January 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires: Once-in-a-Generation Events Now Happen Frequently

Mojtaba Sadegh, Seyd Teymoor Seydi, John T Abatzoglou, Amir AghaKouchak, Mir Matin and Kaveh Madani (2025). January 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires: Once-in-a-Generation Events Now Happen Frequently. UNU INWEH.

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  • Sub-type Policy brief
    Author Mojtaba Sadegh
    Seyd Teymoor Seydi
    John T Abatzoglou
    Amir AghaKouchak
    Mir Matin
    Kaveh Madani
    Title January 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires: Once-in-a-Generation Events Now Happen Frequently
    Publication Date 2025-05-27
    Place of Publication Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
    Publisher UNU INWEH
    Pages 5
    Language eng
    Abstract 1. On January 7, 2025, Palisades and Eaton fires started and burned through urban areas of Los Angeles County, California. They collectively destroyed nearly 16,250 structures, and directly exposed ~41,000 people, ranking them 2nd and 3rd most destructive wildfires in California’s history. 2. Started during drought conditions coincident with the Santa Ana winds with wind gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour, the fires rapidly spread into densely populated urban areas, resulting in 29 fatalities and widespread population displacement. 3. The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires underscore the increasing frequency of deadly wildfires driven by background warming and climate change, development of houses and infrastructure in wildfire-prone areas, and human-caused ignitions such as faulty power lines and fireworks during dry-hot-windy conditions, compounded by the lack of societal preparedness for such extreme events. 4. Home hardening, forest and shrubland thinning, clearing vegetation near human settlements and reducing human ignition of wildfires are among mitigation strategies can save lives and property in communities in the wildland urban interface. 5. The increasing occurrence of intense urban wildfires necessitates immediate and comprehensive strategies for land-use planning and adaptation to a changing climate, as well as enhanced wildfire prediction and detection technology and improved disaster response.
    Keyword Wildfire
    Climate change
    Disaster
    Urban planning
    Copyright Holder UNU INWEH
    Copyright Year 2025
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    ISBN 9789280861
    DOI https://doi.org/10.53328/INR25MOS003
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    Created: Mon, 26 May 2025, 13:12:05 JST by Mir Matin on behalf of UNU INWEH