Climate changes continue to exacerbate natural disasters through national crisis points
200,000 evacuees, 37,000 acres of land destroyed, 16,000 structures (including schools, places of worship, grocery stores, and homes) in ruin, and 29 lives lost. These are the tangible damages done by the tragic Los Angeles wildfires. The emotional destruction is immeasurable, and Americans mutually mourn as the City of Angels navigates repair.
From January 7 - January 31, the fires’ spread was fueled by Santa Ana hurricane force winds. However, it all truly began on New Year’s Day, when a celebratory firework flare ended in flames. This fire burned eight acres without damaging any structures. It was supposedly contained; however, Palisades Highland resident Jeremy Wineberg told ABC7 Eyewitness News, “[there] was negligence on monitoring that fire Jan. 1 and making sure it was completely burned out to make sure that this didn't happen again.”
Thus, when the first puffs of smoke began to rise over the Pacific Palisades on January 7, many attributed the fire to the incident days prior, claiming it was a re-ignition of previous flames.
Meanwhile, the Eaton Fire broke out on the northside of L.A. county, affecting Altadena and Pasadena. Several other fires followed, including the Hurst Fire north of San Fernando, as well as the Auto Fire, although these were far less destructive and quicker to contain.
The Eaton and Palisade fires were the most severe, and covered vast grounds. John Reiland, Green Alarm advisor and teacher of Environmental Science and Biology at West, was determined to stay informed with the fires’ status. His research showed that there were many factors behind the orange hue’s fury.
“California got a lot of rain a few months ago, so plants grew very fast,” he said. “In the following months, there was very little rainfall which turned those plants into dried brush, which should’ve been cut, but wasn’t because the brush was protected.”
The fire’s timing is alarming, as December through February is typically California’s rainy season. While some parts had their share of precipitation, the southern areas experienced serious droughts.
“The last time Los Angeles logged more than one-tenth of an inch of rain was in early May,” NBC News science and space reporter Denise Chow said.
While climate change cannot kindle flames on its own, the crisis causes conditions that breed their own disasters. Similar to the unruly weeds in Los Angeles, when the climate crisis is dismissed, it’s only a matter of time before it causes destruction.
Seniors Emmy Reichenberger and Sophia Olmsted have been involved with Green Alarm for four and three years respectively. This year, they took on more responsibility as Green Alarm co-presidents, leading a club dedicated to encouraging sustainable practices at school and in the community. Both agree that oblivion is the climate crisis’ greatest threat.
“Educating people and making people aware of what’s actually happening is crucial,” Reichenberger said. “I think that teaching, listening, learning, and educating is the most important thing we can do as high school students.”
Unfortunately, like the child with a hot stove, some fail to learn until they are personally affected by trauma. Olmsted believes that the Los Angeles fires will serve as a wake up call for many people.
“A lot of people choose not to educate themselves because they don’t want to accept how dangerous climate change is,” she said. “I think the L.A. wildfires put it into perspective for a lot of people because natural disasters are going to continue to get worse and worse if we don’t act now.”
First year chemistry teacher Logan Martilla feels that modern science curriculums make students aware of climate change, but unless students take Environmental Science, they are largely uninformed. Our planet’s demands are urgent, and human initiative to understand the problem and execute solutions will determine the beloved earth’s destiny.
It all boils down to the greenhouse effect. This is a natural process in which the sun’s heat is trapped in the earth’s atmosphere to keep the planet warm enough to sustain life. Sunlight is absorbed by the earth’s surface, and then it is reflected off as infrared radiation, which is essentially heat. The problem ensues when human activity creates a buildup of gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.), thickening the earth’s “atmospheric blanket,” and allowing for the infrared radiation to absorb excess heat from the gases. Thus, temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change, creating all sorts of chaos for all life on earth.
It would be scientifically inaccurate to claim “climate change caused the Los Angeles fires,” because climate change is extremely difficult to quantify. However, there is evidence of high carbon dioxide levels, which is a contributor to both climate change and drought conditions, according to Reiland.
“Core samples help us prove that the carbon dioxide levels are the highest they’ve been in history,” he said. “This is where they go into Iceland and drill core samples [cylinders of ice from glaciers/sheets of ice] which are thousands and thousands of years old. Carbon dioxide is what makes the ice cubes white, so the core samples are used to determine how much carbon dioxide was in the air thousands of years ago.”
Unfortunately, modern life as we know it depends on carbon dioxide emissions. Burning oil, coal, and natural gas, resources used to fuel cars, generate electricity, and heat buildings, all release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
According to the Center for Science Education, the average U.S. citizen produces about 16 tons of carbon each year. High carbon dioxide levels perpetuate high temperatures, long periods of little to no rain, and dry vegetation. All three of these factors contributed to the severity of the Los Angeles fires. Reiland’s research attests these facts.
“The soil was extremely dry, with moisture levels in the bottom two percent of historical norms,” he said.
“This data was found after several years of monitoring the soil content in Los Angeles.”
Reiland uses the “Law of Conservation of Energy” to further prove the impact of climate change on disaster.
“Energy is neither created or destroyed, so when we emit greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, they have to go somewhere and often end up being released in these vicious storms,” he said.
Yet even after losing lives and homes to the L.A. flames, many Americans continue to wait for the rise of tomorrow’s sun to change their consumption habits. Junior and Green Alarm member Jack Uecker feels people bear overwhelming loads of societal pressure, making it difficult to detach and observe the bigger picture from afar.
“First you’re focused on getting a job and getting money, then getting a house and starting a family,” he said. “People simply don’t have the time to think outside of their own life and see the world as a whole.”
Others spend their free time choosing their doom. Instead of facing the fear surrounding climate change, they scroll mindlessly and create elaborate shopping lists based on the latest trends. The media celebrates and profits off of overconsumption and trendy sprees while simultaneously serving as a distraction from larger issues. Many are quick to point fingers at young Generation Z and Alpha, however, adults are just as guilty, according to Olmsted.
“I feel like a lot of adults have this mentality that climate change is a problem for our generation to deal with,” she said “It’s always hanging over our heads.”
The financial side of climate perseverance also prevents action. Junior Gavin Steiner is currently taking an Environmental Science course at West. Part of the course’s curriculum includes learning about the push and pull between the economy and the environment, two forces that seem to repel.
“Even though we have the capacity to recycle materials, it’s more expensive,” he said. “People don’t want to spend money on that when it’s cheaper to make things new rather than recycle.”
Reiland experienced this firsthand when trying to purchase recyclable t-shirts for Green Alarm.
“It was 35 dollars for a recyclable t-shirt. They offered to do one that was only partially created from recycled materials for 18 dollars, but ultimately we realized that we could get other t-shirts for two dollars a piece,” he said. “It’s important for climate solutions to be financially friendly too.”
Budget friendly options do exist, but they require a little extra time, care, and consideration. Martilla stresses the urgency of putting effort into the earth’s health now, before it’s too late and our precious mother expires.
“One of the biggest things that I’m concerned about is that we’re getting to the point in our environmental timeline where we can’t really fix the damage that we’ve done,” he said. “It’s becoming irreversible.”
by Jazmine Blustin
Published February 24th, 2025
Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue V