California and Oregon serve as a frightening warning for all of us

If it wasn't for the coronavirus pandemic and the concern over the future of the world economy, the terrible fires in California and Oregon would be alarming the whole world. Why isn't climate change the biggest topic for the US election campaign? Well, it's simple. Trump for a start doesn't believe climate change is responsible for anything going wrong with the world's weather, and Joe Biden who does have a big climate-change plan ready to go, apparently, has been running such a low-profile quiet campaign that he has, in my view, made insufficient impact to persuade the American people that he can save the US and the planet from being burnt up or flooded in the next 20, 30, 40 years. What's happening in these two US states right now - intense heat, loss of life and property and endless fires - should surely serve as a warning to all politicians of whatever persuasion. I don't think it will persuade Trump to drop his scepticism about climate change but on his visit to California to see the devastation I hope he might just begin to have second thoughts. What worries me is that in America - also in the UK - there is no unanimity on this issue. Governments who do believe the climate is changing for the worse claim to have grand plans and promise to lower the carbon signature etc. But we are no longer talking abut something that will hit the planet so far in the future that it's difficult to get really worried. This is happening now and will get worse. I'm sure the people of California and Oregon are now becoming climate-change converts. Perhaps, as a result, the fires in these two states could become a major political issue when Americans vote on November 3. And maybe even Trump will see the way things are going. Could he lose the election because of his wilful rejection of the climate-change disaster facing the planet? Probaby not. But if the fires are still burning in California and Oregon, it might just have an impact on voting.