By Alissa AndersonSpecial to the Chronicle

“Everything is on fire,” said Suvini Gunaratna, a junior design major at California State Long Beach. When asked for further comment, she simply replied, “everything.”

I grew up in dry, hot, sunny Southern California. I’ve experienced many an autumn there, so I can tell you how it often goes. In July and August, it gets very hot. This continues through September and October. We don’t get much rain during these months. More often than not, we get one surprise shower when no one’s expecting it, and that’s all until December.

Since it’s so dry and hot, any plant that doesn’t have a sprinkler going right through the middle of it will die. Then, someone goes hiking, flicks a cigarette and next thing you know, the whole trail is ablaze.

If you weren’t from the area, you’d probably never hear anything about it, and that’s what makes this year so different.

The California fires have made national news as they ravaged Sonoma County, Butte County and Los Angeles County, among other smaller areas throughout the state. It’s a tragedy, an outrage, a disaster. Call it what you want. I know how awful it is. I’m just glad that everyone is paying attention, because this isn’t how it should be, or how it has to be.

This is a climate change issue. The fires get worse by the year. This is the first time they’ve made national news, but each year has been a steady build up to where we are now.

It most certainly doesn’t help that we now have a president in office who doesn’t believe in climate change and has demonstrated a total lack of regard for any and all environmental sanctions. Between the fires, the hurricanes, the rising temperatures around the globe and the devastating earthquakes, it’s clearly been a rough few months, but none of this is new.

I’m glad you’re paying attention. I’m glad you see that there’s a problem. Unfortunately, that’s not enough. This is a situation that requires an urgent and active response. Please, call your senators, vote in local elections, donate to organizations providing relief to affected areas and don’t forget these events once they’re behind us. If a massive change is not made, these disasters will become worse and even more frequent, and then we’ll (literally) be in hot water.

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