IF YOU HAVEN’T been paying attention to the news this week, wildfires at both ends of California have been tearing through thousands of homes and businesses in the state.
The death toll from the California wildfires has hit at least 42 at this stage, and many celebrities including Miley Cyrus and Gerard Butler have spoken out about losing their homes.
Over in Hollywood, Jimmy Kimmel discussed the fires with Jeff Bridges, an actor who has previously lost property to mother nature. Bridges said he finds it terrifying “how fast it’s going down.”
We’ve had climate change before, but not like this! It’s happening so quickly.
After sharing a story about how one of his old homes in Malibu burned down two decades ago and recounting how weeks of wildfires resulted in a mudslide in Santa Barbara that destroyed Jeff’s home this year, the 68-year-old actor expressed his sadness about “the crisping of our planet”. He then spoke about his new documentary on climate change, entitled Living in the Future’s Past.
As The Guardian pointed out this week, there’s a notable connection between the increased frequency of serious wildfires and climate change.
Of the 20 largest wildfires in California’s recorded history, 15 have occurred since 2000, at a time when forests have become drier and warmer.
Jeff Bridges told Jimmy Kimmel that he wanted to explore climate change from a different angle than the one we’re all used to seeing, which points out the dire straits we’re in. Bridges instead wanted to ask why we all continue to ignore the advice of scientists and experts who have been warning us about climate change for decades now.
Jimmy Kimmel asked Jeff what his conclusion was, and the actor struggled to actually pinpoint a reason but said that he learned some very fascinating facts along the way.
