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I imagine you all have seen some of the truly devastating stories, images, and videos coming from wildfires blazing across Southern California.
More than 150,000 people have been forced to evacuate as several large fires continue to destroy more than 40,000 acres—and forecasted high winds this week could make the fires even worse. At least 24 people have died, and countless others are missing or have lost their homes, livelihoods, and communities.
We need to talk about this honestly: These wildfires are a direct result of the climate crisis. We just learned that 2024 was the hottest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with average temps about 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. If that 1.5 number sounds familiar, it’s the warming limit we’ve been working hard to avoid hitting by the 2030s—and now the world has surpassed that threshold a half-decade too soon.
The current wildfires remind us that climate change—and the work we must continue doing to mitigate it—is not a “problem for the future.” The severity of the climate crisis is being felt here and now.
“Climate history is playing out before our eyes,” says World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “We’ve had not just one or two record-breaking years, but a full ten-year series. This has been accompanied by devastating and extreme weather, rising sea levels and melting ice, all powered by record-breaking greenhouse gas levels due to human activities.”
In just the past five years, we’ve seen the first (2023), third (2021), and fourth (2020) worst years ever for global forest fires, and this is directly attributable to climate change spurring an increase in wildfire season length, wildfire frequency, and burned area—which has significant food system implications, too. Meanwhile, worsening droughts are fueling the flames: Last year, for example, the Amazon experienced its worst drought in 45 years, and fires in the region are burning twice as much forest as they did two decades ago.
“I’ve been in California 24 years and this was by far the worst I’ve seen,” photographer Mike Blake told Reuters. “The wind is so strong, you can’t stand up. And we haven’t had any rain.”
Fortunately, so many amazing organizations across Los Angeles and Southern California are stepping up and offering emergency assistance.
In this list, the name of each organization is linked directly to their fire-aid resources.
Mutual Aid LA Network is maintaining a regularly updated spreadsheet of aid available for those in need of shelter, meals, animal assistance, wi-fi and charging stations, and more.
L.A. Works is helping mobilize volunteers by providing resources for housing, donating essentials for babies and infants, distributing meals, offering care for displaced pets, and more.
California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund is collecting funds to support long-term relief efforts for those affected by the Palisades Fire, and Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Canyon Fire Relief Fund is doing the same for those affected by the Eaton Fire.
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which coordinates among hundreds of governmental and nonprofit partners, is working to keep people fed. They’re in need of volunteers and donations of food/essentials, and if you’re in the LA area, you can use their Find Food Pantry Locator to seek assistance.
No Res Gourmet is preparing and distributing meals, care packages, and other essential supplies, and you can help them by donating volunteer hours, packaged goods, and funds.
Project Angel Food provides medically tailored meals to adults and children affected by life-threatening illness. (If you can volunteer to prepare or deliver meals, contact them at (323) 845-1816 or [email protected].)
Salvation Army’s Southern California Division is working with government and nonprofit agencies to provide food, personal care items, and shelter to first responders and residents affected by the wildfires.
World Central Kitchen is distributing free hot meals to first responders and the public at several locations in Southern California. Find distribution times and locations HERE. Donate to support WCK’s efforts HERE or sign up to volunteer with them HERE.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is ensuring its students can still access food. Many schools are reopening, but for those that remain closed, families can pick up meals at Daniel Webster Middle School.
I’m also heartened to see businesses across the food system step up to support their communities. Across Southern California, dozens of local restaurants are providing food, shelter, and funds to first responders and those impacted by fires. Restaurants from New York to Chicago are stepping up, too.
Sprouts Farmers Market is redirecting funds from their “round up” program, as well as additional funding from the Sprouts Healthy Community Foundation, to go toward relief efforts. Kroger and its affiliated supermarkets are pledging to raise US$1 million for wildfire relief, including matching customer donations.
(Please help us expand this list! How is your community helping direct aid toward those impacted by the California wildfires? Email me at [email protected] to share resources.)
A changing climate affects us all, regardless of our political affiliation and geography, and we need a whole-of-society approach to protect people and the planet.
Whether or not we feel the impacts of worsening natural disasters, drought, food shortages, biodiversity loss, and more right now, every single one of us is affected by the climate crisis. Regardless of where we live, we must be spurred to action by asking ourselves: If we don’t stand up for our neighbors and fellow human beings at this moment, who will stand up for us in return next time the climate crisis hits close to home?
I hope you’ll join me in pledging to redouble our efforts to mitigate emissions, reduce the impacts the climate crisis has already wrought, and stand up for those most impacted.
We don’t have time to wait.
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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
