Climatologist Ben Hamlington works to understand how climate change affects communities. Losing his home in the Eaton Fire erased the line between his work and his life.
Ryan Kellman/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Ryan Kellman/NPR
Ben Hamlington looks at a pile of ashes and debris, remnants of what was once his family’s home. It was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, which spread at ferocious speed in high winds, ultimately destroying more than 9,000 homes and buildings around Altadena, California.
“My 9-year-old really wants me to see if there’s anything recognizable left,” he says. “I don’t think it’s worth living.”
All that remains are echoes of what once existed. A messy pile of springs shows where a mattress was. A bed frame is nothing more than twisted black metal.
Hamlington understands the risks all too well. As a research scientist at NASA, he spent his career studying the impacts of climate change, quantify how quickly sea levels are rising and threaten coastal communities. Losing his home erased the line between his work and his life, he says.
Two metal cabinets sit in the corner of what was once Ben Hamlington’s house.
Ryan Kellman/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Ryan Kellman/NPR
When the smoke first appeared two weeks ago, Hamlington’s wife and two daughters decided to leave the house. He stayed with the family dogs and received a text message at 3 a.m. for a mandatory evacuation.
“I went out, you couldn’t see anything, there was so much ash,” he said. “The winds were blowing directly in that direction.”
This was not the first time he had faced a disaster caused by climate change. Hamlington lived in Virginia before moving to California six years ago, and her community flooded after a hurricane when her children were young.
“I joke that I’m a terrible climatologist,” he says with a wry smile. “I don’t see these things happening. I keep moving them to different areas.”
Altadena is nestled against the San Gabriel Mountains, with steep slopes covered in dense chaparral brush that burns easily. The outskirts of the city are classified as high risk for wildfires, but the Hamlington neighborhood is not because it is further from the hills. However, powerful winds pushed the fire far inland, stirring up embers that ignited homes.
“That’s what we expect as we move into the future, that places where you wouldn’t expect to have a problem are having these types of problems,” Hamlington said.
Ben Hamlington says deciding whether to rebuild is a balancing act between understanding the risks of climate change and the needs of his community.
Ryan Kellman/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Ryan Kellman/NPR
As temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change, the risk of wildfires worsens. A warmer atmosphere saps moisture from vegetation, making it more flammable. An analysis found that about a quarter of the overall drought in the Los Angeles area can be attributed to climate change. Studies also show wildfires explode fasterspreading 400% faster in California from 2001 to 2020.
Now, this type of climate change study is more personal for Hamlington as his family navigates the future.
“The climate scientist side of me thinks it might not be a good idea to rebuild,” Hamlington says. “Obviously it could happen again.”
At the same time, Hamlington says it’s difficult to consider leaving a community that her family loves, a community where her neighbors have lived for decades.
“If enough of us move, developers will come and build apartment buildings and it will never be the same,” he says.
This internal conflict is playing out in communities across the country, as climate-driven disasters, like hurricanes, storms and floods, intensify. Scientific studies show that risks are increasing considerably higher in some places. But how should these communities respond?
“How do you convey a message that is so difficult to hear about the place where someone has lived their entire life or the community they grew up in that it has now become unsafe because of climate change?” Hamilton Matters.
The Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 homes and buildings, spreading widely in the community of Altadena, where many believed there was little risk of wildfire.
Ryan Kellman/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Ryan Kellman/NPR
As humans continue to burn fossil fuels, Hamlington says the climate will continue to warm. This means more communities will face worsening disasters. But there is still time to avoid the worst consequences if we can slow climate change by reducing fossil fuels. Countries that signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 have pledged to reduce global warming pollution, but so far the world is not on track to meet the agreement’s goals .
In the face of this fire, Hamlington says the work seems even more urgent.
“I’m not pessimistic at all,” he says. “Just keep doing what we’re doing and learn from experiences like this. Maybe it’s a very hard lesson to take, a very direct lesson, but take it and put it into the work that we let’s try to do it.”
