Chile declares state of emergency over raging forest fires
Al JazeeraJan 30
Chile: Raging Wildfires Kill More Than 100
Image copyright: Claudio Santana/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Chile has declared a state of emergency after massive wildfires killed at least 112 people in the country's central Valparaíso region. The toll is expected to rise as about 40 of the 164 wildfires reported till now are active.
The fires broke out Friday and have left 1.6K people homeless, destroying entire neighborhoods, along with a nearly century-old botanical garden and 8K hectares of forest area.
The Spin
Narrative A
Climate change-driven extreme weather has worsened forest fires in Chile. Record heatwaves and unusually high temperatures have turned a general summer phenomenon into an unprecedented environmental disaster which, in the absence of a comprehensive response, threatens to destroy the ecological balance and cause unforeseeable harm to human habitats.
Narrative B
The culprit behind the extended hot and dry conditions — including low humidity and high wind speeds — isn't climate change but the El Niño weather phenomenon. It has caused droughts and led to hotter-than-usual temperatures along western South America, increasing the risk of forest fires. This is a natural phenomenon and outside the scope of Chile's climate mitigation efforts.