Ashes of the Future: L.A.’s Struggle with Climate Change Infernos
- Caleb Margolis
- May 12
- 7 min read
“Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself”. This is a quote shared by one of the most important women in U.S. history: Rachel Carson. Known for her provocative book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson ignited passions throughout the U.S. to change America's use of pesticides and treatment of the enviornment as a whole, sparking the Environmental Movement of the 20th century. In this quote, Rachel Carson cautions that the unthoughtful actions of humanity on our environment will always pay its debts through the relentless wake of mother nature. One of the most recent “debts” that humanity is paying is through the horrific nature of the Los Angeles fires.
The L.A. fires killed 29 people, destroyed 12,000 structures, and charred more than 40,000 acres of land. In the wake of a fire the size of Washington DC, 37 people have gone missing, a dozen schools have been destroyed, and several people have been arrested for looting homes. On top of all of that, 82,400 people were forced to evacuate, losing their prized possessions, priceless family photos, pets, workplaces, and homes. As a result of this devastating fire, the lives of these 82,400 people will never be the same.
According to the L.A. Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott, “This is the most devastating natural disaster to hit the Los Angeles area.” The two most destructive fires present in these recent L.A. fires are the Palisades and the Eaton fire. These fires are ranked top four in the most destructive of fires in L.A. history.
From the perspective of modern day environmentalists, when it comes to these fires one of the biggest questions is: why did these fires occur and at such an intensity? Other than the Palisades and Eaton Fires, two of the top four most devastating fires in California history occurred in the months of November and October. Thus, these fires are not only significant for the magnitude of damage they caused, but also for the fact that they occurred in January, a month typically associated with winter. In California, January consists of mildly warm and wet climate conditions. Therefore, for a forest fire to occur, let alone two of the largest forest fires in California history, is unprecedented during a season where the ideal dry and hot conditions for wildfires are nonexistent.
The most common igniters of wildfires typically come from the actions of discarding cigarettes, leaving campfires unattended, and lightning strikes. However seasonal climate conditions that are hot and dry play a crucial role on the size and frequency of wildfires. That said, modern day wildfires are occurring in nontypical climate seasons at levels four times larger and three times more frequent than in the 1980s and 1990s. Thus, the most likely culprit for the L.A. wildfires is global Climate Change.
Between October and January 2024, L.A. encountered only 4% of the rainfall they typically receive. In addition, L.A. was coming off a summer with extreme temperatures reaching 102 degrees Fahrenheit. This created conditions in which the vegetation had very little moisture, making this organic matter more flammable as fire no longer had to compete with suffocating water. Furthermore, winds reached up to 50 to 70 miles per hour increasing the oxygenation of the forest, “feeding the fire”, and boosting its size and intensity. Being dry, hot, and windy, the conditions were perfect for a wildfire to occur. However, these conditions did not arise purely at random; rather, they are a result of global climate change.
Fueling climate change is human caused global warming which is characteristically known for increasing surface and atmospheric temperatures. This global change in climate ultimately leads to a phenomenon starting to show its true colors: whiplash weather. As uncharacteristically hot temperatures continue to rise, snow becomes less of a phenomenon and rain takes its place due to water evaporation. This then leads to wetter springs which in turn generate lots of vegetation. Then, when the hot temperatures return, the abundances of vegetation such as shrubs, grass, leaf litter and fallen branches (common organic matter known for igniting fires) are dried out. As a result of an increase in the fuel necessary to ignite wildfires, the frequency, severity, and longevity of these fires increased.
Furthermore, these wildfires are intensified via the lack of organic matter reprieve from the hot conditions of the day as night time temperatures are hotter, and the population of mountain pine beetle, which feeds on and kills trees, increases. In turn, the number of non-resistant and dead trees increase, building up, once again, the “fuels” for these wildfires. In turn, the number of non-resistant and dead trees increase, building up the “fuels” for wildfires.
Due to the contributions of this global climate change catastrophe, not only do forest fires now result in 6 million more hectares of tree cover loss per year since 2001, but global extreme fire incidents are expected to rise by 14% in the year 2030, 30% by 2050 and 50% by the end of the century.
These wildfires are not purely threatening based on their destructive power: wildfires threaten humanitarian health and the economy of the nation. Within the confines of wildfire smoke exists carbon monoxide and particulate pollution. This in turn reduces air quality which can reduce oxygen delivery to bodily organs and tissues inducing both asthma and heart attacks. Water quality is also diminished as harmful contaminants, sediments, and heavy metals can end up leaching off into nearby water sources, making water unsafe for both human and animal consumption. Not only does this threaten humanitarian health, but it can also disrupt the ecosystem's biodiversity.
The damaging impacts of wildfires also pay a toll on U.S. economics. Before the L.A. fires, people in fire prone areas struggled to insure their homes in case of a wildfire. Many insurance companies choose not to renew thousands of homes especially those in fire prone areas because the chance of the house burning down was severely high. One of the largest home insurers, State Farm general, even announced in march of 2024 that it would not renew 30,000 homeowners. While the decisions of these insurance companies can seem selfish, these companies in some sense have as much choice as the homeowners. If insurance companies continue to financially support these fire prone homeowners, not only will they lose billions in the process, but they will also negatively impact the insurance policies of people across the entire nation.
As a result of the lack of insurance, California residents had to fall back on California's FAIR Plan which supports over 452,000 policies. California's FAIR Plan is held responsible to pay $3.5 billion in total to those who have sought claims in this plan. However, the FAIR Plan was only capable of issuing 2.5 billion dollars. As a result, the government “bailed out” California’s FAIR Plan by covering the remaining $1 billion. This insured that the majority of L.A. residents who were financially impacted by these wildfires received reparations for the property damages they faced.
Due to a lack of support of homeowners in California, private insurers' inaction was replaced by governmental aid. This issuance dilemma on a base level portrays private insurers as the villains and the government as heroes in this wildfire narrative. However, legal philosophers and economists may frame this story differently. Due to the duality of an idealistic climate with continual threat of natural disasters, purchasing a house and the insurance to protect it is highly expensive in California. Therefore, only those that can afford these high prices can live in California, creating an inequity that favors the wealthy over the poor. As such, subsidies like California’s FAIR plan, were set up by the state and national government to encourage and assist low-income citizens in living in the expensive state of California. While this promotes equity, these subsidies falsely represent the danger of living in California. By inhibiting the free-market process for these insurance companies to set insurance rates, not only does the California residential population increase, but so does the population of people who cannot afford their house burning down. As a result, the fuel for a wildfire increases and the impact on homeowners cuts even deeper. From a legal philosopher and economists standpoint, the reduction in the U.S. liberty, in this case manipulating insurance rates through government subsidies, ultimately makes California more vulnerable to economic and public health related harm.
It is critical that the Californian government and the insurance companies associated with the property owners, work on new legislation that promotes equity in access to living in California while offering accurate insurance risk assessments, via insurance rates, to safeguard the health and financial security of California residents.
Wildfires are but just one punishment mother nature has in store for humanity when we do not take care of “her.” While the L.A. fire problem resides in L.A. these wildfires are a product of all human actions and as such it is all of our responsibility when it comes to developing solutions to this issue. Fortunately enough, some of the solutions to a problem such as wildfires are solutions you have most likely heard before. We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions in any manner possible whether it be carpooling to work or school, taking shorter showers, reusing as many materials as you can, buying locally sourced food rather than from large corporations, etc. In addition, we need to reduce development into wooded areas that are known for forest fires, as it can leave the area vulnerable and disrupt the natural cycling process that forest fires serve by clearing out dead and diseased plants from forests. Furthermore, we must look to the economic and political powers of the U.S. to create change. We can advocate for increased regulations on big greenhouse gas emitting corporations, those that own and constantly use private planes, and the development/usage of new technologies and energy sources such as AI development and natural gas. However, most importantly, we must continue to educate both ourselves and others on how to solve the climate change issue and aid those suffering from these annually occurring fires. No piece of writing will ever contain all the answers and not everyone is informed about the issues at hand. By attempting to broaden your or someone else's knowledge on these terrible situations, for example, by reading this article, you are actively contributing to solving current humanitarian and environmentally based problems.
Community in some ways is like a phoenix. Despite eloquence and beauty, sometimes it needs to be burned down to come back stronger. One thing is certain, the community will rise from the ashes. Let your hearts be with those who have suffered in the L.A. fires; the community that is the human race, depends on it.
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