Several major fires are enveloping LA, notably one raging in the western Pacific Palisades and another in the eastern mountains above Pasadena. “Record-breaking wildfires are becoming more frequent, and the current California wildfires are especially alarming, occurring outside the usual fire season – May to October,” says Dr Chris Mays, an expert in wildfires, based at University College Cork. Lack of acknowledgment of even the possibility that climate was a critical factor in igniting these catastrophic fires stands out. That is why the climate mantra of “every tenth of a degree of temperature reduction matters” is so often repeated. Its collapse due in the main from climate change, strange as it seems, would led to a much harsher climate for those living in northwestern Europe.

Source: The Irish Times January 10, 2025 23:48 UTC