• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Donald Trump
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • US Election
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

Is Climate Change Causing America’s Catastrophic Landslides?

By Steve Westly • Mar 14, 2018
climate change news, US climate news, global warming, US landslides, US wildfires, US withdraws from Paris Climate Agreement, latest environment news, California landslides, California news, Colorado wildfires

Montecito, California, January 2017 © Media Bakery13

You can now add landslides to the list of America’s climate change concerns.

This last year California had two of the most devastating fires in its history, with a firestorm that burned 245,000 acres and killed 44 people. The cost to the economy was over $85 million. Just seven weeks later, the wildfires in the southern part of the state burned 307,900 acres and over 250,000 people were forced to evacuate. In 2016, Colorado, another fire prone state, saw 1,190 wildfires, burning nearly 130,000 acres in total.

California, Colorado and much of the western United States are used to droughts, and we understand that they lead to wildfires. But now we need to add landslides to the list of natural disasters we must prepare for. In fact, according the US Geological Survey, disastrous slides can occur in all 50 states, with regions like the Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coastal Ranges particularly vulnerable to landslides. Is it time to pay more attention to climate change?

The warmest five years on record have occurred since 2006, with 2017 being one of the warmest yet. This triggers four phenomena: drought, wildfires, more intense rainstorms and, finally, landslides. We know that warming temperatures can lead to drought, but drought in itself is part of a cyclical effect: Under warmer conditions, more precipitation falls as rain than snow. This means that less water is stored as snow in the winter months, leading to a shortage of accessible water in the long term (or drought), and more flooding in the short term.

Drought causes a massive die-off of trees, as seen throughout the western US. Experts estimate that there are over 100 million dead trees as a direct result of the drought. With parched landscapes, especially in forest areas, wildfires are also more frequent and far more intense. Fires in the west have been hotter and more massive in scale than ever before, and vast tracts of land have been denuded by fire.

Warmer oceans lead to more evaporation, sending more water into the atmosphere. The warmer atmosphere, in turn, has the capacity to hold onto more of this moisture, which then comes back down in the form of heavier rainfall. These rainstorms are therefore more intense, causing groundwater levels to rise and increasing the likelihood of landslides.

When you combine more intense rainstorms and barren landscapes caused by fire, you get landslides. This is no longer conjecture. A 2014 slide in Oso, Washington state, killed 43 people, the deadliest in US history, and the December 2017 landslide in Montecito, California, killed 41. Up to 15 feet in height and moving as quickly at 20 mph, these landslides create a specter of what we need to plan for in any of our mountainous regions.

Being awakened in the middle of the night to emergency sirens warning of an impending landslide used to be something that only a few homeowners perched on the side of steep slopes worried about. But as the devastating slides of late 2017 have shown us, that threat is now present in many more places, thanks in no small part to climate change. You don’t have to be a climate scientist, or a rocket scientist, to see that our climate is changing. So, what should we do?

Three things. First, we need to send a message to D.C. that tackling climate change must be a priority. Second, we need to send a message to the rest of the world that states like Washington, Oregon and California will continue to be global leaders in reducing our carbon footprint even after the White House declared that the US is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord.

And, finally, we need to continue to encourage a culture that fosters innovative companies like Tesla, Sunpower and AirBnB, whose mission is to contribute to a decreased global carbon footprint. We may not be able to control the powers of nature, but every state can do its part to tackle these challenges head on.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Media Bakery13 / Shutterstock.com

Share Story
CategoriesAmerican News, Climate change news, Environment, Environmental news, North America, Opinion, US news, World News TagsCalifornia landslides, California wildfires, Climate change denial, Climate change news, combatting climate change, environment news, Paris Climate Agreement, Trump Paris Climate Agreement, US climate change, US deforestation
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Africa’s Deepening Battle with Big Tobacco
Next PostNext The Daily Devil’s Dictionary: “Free Speech” and Education
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept