Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters.
From hurricanes to wildfires, climate shocks and stresses come with heavy damages. They take lives and destroy entire cities, costing billions of dollars as communities recover. This series is designed to reflect on timely responses to disasters, showing how the Climate Resilience Center’s work on extreme heat, policy and finance, and gaming and technologies can inform a multi-hazard approach to disasters and weather events.
In this series, our team of experts examine specific climate shocks, stresses, and hazards to report on how cities respond. Looking across sectors and policies, they recommend specific actions and insights that can improve future responses.
Southern California wildfires, January 2025
The wildfires began in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County on January 7, 2025. Over the next three weeks, the flames raged across the region, notably in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton. Twenty-nine deaths were attributed to the fires and has been estimated to cost up to $275 billion in damages.
