Yale Student Reflects on LA Wildfires and Climate Change Crisis

New Haven, CT — A Yale University freshman, Violet Affleck, 19, shared her personal experience of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires in a recent essay published in the school’s Global Health Review on May 18. The California wildfires, which devastated the Pacific Palisades in January, forced Violet and her family to flee their home and seek refuge in a hotel.

In the essay, titled “A Chronically Ill Earth: COVID Organizing as a Model Climate Response in Los Angeles,” she reflects on the differing reactions to the crisis within her family. While her mother, actress Jennifer Garner, was shocked and saddened by the extent of the destruction, Violet expressed her long-held expectation of such wildfires as a climate-literate member of Generation Z. “I was surprised at her surprise; my question had not been whether the Palisades would burn but when,” Violet wrote.

Violet recounted moments of tension with her mother as they navigated the situation together. Her younger brother Samuel, 13, added to the family discussions with questions about climate change’s role in the wildfire’s escalation, asking, “Did global warming have to do with the speed of the wind?” Violet humorously noted, “Hopefully, most of us understand the climate crisis better than my little brother.”

The fires claimed at least 30 lives, intensifying the discourse on climate change. Violet criticized the societal tendency to approach crises like climate change and pandemics as isolated events instead of interconnected problems that require long-term solutions.

In her conclusion, Violet highlighted the urgent need to address environmental issues more comprehensively. She argued that climate change is “existential and accelerating,” fueled by the overconsumption of resources by the wealthiest nations. Furthermore, she emphasized the collective responsibilities in tackling these global challenges, asserting, “We can ‘follow the science’ even when it scares us.”u200B

Jennifer Garner, who was actively volunteering to help the community following the wildfires, expressed pride in her daughter’s advocacy work. “She’s a self-starter and I’m proud of her no matter what,” Garner said in a comment about Violet’s activism.