Climate disaster in California 

New York is the city that never sleeps; California is the state that never stops burning, and it may only get worse. Since January 7, wildfires have been burning in California, spanning from Los Angeles to San Diego. The most recent numbers indicate that 27 people have died as a result of the fires. Schools and businesses have been closed, power outages have occurred and evacuation orders have been issued across San Diego, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. In Los Angeles county alone, more than 15,000 structures have been destroyed and 38,000 acres of land have been burned. In Altadena, a city within Los Angeles county, residents were permitted to return to their homes as of January 21, assuming it was still standing. One Eastern alumnus, Chris Pack, who has been residing and working in LA’s entertainment industry, lost his home earlier in January to the fires. 

“I have no idea where I’m going to live,” Pack told FOX 29. “Literally everything I’m wearing today someone took out of their dresser and gave me. The shorts I’m wearing, the shirt and the shoes. Everything was lost.” The only thing of Pack’s which survived the fire was a nativity scene hand-made by Pack’s grandmother, miraculously intact amidst the embers. Perhaps most startling is how close the residents came to perishing with their belongings. “If we had gone to sleep and waited for the evacuation order we would have died straight up,” Pack continued. 

While the exact source of the wildfires remains unconfirmed, many look to the extreme winds (as high as 102 mph) originating from Santa Ana as a significant factor. Unusually high winds have been linked to global warming, as the rapid heating of the planet continues to change environmental patterns culminating in extreme weather events. This includes wildfires. 

There are various factors which influence a region’s susceptibility to wildfires, including natural land management strategies, water storage, water replenishment (rain or snowmelt), moisture content of flora, temperatures and even wind speeds. In California, these factors often collide to create a very dry climate, which is the ideal condition for wildfires to begin and for contained fires to spiral out of control. Climate change, spurred on by global warming, has exacerbated such problems. Over the past twenty years, temperatures have risen consistently,

with the past several summers bringing consecutively record-breaking highs. Additionally, California experiences frequent long-term droughts. The most recent and severe droughts spanned from 2007 to 2009 and again in 2012 through 2016, but moderate droughts have disturbed the state as recently as 2020 through 2022. Now, with global warming affecting various regions of the globe and changing typical weather patterns, California’s fire seasons are extending well into the winter. Historically, this is very unusual, but recent years have shown California burning year-round with greater frequency. 

The Los Angles-San Diego wildfire disaster is only the latest in a string of climate-related tragedies. Also fresh in American memory is the damage of Hurricane Helene, which affected parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee in late 2024. Many families and communities are still struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee proposed a disaster-relief plan which will involve a $450 million investment in direct relief efforts, though damage costs in Tennessee alone are estimated to exceed $1.2 billion. This seems steep, and it is; however, the U.S. is fortunate as a developed nation to have resources to effectively address these disasters, though they may seem woefully inadequate. Climate and environmental experts continue to hope that world leaders–such as those in developed nations like the US, whose carbon footprints are massively disproportional to their populations–will begin to enact climate policy with greater urgency and commitment as climate-related damage continues to escalate. 

Our condolences and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those lost in the fires and all those who have experienced loss or displacement due to climate disasters. Support for those affected–such as Chris Pack, Eastern alumnus–can be given through crowd-sourcing platforms such as GoFundMe. 

Sources: USA Today, CAPRadio, Public Policy Institute of California, National Centers for Environmental Information, Frontline Wildfire Defense, The New York Post, FOX 29, Britannica, Johnson City Press, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Phys.org