I’m not really sure why they call them the dog days of summer, but the annual observance has run its course and still seems to be hanging around.

Generally these days are marked on the calendar between July and early August, but the hot weather continues. Before you start blaming climate change, let me assure you that indeed it is a climate issue when you are talking about the weather. Fortunately, most of the hysterical attribution of global warming has worn off over the past five or six years as people have gathered their collective wits and realized that climate is a peculiar and complicated science.

Sure, it’s hot and stormy, and there are fires raging in parts of North America that are just plain scary, but is this so absolutely unusual that we look for excuses like the climate to excuse what could be the malfeasance of people with regard to the hot mess we find ourselves in right now? Upon further investigation, the Maui fires would appear to have been caused by the possibility that the electrical grid was being subjected to extreme overload and that water was an issue left to be determined by people who might not have realized the full scope of the fire’s raging and destructive capacity.

None of us are ever okay with people whose lives are put in danger because systems designed to alleviate such disasters fail. It is extremely sad that the loss of life was something that might have been avoidable if people would have acted differently before and during the disaster.

My parents live in British Columbia and have had to abandon their retirement dream home because of the dangerous possibility of fires raging in northwestern Canada. High winds have swept the fires along and have caused the displacement of a number of families in the areas my wife and I visited this summer. We were awestruck by the green beauty of this part of our continent.

However, it would appear that fire is no respecter of beauty.

Sometimes I feel more blessed to live where we do when I read about these tragic events taking place in other parts of the world. Other times I feel almost guilty that we complain about the heat and the wind when we know that in the valleys we share, have our homes and earn our living seem far away from disasters like the ones unfolding elsewhere. Surely Mother Nature is ready for a break and fall will usher in cooler temperatures, lower winds and a chance for people to find their way back to some sense of normalcy.

One thing is for sure: We no longer live in a world cut off by the tragedy of others because all of us know exactly what is going on and it reaches into our sense of well-being to tug at our moral compass and ask — why?

That is the question that has plagued people since time began, and the only path to finding any kind of resolution is to understand how completely capable we are of doing our part to alleviate the suffering of others to the best of our ability as a human race. In the grand scheme of things, this will all work itself out, but in the wake of the destruction, people will be affected and we will all be forced to contemplate the fragile nature of our existence and livelihood.

The dog days are here and will continue for a while, but let’s remember who we are and do everything we can to make the lives of those affected by tragedy better, or at least, a place where people know that we care. It’s what makes this life and our purpose worthwhile.

Be a difference-maker as we slide into fall and remember those whose lives have been impacted by doing whatever you can to responsibly, individually or corporately shine a light of compassion on those who are going through tough times.