Los Angeles, May 16 (EFE).- The increase in forest fires and drought linked to the hydrocarbons industry disproportionately affects communities of color, particularly Hispanic communities, in western North America, José told EFE Pablo Ortiz Partida, climate and water specialist from the Union of Conscious Scientists (UCS).
The organization published a study on Tuesday according to which some eight million hectares (almost 20 million acres) devastated by forest fires in the western United States and southwestern Canada since 1986 can be attributed to emissions from the 88 largest fuel producers. fossil fuels and cement manufacturers in the world.
It is the first time that the emissions of the largest carbon producers have been linked to the area burned by forest fires and the increase in these incidents and droughts.
The devastated area, almost equivalent to the surface of Guatemala, represents 37% of the total area devastated by forest fires in that region since 1986, indicates the analysis “Fossil fuels behind forest fires”, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. .
Additionally, 48% of the increase in fire risk conditions in the region since 1901, such as aridity of the land and dryness of vegetation, can be attributed to emissions from these companies.
For UCS, while wildfires affect millions of people, communities of color and low-income communities face the greatest risks.
“The impact of increased wildfires and prolonged drought, caused in large part by major carbon emitters, disproportionately affects communities of color, including Hispanics,” Ortiz Partida told EFE.
“Historical socioeconomic barriers and systemic racism make it especially difficult for these communities to bounce back when a wildfire occurs,” he said.
According to the expert, “Hispanics have the highest number of outdoor workers compared to other communities of color and the national average, which places Hispanic communities on the front lines of wildfire danger, as well as well as economic and public health risks”.
“Additionally, some of the hardest hit have been those located in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where 42% of the population identifies as Hispanic. This region already experiences the worst air quality in the country and there are hundreds of disadvantaged rural communities with farmworkers who need to work regardless of air quality,” she noted.
More broadly, he said, “wildfires disrupt and highlight inequities in a wide range of human systems.”
“Our agricultural systems are affected by crop failure, potential impacts to water quality and quantity, and the toll that smoke from fires claims among farmworkers,” he said.
Likewise, he noted, “our economic systems, particularly the local ones, may be affected by the loss of a large number of homes and businesses due to fires or by the loss of tourism in places affected by dense smoke; and our public health systems are affected when fires increase the demand for mental health and emergency room services.”
“As we seek solutions, both restorative and preventative, the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities must be at the center of attention,” he said.
On the other hand, the study connects the emissions from the extraction and use of hydrocarbons with the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface and the increase in sea level and the acidification of the oceans.
The research shows that emissions related to the 88 companies are responsible for an increase in global average temperature of 0.5 degrees Celsius since the early 20th century, almost half of the total warming observed since then. Ten of those companies are responsible for more than a fifth of global human heat-trapping emissions, the paper says.
Among them are, in order of global carbon dioxide and methane emissions: Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia) with 3.40% of emissions, Chevron (USA) with 3.06%, Exxon Mobil (USA). ) with 2.92%, Gazprom (Russia) with 2.48%, and BP (United Kingdom) with 2.24%.
The study also points out that the total increase in global average temperature has contributed to an 11% increase in vapor pressure deficit (VPD, a measure of the air’s ability to extract water from plants and soils) since the turn of the century. past. Since dry vegetation ignites more easily than wet vegetation, the VPD is also a measure of fire risk conditions.
57% of the observed increase in VPD since 1901 is attributed to emissions from the 88 companies.
Kristina Dahl, co-author of the report and a climate scientist at UCS, said the study “provides scientifically supported answers to questions about who bears some responsibility for the distressing destruction” caused by the fires.
He said he hopes this evidence helps politicians, officials and legal experts to be better equipped to hold fossil fuel companies accountable in the public, political and legal arenas.
