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US Gulf Coast is digging out from a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm that struck from Texas to Florida, closing airports, crippling roadways and killing at least 11 people; almost at the same time, new wildfire broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday (US time) quickly engulfing over 9,400 acres.
As freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall sweep across the southern states, numerous fatalities have been attributed to car crashes and hypothermia, ABC news reported.
As of Wednesday night, there were seven reported deaths in Texas, two in Alabama and at least one person killed in Georgia due to the record-breaking storm.
Over 2,000 flights were canceled on Tuesday and more than 1,800 flights have been canceled on Wednesday. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport canceled all outgoing flights on Wednesday, per ABC.
The National Weather Service said snowfall of seven to eight inches was recorded in areas between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. New Orleans’ old record was 2.7 inches set in 1963. In Texas, the Houston-Galveston area had two to four inches before midday, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, a new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday quickly consumed over 9,400 acres (38 square km), fueled by strong winds and dry brush. Some 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 face evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference, Reuters reported.
Edward Kelly, the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) highlighted that the climate crisis has intensified wildfires, firefighting resources alone are insufficient to protect homes and lives, the Guardian reported.
“The problem is we surpassed our human limits to prevent or put out all wildfires, particularly during these extreme wind-driven weather events that have a link to climate change, said Kelly.
Recent climate disasters have reignited debates on climate change, especially after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the US to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, on his first day back in the White House.
“One side of the country is on fire the other side is about to be pelted by a winter storm and we still get to enjoy people gaslighting us by saying there is no climate change crisis for the rest of our lives,” a US-based netizen under the name Annie posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
US withdrawal from Paris agreement has undeniably undermined global climate change mitigation efforts, hindering the achievement of 2035 emission reduction targets (which is cut 57 percent off annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2035) and disrupting global cooperation in addressing climate disasters, Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times.
However, Ma noticed that the series of climate disasters worldwide has prompted Trump to soften his previous denial of climate change, instead emphasizing the expansion of American fossil fuel development during his inauguration speech.
Trump said “America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it,” Trump said in his inauguration speech at the US Capitol on Monday. “We will drill, baby, drill.”
China expresses regret over the US announcement to withdraw from the Paris agreement, which some people suggest will cast a shadow over the global green transition responding to climate change. Climate change is a common challenge faced by all humanity; no country can stand aside, and no country can achieve success in isolation, Mao Ning said on Thursday.
Regardless of how the international situation changes, China’s determination and actions to actively address climate change will not waver. We will continue to work with all parties to build a fair, reasonable, and cooperative global climate governance system, promoting the realization of global green and low-carbon transformation and sustainable development, said Mao.
