As of midnight October 11, the last time I record information before I decide to submit this article, the wildfires in Northern California have taken the lives of 17 people. Neighborhoods have been devoured by flames. People have lost everything. Gusts of 50+ mph winds have allowed the fires to spread to residential areas, forcing over 20,000 people to evacuate their homes and flee the area.

2017 has seen some 8.5 million acres ravaged by wildfires. 115,000 of those acres were decimated by the intense fires in Northern California in the last few days. Sonoma, Napa, and Yuba counties have seen the worst of it thus far, all of which being under a state of emergency.

Thousands of homes are threatened by the malicious spread, and infrastructures of some of Northern California’s largest cities have become imperiled by the daunting fires.

President Trump has signed a major disaster declaration, providing fire management assistance grants to the state, but this does not prevent growing challenges for the hundreds of firefighters serving to protect the land and the people.

The feelings of horror are growing more and more ubiquitous. In every direction that we turn our heads, we are faced with increasingly tragic headlines. We watch the world crumble as sea levels rise, wildfires spread, and the climate intensifies. We see forces of hate consume the lives of people around us.

The Earth is getting warmer every year, our rising sea levels are going to change regions forever, and the man in charge of solving these problems is too busy tweeting about people who kneel.

The fire spreading through the forests and neighborhoods of beautiful Northern California is one of the largest disasters the Golden State has ever seen. In every direction we look, disaster makes its way closer to our homes. The wildfires, the hurricanes, and the earthquakes all reflect the chaos taking place across the globe. We’ve worked our planet to exhaustion, and it’s trying to spit us back out.

It’s not “mad at us”, it’s not “trying to teach us a lesson”. The games are over. We can’t just overlook what’s staring right at us. This isn’t some scheme created by the Chinese. This isn’t something your prayers can fix either. Your money can hardly fix it. It’s time we stop waiting for a “leader” to take action and it’s time we all work together to do it ourselves.

As time progresses, the fires show no sign of slowing down. Some of the flames are still moving at 0% containment. As this happens, silt flows into the water reservoirs, contaminating water. Smoke dances through the air, taking a toll on the health of residents nearby. Lives and livelihoods are being torn apart by the fire, and the administration is still in denial that this climate change is even happening.

Not only is the administration in denial of climate change, but they are too fixated on the concept of money, and domestic spending. Trump tells Puerto Rico, a territory in shambles after a hurricane, that they are costing us a lot of money. Like Puerto Rico was some sort of bad investment for him?

Yet, he spends millions of dollars trying to rescue the COAL INDUSTRY. Instead of spending money trying to help this problem in California, the administration will probably try and reduce the budget for the Forest Service. We need to push for larger expenditures and a larger government that will work towards solving these problems.

But for now, we must depend on each other to try and make things right, even if it means changing the way we live our lives. The events happening to our globe can affect the lives of many generations who come after us. I was brought into a world subject to self-destruction, I don’t want to do that to the next generation.

As forests and neighborhoods of Northern California continue to rise in flames, we must all join together, and do what we can to help the residents of these areas. If you’d rather give your money to an area affected by another catastrophic event, like a hurricane or an earthquake, then do that! Or donate to all three! You have options!

You can donate and find volunteer opportunities to help people impacted by the wildfires here: