Read more in the January 17 edition of Invert Insights.
Over the past several years we’ve seen the trend of climate change causing unpredictable weather patterns around the world. And while natural disasters are common occurrences, climate change has led to the unprecedented increase in the strength of and devastation caused by weather-based disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, tornados, floods, and extreme drought and heatwaves globally.
The current wildfires ravaging Los Angeles are no exception. Historically, wildfires in California are not new. Long before L.A. became the sprawling metropolis it is today, fire was an integral part of the ecosystem. Indigenous peoples practiced controlled burns to manage vegetation and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. These practices mirrored nature’s own cycles; lightning strikes and natural ignitions periodically cleared out overgrowth, making room for new life. It’s worth noting that the recent fires in California are happening in the winter rather than in the summer when temperatures are historically the highest. The disturbing reality is as climate change continues to make the world hotter, we’ve seen the fire season becoming more of a year-round phenomenon, not just something restricted to the summer.
While there are many factors affecting the current California wildfires, the core causes of this fire at a high level are a hotter & drier climate, poor forest management practices causing a buildup of wildfire fuel, and development in wildland areas. Climate change has intensified the naturally occurring phenomenon, creating drier, hotter conditions that turn California’s landscape into a potential tinderbox. As a result, in recent decades, fire seasons have grown longer and more destructive. Human activity exacerbates the issue, from downed power lines sparking flames to poorly maintained infrastructure in fire-prone areas. Add urban sprawl into the mix, and you have a recipe for disaster. As a result, people are increasingly caught in the path of nature’s fury.
Already overwhelmed and overburdened handling climate-related disasters, insurance providers have been pulling back on offering policies or completely abandoning coverage for those living in at-risk regions.. This latest disaster is likely to lead to more calls for reform and for new models to help property owners recover their losses from extreme weather-related incidents. And the issue of how climate change exacerbates these disasters will undoubtedly be front and center in those discussions.
In November 2023 the Senate Budget Committee launched an investigation into homeowners’ insurance market conditions across the country to better understand the geographic scope of the troubles affecting the market. In the report released with their findings, they shared that a home insurance crisis is being felt in 17 states with the percentage of non-renewals rising in 46 states in 2023 with homeowners in Oklahoma, Iowa, South Dakota, New Mexico, Nebraska and elsewhere. Other states like Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina are scrambling for insurance.
Meanwhile, insured losses due to “U.S. natural catastrophes” hit $109.6 billion in 2022, about a twentyfold increase from $4.6 billion in 2000, according to the Insurance Industry Institute. Globally, damages from extreme weather totaled $320 billion in 2024, of which only $140 billion were insured losses, according to Munich Re, numbers that double the average annual losses over the last 30 years.
The crisis is not limited to US residents and insurance providers in Canada are also feeling the burden. The Insurance Bureau of Canada is warning that premiums will likely rise significantly in 2025 after natural disasters caused a record-high $8.5 billion worth of damages in Canada last year — triple the losses compared to 2023. Already in a cost-of-living crisis, this added financial burden will no doubt be felt by residents as they scramble to keep up with the sharp increase to cost of living expenses.
With all of the heartwrenching news of the loss of life, property, and city infrastructure that comes with the devastation we’d like to shift the focus and highlight some things that can help.
One way we can help lower the risks of catastrophic wildfires is to proactively use fire management tactics which reduce wildfire fuel loads in the forest and convert it into biochar. Biochar, a charcoal-like substance made by burning agricultural and forest organic matter and is used to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Creating biochar from those hazardous forest fuels will have multiple benefits. Historically, one of the challenges with making biochar out of forest fuels is the high cost. It can be expensive to thin forests in remote areas. However, when you consider the costs of wildfire, and the negative impacts on communities and the environment, not to mention increases in insurance policy costs and the impacts of degraded air quality, the costs are a reasonable investment to make.
Another crucial step to mitigating and preventing the impact of climate-related disasters is rethinking the way we build and the materials we use. As an example, Passive House buildings are rightly touted for their comfort, health, and energy savings, but they bring another crucial benefit—their inherent survivability in wildfire events. Nearly 40% of all homes in the U.S. are built in what is called the wildland urban interface (WUI). This risk affects not just individual homes; as development expands and climate impacts make for a more brittle ecosystem, neighborhoods and entire communities are directly threatened by wildfire. Often built with non-combustible or fire-resistant materials to meet energy standards, they can better withstand embers and radiant heat compared to traditional structures. Their airtight construction minimizes the infiltration of smoke and harmful particulates, improving indoor air quality during wildfires. Further, many Passive Houses include advanced ventilation systems with HEPA filters, which can help remove airborne pollutants, including smoke and ash. In an added bonus, their low energy consumption means they are less dependent on grid power, which can be compromised during fire-related outages, especially if paired with solar panels and battery storage.
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💡 The L.A. fires also demand a deeper conversation about responsibility. The costs of inaction are becoming too high and we can no longer afford to not act. While, yes it’s expensive to remove hazardous forest fuels in remote areas, when you look at the economics, the high costs of wildfire make it a conversation worth having. The questions that need to be answered are who is responsible for mitigating the factors fueling these disasters and how do we balance development with ecological preservation? Also, should corporations be held more accountable for their role in perpetuating climate-related disasters? Perhaps this is rhetorical.
💡 In addition to mitigating a problem and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the creation of biochar would also open up potential revenue opportunities. Biochar can be retailed to sustainability-conscious consumers and carbon credits can be generated from the production of biochar helping companies offset emissions that they are currently not able to reduce.
💡 The L.A. fires are a stark reminder of nature’s power—and humanity’s vulnerability. But they’re also a testament to our capacity for resilience and adaptation. Each fire season brings stories of loss, but also of courage and unity. It’s in these moments that we see the best of humanity: firefighters battling flames with unrelenting determination, neighboring countries rising to the occasion sending help and aid, neighbors opening their homes to evacuees, and communities rebuilding stronger than before. After all, this is not just a story about devastation and destruction, but one that speaks to the resilience of people and the world we choose to build together.
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