources move to the response phase once it has occurred. However, the recent fires in Chile have once again demonstrated that the dual threat of climate change and inadequate social preparation pose a serious danger to the health and well-being of many people.
