The Los Angeles Fires, Climate Change, and Our Community
By Hooshyar Afsar
Introduction
The fires that broke out in Los Angeles in January this year devastated multiple neighborhoods, burning over 40,000 acres, destroying or damaging over 12,000 structures, and putting over two hundred thousand people under evacuation orders, including many members of our community who lived in affected areas. [1a] The purpose of this article is to discuss the events prior to and during the fires, basic facts related to climate change and their role in these events, and the impact on our community.
What Happened
After eight months of severely dry weather—which followed months of rain that had caused an increase in vegetation— 87 mph hurricane-level Santa Ana winds sparked various fires in several Los Angeles neighborhoods. The hardest hit neighborhoods were Pacific Palisades and Altadena. In each of those neighborhoods, roughly 5,000 structures were either completely destroyed or damaged. Fire destroyed houses in other neighborhoods such as Malibu. A total of 29 people lost their lives in the fires. [1b] At least three of my own relatives completely lost their houses in those areas and many friends had to evacuate their residences more than once. In many ways, the trauma of the devastation brought about by the Los Angeles fires affected me personally.
The continuation of high-speed winds played a key role in the quick spread of the fires and new ones which were triggered. A newly published analysis by The New York Times shows that these wildfires were unprecedented: there are warning levels for hurricanes and tornadoes that put first responders (in this case firefighters) and equipment in a standby mode, but this had never been the case for wildfires. [5] According to the same article, LA County paid overtime to its firefighters and did put all of them in ready mode, in many cases moving firetrucks into position before the wildfires exploded.
Role of Climate Change
What is climate change? According to the United Nations Climate Action, “[c]limate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns … since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.” [2] The most severe sign of climate change is a rise in global temperatures caused by “greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.” [2] According to NASA, “[t]here is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause” and “the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years.” [3] 2024 was the hottest year since humans started tracking temperatures on Earth in 1880. [4]
Other evidence of climate change include but are not limited to: warmer oceans, shrinking ice sheets, retreating glaciers, decreasing snow cover, rising sea levels, declining arctic sea ice, increasing frequency of extreme weather events, and increasing acidification of the oceans. [3] The effects of the above are disastrous for humans, from extreme events such as wildfires similar to what happened in LA, more frequent and deadly hurricanes and tornadoes, island nations disappearing, shorelines surrendering to rising waters, and forced migration of millions of people. According to the World Life Fund, the sixth mass extinction of species in the history of the planet earth that is currently underway, unlike the previous five, is caused by human activity, with climate change being implicated as one of the three main causes. [6] The vast majority of world scientists (97% according to NASA) agree that climate change is caused by humans and, if left unchecked, will cause major devastation and disruptions in human societies worldwide. [11] The number one measure for the root cause of climate change is the overall emission of carbon (CO2).
There are certain misunderstandings about climate change regarding which countries are the main emitters of carbon in the world. First and foremost, while China, the United States, India, the European Union, and Russia are the top five emitters as of 2023, respectively, with Iran at number 7, that order significantly changes when we look at per capita carbon emissions. [7] As of 2023, the United States was 12th in per capita emissions (tons of CO2 per person per year), while the first eleven countries were dominated by Persian Gulf Arab oil producers, with miniscule populations in comparison. In the per capita table, China is 59th, India is 130th, EU is 67th and Russia is 21st (and Iran is 45th), meaning that among the big economies of the world, the U.S. is by far the number one emitter per capita. [8] Notably, many of the top per capita emitters are developing countries with smaller populations; blaming only them for emissions forgets the fact that all big economies of the world went through the same process of burning biomass (wood), coal, and other fossil fuels to become large industrial powers. The absolute majority of developing nations need to do what industrialized nations did before to survive.
The blame game does not help anyone. All nations—especially major economic powers—need to come together to address this global challenge before it becomes irreversible. While there have been multiple attempts to arrive at international consensus and commitments to curb carbon emissions and assist developing nations, the most significant climate accord is the Paris Agreement of 2016, signed by 195 countries. The United States was an original signatory under the Obama administration, then withdrew in 2020 during the first Trump Administration, rejoined in 2021 during the Biden Administration, and has once again withdrawn pursuant to an executive order by President Trump on the first day of his second administration.
Another major misunderstanding is that somehow automatic technological advancements and significant cost reduction in renewable energies will facilitate a global transition from fossil fuels. This premise is based on the false assumption that transition from biomass to coal and then to oil and gas has been total and complete in the last 200 years and is a good precedent for future transition to renewable energy such as wind and solar. Economist Adam Tooze has completely debunked this misrepresentation, showing that use of biomass and coal has continued globally alongside oil and gas even after major transitions, reminding us that: “historical experience has little or nothing to teach us about the challenge ahead. Any hope of stabilisation depends on doing the unprecedented at unprecedented speed. If we are to grasp the scale of what lies ahead, the first thing we have to do is to free ourselves from the ideology of the history of energy transition.” [9]
While it is absolutely necessary that we in the U.S. decrease our carbon footprint by living in much smaller and more efficient homes, driving electric cars or not driving at all, taking less frequent shower, setting the thermostat to less than or equal to 68 F in the winter and 76 F and above in the summer, global action and concerted effort is imperative.
Unfortunately, during the Los Angeles fires, the focus of the mainstream media was not on the role of climate change in bringing about the disaster. Instead, focus was on claims of “mismanagement” by public officials, how there was not enough water pressure in the water hydrants, or how people have built houses in wildfire prone areas. While all the above points could have a certain level of validity, addressing them are only tactical actions and, in the meantime, weather events will become more extreme and more unpredictable. Former Caltech climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who moved from Altadena to North Carolina two years ago and whose previous family house and many houses belonging to his colleagues and neighbors burnt down during the January fires, brilliantly states: “How bad things get depends on how long we let the fossil fuel industry continue to call the shots. The oil, gas and coal corporations have known for half a century that they were causing irreversible climate chaos, and their executives, lobbyists and lawyers chose to spread disinformation and block the transition to cleaner energy. In 2021, testifying in front of Congress, several C.E.O.s refused to end efforts to block climate action or take responsibility for their disinformation. They use their wealth to control our politicians. We need to build bridges to people on all sides of the political spectrum who are waking up as climate chaos worsens, despite the gross falsehoods from many Republican leaders. Nothing will change until our anger gets powerful enough. But once you accept the truth of loss, and the truth of who perpetrated and profited from that loss, the anger comes rushing in, as fierce as the Santa Ana winds.” [10]
How Our Community is Affected
Our community worldwide is affected by climate change. People inside Iran continue to face major calamities due to climate change, including pollution; drying wetlands, rivers and lakes; dust particle storms; and severe water shortages. The government of the Islamic Republic is unable to address the crisis and its mismanagement has only made the crisis worse. Members of our community, including my family members, had to deal with the trauma of revolution and war decades ago, rebuilding their lives in Los Angeles anew. Now, climate change is imposing yet another trauma on their livelihood.
Climate change is a racial justice issue, usually impacting communities of color first due to the environmental injustices and economic disparities forcing them to be in the line of fire of extreme weather events. It is true that the communities affected in the LA fires were for the most part affluent, yet the trauma and disaster could bring about more compassion for and solidarity with communities of color who have borne the brunt of extreme and unprecedented weather events. In fact, Altadena that was devastated by the Eaton fire is a historically Black neighborhood where many African American families could find homes not affected by redlining and housing discrimination. [12] The compassion in action should grow into unity among all human communities to stand together in bringing about real change to combat and reverse climate change. Even though Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in August 1963 referred to overcoming segregation and racism, his words are so relevant when it comes to all human communities uniting to combat and reverse climate change today: “We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
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References:
[1a] – https://www.usgs.gov/media/before-after/greater-los-angeles-wildfires-january-2025#:~:text=The%20tragic%20fires%20sweeping%20across,winds%2C%20have%20fueled%20the%20fires.
[1b]- https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-wildfires-what-we-know-palisades-eaton-los-angeles-rcna188239
[2]-https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change#:~:text=Climate%20change%20refers,and%20raising%20temperatures.
[3] – https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/evidence/
[4]-https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/temperatures-rising-nasa-confirms-2024-warmest-year-on-record/#:~:text=Once%20again%2C%20the%20temperature%20record%20has%20been%20shattered%20%E2%80%94%202024%20was%20the%20hottest%20year%20since%20record%20keeping%20began%20in%201880%2C%E2%80%9D
[5]-https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/us/la-wildfires-palisades-eaton-preparations.html
[6]-https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-is-the-sixth-mass-extinction-and-what-can-we-do-about-it#:~:text=Unlike%20previous%20extinction,on%20our%20planet.
[7]-https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2024?vis=co2tot#data_download
[8] – https://cotap.org/per-capita-carbon-co2-emissions-by-country/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA74G9BhAEEiwA8kNfpZU9tUrX4Eb2LcPHwxODiNeJCmXtaeS60ZeImD5jgH4wtdTigpQzuhoCeM8QAvD_BwE#:~:text=Qatar,non%2Dprofit%20organization.
[9]-https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n01/adam-tooze/trouble-transitioning?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#:~:text=historical%20experience%20has,of%20energy%20transition.
[10] – https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/opinion/la-fires-los-angeles-wildfires.html
[11] – https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/faq/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/
[12] – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/altadena-fire-black-families#:~:text=Altadena%2C%20a%20quiet%2C%20tight%2D,homes%20elsewhere%20in%20the%20state.
