Fire Season: Climate Alarmism and California
Fire season. An infamous time any Californian knows and has experienced first hand. Those two words still send chills up my spine at 22 years old. As a little girl, I grew up in the foothills of La Verne, California, where the mountains framed the scenery of my home. Every year between May to November, California sees an uptick in fires and the people who live in California see an uptick in loss. Loss of vehicles, loss of items with sentimental value, loss of their homes and loss of life.
It’s worth noting that when the first fire started on January 7 of this year, the California fire season was roughly five months away. The sudden rush to evacuate from homes and businesses grabbed attention. Parts of California that had rarely been, or had never been, touched by wildfires were suddenly at the epicenter of that loss and fear.
One day after the first fire started my mom texted the family group chat. She informed us that my aunt’s home in Altadena, California had burned down. I was the first to see the text, my dad was in the kitchen making tea. I read the text to my dad, who stopped mid-dip of his tea bag and just stared. My aunt’s family had lived in that house for three generations, and she and her husband were raising their kids in that home. Their whole world, gone in the blink of an eye.
From a young age I was close with my aunt. My mom threw cookie decorating parties where my aunt created beautifully lavish treats, and when she married her husband our family was there. Knowing a woman I looked up to lost everything she worked so hard for broke my heart.
It’s times like these when human kindness is on full display. My sister, mom and I were quick to jump into action. A Go Fund Me, putting together packages of needed items and staying in contact, because sometimes the thing we need most is someone to talk to. The community I had built personally showed up for my extended family too. Friends and colleagues donated and sent items for my aunt’s two kids. It is easy to be pessimistic when there is always news of the next destructive choice made by our government or when you learn that some people took the opportunity to start fires in LA for the heck of it. But sometimes, I think The Beatles are right, “Love is all you need.”
Still, I can’t help but wonder what could have been done to prevent these fires, which as of January 31 were finally downgraded to a contained status. According to an article by UC Irvine News, the severity of the average wildfire has increased by 30% between 1980 and the 2010s. Globally the risk for wildfires has risen due to the overheating of our planet due to deforestation, over farming and an increase in droughts around the world.
A poll taken in 2024 by ABC News found that 73% of Gen Z believe that water related issues will be the breaking point in today’s climate-changing world. Many expressed their concern for a lack of healthy water, for drinking and other activities. Others polled expressed their concern that an overall lack of water will leave dry landscapes at risk for larger and less containable wildfires.
Those polled were not far off with their concerns. California has experienced long periods of extreme dryness and drought. Planes and helicopters used to assist in fighting the latest fires were forced to fly further out to scoop up water, sometimes from the ocean. Ocean water is usually unhelpful to putting out fires as it has a high content of salt and other minerals. Most fire planes are also only built to carry human made fire retardants and the salinity of ocean water has the potential to damage the planes and the way retardants are carried.
Water scarcity continues to become a rampant concern across the globe. The use of water to build cars, buildings, GPT/ AI bots, and even the phone or laptop you are using to read this article utilized water at one point or another.
Of course, the need for water and the never ending use of it is not a fault. We are all humans who require water to live and who utilize the technology, cars and buildings that water helped to create. However, it is our responsibility to cut back where we can. We must be aware of the amount of clothes we buy, as fast fashion is one of the biggest consumers of water. We must not leave water running unless absolutely necessary and must not use the washer for one item of clothing or a single towel.
Climate alarmism or doomsday thinking can actually lead to less activism on the issue. Realizing that there are still ways to fight back and save our planet Earth is step one, and taking the action, that is step two.
I’m a California girl through and through. When natural disasters hit the place I love I naturally feel sad and worried for the land and the people who live there. Continuing to do my part as a human and helping to deter climate change is important to me. I know come May the fires will start again, that doesn’t mean you and me and everyone still can’t try to make our world a healthier and happier place to live.