The Los Angeles Wildfires Are Climate Disasters Compounded (theguardian.com) 195
Unprecedented January wildfires in Los Angeles signal an emerging pattern of compound climate disasters, as record-breaking Santa Ana winds up to 100 mph combine with the driest start to a winter season in the city's history.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have each burned over 10,000 acres amid drought conditions that climate scientists say are intensified by global warming. The blazes, occurring weeks earlier than historical fire patterns, come just 16 months after Los Angeles experienced its first tropical storm, illustrating what experts describe as increasingly unpredictable weather extremes driven by climate change.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have each burned over 10,000 acres amid drought conditions that climate scientists say are intensified by global warming. The blazes, occurring weeks earlier than historical fire patterns, come just 16 months after Los Angeles experienced its first tropical storm, illustrating what experts describe as increasingly unpredictable weather extremes driven by climate change.
So (Score:5, Insightful)
Hydrants had no water because climate change. Forest management wasn't done because of climate change. Politicians defunded actual fire fighting capabilities to shift money to fund DEI initiatives within the fire fighting department because of climate change.
Holy fuck, climate change explains everything! Next time I do something wrong and get called out on it, I'll blame climate change too.
Re: So (Score:5, Insightful)
âoeHydrants had no water because of climate changeâ⦠yes⦠thatâ(TM)s right actually. In case you hadnâ(TM)t noticed, California is having an unprecedented drought. That literally is why there isnâ(TM)t enough water.
That said, more water wouldnâ(TM)t have made a blind bit of difference. In reality, these very fast spreading fires that are whipped up by strong winds⦠you donâ(TM)t fight them. Thereâ(TM)s literally nothing that can be done to stop one of these fires once itâ(TM)s going. No amount of water that could be pumped by fire fighters would have helped.
Re: So (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: So (Score:4, Funny)
Re: So (Score:4, Insightful)
Los Angeles isn't anywhere near where California's agriculture is. There's a huge mountain range between here and there.
Re: (Score:2)
Los Angeles isn't anywhere near where California's agriculture is. There's a huge mountain range between here and there.
Maybe a lot has changed since I lived there as a kid, but SoCal had quite a lot of desert agriculture back then. An uncle of mine lived close to a huge chunk of semi-arid land where grapes were grown. Vast fields of it.
Re: So (Score:2)
Desert agriculture is irrigated. Between the irrigated fields/orchards lies ... desert. Where not much (fuel) grows. The perfect firebreak.
Re: So (Score:2)
People are watering their most unproductive crops. Their front and rear lawns.
Re: So (Score:4, Informative)
What crops? I used to walk through orange groves when I was growing up in Southern California. Those are all gone now. The only agriculture in the southern part of the state is out in the Imperial Valley and that's built on depleting resources from the Colorado River. The Irvine Ranch (about 1/16th of the land in Orange County) used to grow lots of things but now it's a giant urban area. No crops.
Re: So (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Yes. It was to save the smelt you see.
Re: So (Score:5, Interesting)
Local officials still refuse to build several reservoirs that voters funded years ago so 2024's record rainfall was drained into the sea.
Rainfall [Re: So] (Score:2)
Local officials still refuse to build several reservoirs that voters funded years ago so 2024's record rainfall was drained into the sea.
What "record rainfall"? 2024 was an average year from precipitation in California.
The climate issue was not due to rainfall, but from near-record summer temperatures drying out the landscape, increasing the percentage of California-Nevada that is Abnormally Dry or in drought from 2% on June 1 to 85% by October 1.
https://www.drought.gov/drough... [drought.gov]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
The answer is, clearing brush has nothing whatsoever to do with rainfall.
Re: (Score:2)
There 2024 did not have record rainfall.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, it was. If the reservoirs taxpayers voted for had been built they would have collected water that otherwise drained into the sea. Are you suggesting that those additional reservoirs would've been empty? No? Then where did that water otherwise go?
Re: So (Score:3)
I'm not familiar with LA County/California law. But in my locality, if you say "private cistern", the public water utilities will sic law enforcement on you. It is completely illegal to bypass the water billing meter for your own use. It is legal (and in some cases required) to install rainwater retention ponds and tanks. The difference being the sacred water meter.
If residents were allowed to store rainwater on site and use it to keep landscaping irrigated during dry spells, or use it for firefighting, wi
Re: (Score:3)
Perhaps, but diseases transmitted by mosquitoes could increase. It could also make the land even drier because the water is collected rather than being allowed to run off and soak the surrounding land. I'm actually not against rainwater collection but I think it's important to think about all of the potential downsides before allowin
Re: So (Score:5, Informative)
The water catchment infrastructure you speak of was already approved by voters and funded years ago. Activist groups have so far prohibited their construction by paying off the local pols.
Destroying water catchment (Score:5, Informative)
The water catchment infrastructure you speak of was already approved by voters and funded years ago. Activist groups have so far prohibited their construction by paying off the local pols.
And existing catchment infrastructure was destroyed under the guise of dam removal. Also a payoff to local pols.
Re: (Score:2)
That's precisely where most the water went. We need to be building more water catchment infrastructure but instead we're talking about reparations and paying for undocumented migrant's every need.
Sad how such a beautiful state can be so mismanaged.
It's what a majority of Californians voted for. One recalls H.L. Mencken's quip that "people should get what they voted for, good and hard".
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
17 million bucks buys a lot of water.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: So (Score:2)
The $17M was CUT from LAFD annual budget by the mayor that couldn't even cut her trip to Africa short when the fires started burning her city. Priorities.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Umm, the hydrants have run dry in the Palisades because it's a very hilly, windy canyon like area. They built a water system there that was for support the rich folk mansions but the water system they designed was never meant to support massive firefighting efforts. The reservoirs (three, one million gallon tanks) depleted faster then they could refill by the pump system.
Cutting the firefighting budget was obviously shortsighted and unfortunately that choice was made by our elected officials at both city an
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Your insurance market was already dead since California outlawed insurance rates based on projections. With California weather returning to its extremely arid norm after the very abnormally wet late 19th and 20th centuries, this means more fires, especially since they refuse to do regular controlled burns, brush pruning, and power line maintenance.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: So (Score:2)
So rich homeowners in the hills surrounding LA don't deserve adequate water pressure in their fire hydrants because of hills? Uhm, seems to me the answer is to store water on the high ground so it can provide adequate pressure to all the houses below.
Cutting the LAFD budget while insurers are refusing to write new/renew homeowner policies DUE TO STATED CONERNS about impending wildfires is simply non-sensical.
De-prioritizing performance to diversify the LAFD may make some members of certain under-represented
Re: (Score:2)
California should change their state motto to: "Who could have predicted this?"
Re: So (Score:5, Insightful)
The State and City governments have known that this would happen for decades and did nothing about it. At every opportunity they decided to make the problem worse.
Re: So (Score:4, Interesting)
They refused to investigate the claims insurance companies made as they explained their exit from the California insurance market over the past few years: "the threat of massive wildfires with catastrophic damages AND the inability to charge their customers premiums commensurate with the risk their properties faced" instead, the politicians puffed up their chest and said they fought to keep home owners insurance policies affordable, and who needs those greedy insurance companies that wanted to raise your premiums!
Now, incapable of accepting responsibility for their actions, they fall back on "climate change" as the reason... I don't think that's going to 'stick'
Re: (Score:3)
Seriously, read "Cadillac Desert" [wikipedia.org]
Southern California, specifically the LA Basin is unsustainable for the given population and sprawl.
Drought causing this? (Score:4, Informative)
...California is having an unprecedented drought.
The major drought I think you're eluding to ended a few years ago and while large parts of Southern California (as in not the whole state as you said) are having a fairly small one right now https://www.drought.gov/states... [drought.gov] it is not even remotely "unprecedented". We get droughts all the time in California and so far, by our standards, what So Cal is experiencing for drought is small and pretty normal right now.
It should also be said that such a relatively mild drought like So Cal is experiencing right now should not even remotely be causing these water shortages at hydrants that they are getting as that region gets FAR worse droughts than what they are getting now. There's obviously something wrong with LA's water infrastructure if these problems are wide spread.
Please note, I'm not at all saying global warming didnt have a hand in creating these fires. I'm just saying your comments about drought in California were not correct in several ways.
Re:Drought causing this? (Score:4, Interesting)
It should be noted that the later 19th and the entirety of the 20th century were EXTREMELY wet by California geological standards. Indeed, of the last 10 millennia, 3/4s or so of that were spent in conditions of extreme drought. California's natural state is one of megadrought.
Re: Drought causing this? (Score:2)
Fifty years ago I lived in CA, and we were told to shower with a bucket to capture water to use in the garden/flush the toilet, and put a brick in the toilet tank to cut water usage.
You don't stop them, you prevent them (Score:2)
The fuel can either burn in small controlled burns or it can accumulate and burn in these massive wild fires. The small controlled burns actually more closely emulate nature. Creating a patchwork or area with varying amounts of fuel, the recently burned areas created natural fire breaks.
Re: (Score:2)
I read they went through that water faster then normal because those 3 million gallons wasn't meant for massive firefighting. Of course, if everyone turned on their hoses to try fighting the fire themselves, this also reduces the pressure in the system as a whole. This is a very hilly areas.
None of this really surprises me. For the Palisades, you'll need helicopters and air tankers to really put this fire out. Luckily, the Navy and other states are sending equipment and personnel, so hopefully we can get th
Re: So (Score:3, Insightful)
You understand Los Angeles/California has a forest fire season, right? Planning a firefighting infrastructure that crumbles when there are 4 simultaneous house fire is, at the least, near-criminal mis-management.
Re: (Score:2)
outside of California we call that tinder
I don't live in California but I have always referred to brush as brush. It is "tinder"only when I was using it to start a campfire. But its pretty clear that many of those expensive homes were not designed with wildfire protection in mind and they did not have safe zones around them cleared of flammables. I don't know whose "fault" that is but clearly wild fire has become a larger and more frequent threat.
There is no evidence we are going to do anything about climate change that will ever reduce that thr
Re: So (Score:4, Informative)
> Politicians defunded actual fire fighting capabilities to shift money to fund DEI initiatives
If you dig deeper you will find the money went o more oil drilling, not DEI.
It is interesting to see how Americans just flat out refuse to let go of the concept of race, choosing instead to embrace fascism, racism and a much bigger poverty gap over freedom, equality and Brotherhood.
So... Congratulations, you just voted to make the land of the free the land of the sheep. Hope you are happy ðY(TM)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
If you dig deeper you will find the money went o more oil drilling, not DEI.
Do you have a source for this? Because according to the LA City Controller, the LA Mayor's budget did remove $17.6million from the LAFD budget. There's no mention of anything related to 'more oil drilling'.
Links to the official City of Los Angeles budget summaries can be found in this article [krem.com], showing LA reduced the LAFD budget and increased funding for LAPD's budget as well homeless initiatives.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Greed and an inability to handle stats to do rational risk/reward assessments. The lack of empathy is cultural.
When everyone thinks they could get rich if those 'other' people weren't holding them back, when they don't understand the odds... You get poor people defending billionaires and hating scapegoats.
It's perfectly normal behavior for social primates, and it can be overcome with education... If you can get them to accept and value the education. The resulting improvements are fragile, though, as any
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, the GOP are racists. So are the Democrats. Any time you have a program designed for a group of people based on their race, that's racism. DEI is actually racists. Admissions and hiring quotas based on race are, wait for it....RACISTS.
So it sounds like we have a lot of racists politicians.
Maybe we should stop letting big business treat us all like indentured servants. Pretty sure, the poorer you are, the bigger impact that has. So really, by allowing American Corporatism to thrive (which is 100% both pa
Re: So (Score:2)
Politicians defunded actual fire fighting capabilities to shift money to fund DEI initiatives
If you dig deeper you will find the money went o more oil drilling, not DEI.
Are you really trying to say that LA County spent $17M it took from the LAFD to run LA County Oil Drills? Is LA County in the oil business?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:So (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: So (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe clear the tender out of the forests?
Maybe let insurance companies charge rates commensurate to the risk they assume doing business in the state?
Maybe take a moment to ask yourself "Why?" Insurance companies are refusing to renew policies in California?
Maybe not cut the LAFD budget to fund NGOs that defend and protect the homeless camping out in tinder-full forests cooking over open camp fires?
Maybe prioritize citizens over protecting a smelt fish?
Or, just throw up your hands, blame climate change & republicans, and send everyone a $750 check to help them in this troubling time.
The residents of Palisades and other California communities are looking at the former residents of Lahaina, the victims in Asheville, and are scared at the level of help and support they can expect from the current administration.
Why insurance companies are refusing to renew (Score:2)
Maybe take a moment to ask yourself "Why?" Insurance companies are refusing to renew policies in California?
OK. Here's why: https://www.universityofcalifo... [university...fornia.edu]
Re:So (Score:4, Insightful)
No, the place is on fire because of climate change. The fact you can't do anything about it is your own idiots fault.
Oh for fucks sakes. It's an overbuilt area on semi-arid land that has a water shortage because of bad political choices. Toss in further bad choices about things like lack of controlled burns, add in the Santa Anna Winds, and you have a formula for mass fires. Fires are going to happen. These fires are a result of human mismanagement, not because Gaia is angry that we still drive cars and use plastics.
Re: So (Score:3)
Climate was one, but not the only, factor [Re:So] (Score:5, Informative)
An exceptionally hot summer and fall dried the landscape out, and unusually strong Santa Ana winds swept the fires faster than they could be controlled.
Yes, Santa Ana winds are not something new. But this season's Santa Ana winds were 75 mph, with some gusts up to 100 mph. The Santa Ana wind is more typically like 40 mph.
https://www.nbcnews.com/weathe... [nbcnews.com]
https://insideclimatenews.org/... [insideclimatenews.org]
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/s... [cbsnews.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they should have bought another private jet or something. That would have fixed everything.
Re: (Score:2)
You made several statements. Now back them with facts.
Fake news (Score:5, Informative)
Politicians defunded actual fire fighting capabilities to shift money to fund DEI initiatives within the fire fighting department because of climate change.
This is an example of how news can be slanted by journalists (mostly from the right, this time).
The LA firefighter department came in under budget last year; meaning, they had money left over at the end of the year. The next annual budget decreased the LAFD amount by the amount they came in under budget.
But the right-wing media spins it as "reduced the budget for firefighters right before the current calamity".
I don't know about the rest of the claims, but this one piece of info is fake news highlighted for its outrage value.
Systemic Problem [Re:Fake news] (Score:5, Insightful)
The LA firefighter department came in under budget last year; meaning, they had money left over at the end of the year. The next annual budget decreased the LAFD amount by the amount they came in under budget.
Ouch. If that's true, it's a good example of a systemic problem with our government.
When the reward for underspending a budget is that your budget gets cut next year, this is exactly the incentive to make sure government managers spend more money.
Re: (Score:3)
The office, season 5, ep 10. The surplus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It works like that almost everywhere, not only in govt. I know my corporation does it too.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
And since when does a government agency end the year without spending any surplus they may have? Was the surplus the result of firing firefighters?
Compounded [Re:So] (Score:2)
The climate-related factors are historically low rainfall and unusually fast Santa Ana winds.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
We always hear about cutting government waste, right up until someone does, and then it's "WHY DID THEY CUT THAT MONEY THEY DIDN'T SPEND?!? THEY NEED IT NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN DUE TO UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS!!1"
So which is it? Should we be cutting government spending where there is identified surplus, or leaving unused budget there "in case" something that may not happen, happens?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And if they can convince everyone it's a result of climate change, then it implicitly becomes the fault of the GOP.
Re: (Score:2)
LA's mayor also just cut the fire-fighting budget by $17 million because of climate change.
Re: (Score:3)
Also LA sent equipment and fire trucks to Ukraine (because of climate change).
Not because Ukraine is at war?
Re: (Score:2)
This was surplus equipment. Stuff they were upgrading and replacing.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Please explain how a few more fire trucks would effect containment when they're dealing with 100mph wind gusts blowing embers right over your trucks.
Re: So (Score:2)
Explain to me how LESS equipment is better when fighting a fire like this?
The equipment is to fight fires, not prevent fires.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't expect you to stop trying but the whole "The things you are observing with your own eyes in real time are all lies" bit isn't going to work this time.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
and the hurricanes occurred in red states, in the very 'hood of the MAGA elite, Florida.
The states that do believe in climate change were spared.
Your point?
Really? Climate? (Score:5, Interesting)
They didn't fill the resovoirs
The cut $17 million from the fire budget
They fired firefighters and are understaffed
The didn't comply with brush clearing
The halted prescribed burns
The let storm water wash out to sea
Yeah... All climate change. Totally nothing we could have done.
Re:Really? Climate? (Score:5, Informative)
I grew up in southern California and we had terrible Santa Ana winds in winter, just like this; mudslides too. I am also old enough to remember the Pacific Palisades always having erosion problems with landslides along the coast and seeing the Angeles Crest and San Bernadino mountains on fire in the 60s. That didn't deter people from moving there by the thousands into the greater LA area every month it seemed like more cars, more congestion, more sprawl, and not planned. Of course that will damage the environment, less resources, more smog, and more long commutes. Beautiful orchards comprising thousands and thousands of acres were bulldozed for housing tracts because the land became too valuable. All the while stupid politicians who don't recognize the risk of uncontrolled urban development instead focusing on stupid ideals that put the public at risk are the real culprits here. But yes let's blame the climate change boogey man as thousands lose their homes and ignore decades of stupid politicians not doing the hard things that could have prevented a lot of tragedy. Southern California will always be dry, it survives tenuously on long aqueducts supporting a population that couldn't be sustained there naturally but nobody talks about that. It's like the feigned shock when homes and businesses are built in 100-year flood plains and then there's a flood or let's build right up to the edge of the ocean because I'm rich and can afford to build there and suddenly surprise when a storm comes through and wipes out their overbuilt monstrosities. Let's not talk about Imperial Beach being closed for 30 years because Tijuana dumps millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean either. We don't talk about that because it would be "racist" but yes let's blame the climate change boogeyman for that too.
Re:Really? Climate? (Score:4, Informative)
They didn't fill the resovoirs
This is false. One of the areas that burned, The Palisades, has three giant water tanks that supply the water to the area. All three were completely full at the start of the day, as they always are, and are refilled throughout the night. Water was pumping into them 24/7. Due to the fire they were used 4x faster than normal, and so were drained. Then refilled. Then drained again. Then refilled. Etc etc. Now, if you want to ask "Why aren't the hydrants plugged into the wider city water so they don't need refilling?" Then that's a legit question, and the answer probably is "Well, they were made this way 50 years ago, and we haven't had the time/money/need to change that." It would probably take billions, cause a lot of delay, be for a purpose that would be extremely unlikely anyway, and upset a lot of very wealthy and loud NIMBY people, so they didn't.
The cut $17 million from the fire budget
True, but probably not the terrible thing you're obviously trying to make it out to be. First, the fire department came in UNDER BUDGET last year, by that exact amount, so they reduced it by that amount, which by the way, is 2% of the fire department budget. Second, the fire department (and, by the way, there are like 16 different fire departments, probably more, working on this fire. So, "the fire department" is not one entity.) spent $50 million more than their budget last year. "Wait, I thought you said they went under budget!" Yes, both can be true, can I explain how? When there is a disaster like this the fire department (all of them) does everything it can to fight these fires. They bring out all the big guns, all the equipment, spend untold hours of overtime, etc, and when it's an unprecedented disaster like this, state and federal funds often are used to reimburse the costs (As they are everywhere in the country). So, the fire departments do what they have to, and get paid for it. This "reduction" in their budget meant that maybe a couple fire trucks weren't repainted this year and will have to wait until next year. Nothing with fighting the fire.
They fired firefighters and are understaffed
This I can't speak to, but again, there is not one "fire department" on this event, there are firefighters from other states coming in, all over. So there are people, and resources aplenty.
The didn't comply with brush clearing
*Who* didn't comply with *what* brush clearing? You mean they didn't clear-cut the wilderness where all the animals live? Or do you mean the well-manicured lawns of the thousands of houses in the middle of cities had a couple decorative tree branches that were too close to their garage? You don't know what you're talking about and don't know the area.
The halted prescribed burns
We don't do those here. Because there are animals in the wilderness. And we like them and don't want to kill them. And the terrain is too complex. And probably 50 other reasons that you were not paying attention to.
The let storm water wash out to sea
What the hell does this even mean? When it rains we're supposed to prevent every drop from channeling through the thousands of streams and creeks and city drains to the sea? Where it has gone for literally hundreds of thousands of years? How? Also: where would we put all that water? My back yard has flooded 5 times since I've lived here. Am I supposed to build an underground reservoir in my backyard to stop it going to the street? There are places we store water, and they are FAR AWAY from the city. And they do collect everything they can. I don't know what you're thinking here, but it makes no sense.
Yeah... All climate change. Totally nothing we could have done.
Well, when you've had the driest start of winter in 60 years, and strongest winds in living mem
Re: (Score:2)
With terraces and recharge basins [wikipedia.org] to catch stormwater and recharge aquifers. Yes, I think we should do more of that, actually. But as you explained above, that wouldn't have solved the problem of the water tanks being depleted by firefighters faster than they could be refilled. We'll need a new plan for that.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
They didn't fill the resovoirs
Bullshit.There was good rain last year. Many reservoirs were topped off. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resa... [ca.gov]
The cut $17 million from the fire budget
They City of Los Angeles cut Los Angeles Fire Department budget by 2% ($17.6M) just a few months ago. That had no effect on the fire. They could have tripled the budget and that also would have had zero effect on the fire.
They fired firefighters and are understaffed
Every public department is understaffed. No one has the appropriate funding or staffing to fully succeed in their work. Anywhere.
I could find zero evidence of LAFD firing or laying of
Re: (Score:2)
There are over 1,500 reservoirs in California. Two new reservoirs have been approved. (https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/JTF_DamsJTF.pdf)
In 2018, the California Water Commission approved nearly $2 billion to support construction of two new reservoirs—Sites and Temperance Flat—and expansion of two others—Pacheco and Los Vaqueros. But this is only a small share of total funding needed. The US Bureau of Reclamation is also considering raising Shasta Dam. Although these investments would boost California’s reservoir storage by about 9%, annual deliveries would increase by about 1% of annual statewide water used by people and the environment. Improving operations of existing dams and the water grid to maximize groundwater storage is key for managing the hotter droughts and larger floods that climate change is expected to bring.
And if you could magically materialize them to be 100% built and filled on Jan 1, 2025, it would have still have 0.000% impact on the LA fires this week.
Politicians ignored the will of the voters and refuse to build them.
Building a dam today isn't the same as it was in the early 1900s. There are a lot of people out there who DON'T want the reservoir(s). (https://www.dailyjournal.com/article/381140-environmentalists-attempt-to-halt-s
Re: (Score:2)
Doesn't matter. (Score:5, Insightful)
Whether it's due to climate change or not is irrelevant. You still have to:
- fight the fires ... and much, much more. None of this changes one iota based on the root cause.
- clean up the debris
- fix the infrastructure
- deal with the insurance and the inevitable rise in premiums
- rebuild lives
Because the camps are divided and nobody will budge or change behavior, it really does not matter at all why it's happening. You can debate until your dying breathe, you'll still have to deal with the results. The climate will do what it will, and your opinion on it isn't a consideration.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, when you're desperately trying to bail out the boat, it's pointless to blather on about the large hole in the bottom.
Oy (Score:5, Insightful)
Positive feedback (Score:3)
The ingredients for these infernos in the Los Angeles area, near-hurricane strength winds and drought, foretell an emerging era of compound events – simultaneous types of historic weather conditions, happening at unusual times of the year...
The takeaway from this needs to be that we may have succeeded in making AGW the equivalent of a PA system wailing when the microphone gets too close to the speaker. Only in this case, we may not be able to turn off the amp, unplug the mic, or put a foot through the speaker cone.
Warming results in bigger, more-frequent wildfires releasing increasing amounts of greenhouse gases - which in turn results in more warming. We may already be at the point where if we stopped producing greenhouse gases tomorrow, there would still be enough positive feedback "baked into" the climate to keep emissions climbing along with temperatures.
But maybe we're not at that point. Maybe we should make a more concerted, better-coordinated effort to mend our ways. That probably doesn't entail building power-hungry data centres in the service of more crypto-currency scams, social media ad delivery platforms, and so-called "AI". Just a thought...
Where's the Water, Gavin? (Score:5, Informative)
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-t... [pjmedia.com]
We thought it was terrible when Newsom and the previous Democrat tenant of the governor's mansion, Jerry Brown, forsook food and water for people to send millions of acre feet per day of fresh water into the salty ocean, during droughts and rainy days alike, to save a bait fish.
Per NY Times regarding LA County “The bulk of the roughly $1 billion collected from Los Angeles County taxpayers over the past four years to store more water has gone largely unspent.“ $1 billion taken, they dump water then we get placed on water restrictions.
Re: (Score:2)
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown".
Wow. It sounds worse than the 2018 Camp Fire (Score:2)
I heard from the press briefing of this one that the original fire grew exponentially from dozens to hundreds to thousands of acres within just a few tens of minutes because embers were flying absurdly fast.
SoCal from San Diego to Santa Barbara and much of NorCal is going to have to live life a bit differently to ensure survival of life and property:
1) Co
Absolute, utter, climate catastrophist bullshit (Score:2)
Predictable. Every time something bad happens weatherwise, everyone immediately assumes "GLOBAL WARMING".
- the current drought in SoCal is pretty much average for that region: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu... [unl.edu]
- The Santa Ana winds have been a thing in CA FOREVER.*
- the last 2 years have been wet, and this year drier, meaning larger than usual loads of dry brush
- the Los Angeles fire dept was defunded by -$17 million, donated equipment away to Ukraine, suspended 113 firefighters w/o pay over covid, fired 24
Re: climate savings (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
To steelman this as well, many new organizations (NBC, etc) have been reporting on California's horrible forest management since the early 2020s. Berkley University concluded a 20 year study on forest management in 2023 that California continued to ignore due to lack of qualified personnel to do thinning and controlled burns. Not to mention powerline conditions.
Climate change *might* have made conditions drier and windier, but mismanagement *did* cause these fires to be worse
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds right, but it would be helpful to see a source for that statement.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)