The mean global temperature rIse in 2024 of 1.5C was right on the margin of what scientists consider the danger zone of irreversibility. The tinder dry Palisades and the fire have been one consequence.
Covering an area from Malibu to Santa Monica on the coast, it burned a reported 23,713 acres inland. It ended up with 5000 structures having been damaged or destroyed.
The Eaton fire alongside started on the same day. It burned 14,117 acres in the Altadena area and early assessments point to over 7,000 structures affected. Aerial photos show little else but charred remains of homes with an occasional miracle of a whole building untouched, probably the vagaries of changing wind direction.
In terms of casualties, the Eaton fire has been the fifth deadliest and the Palisades fire tied for 14th since record-keeping began in 1933. Looking at the bare landscape in the wake of the fires one’s heart goes out to the survivors returning to what was once a choice neighborhood. Worse still, burning cars, plastics and other combustibles have increased toxins in the air.
The incoming president, Donald J Trump, does not believe the earth is warming. He has called global warming a hoax. Forget all the earth scientists who have spent a career studying the planet’s weather and their forecasts, warnings and prescriptions. Forget all that; Trump knows.
But don’t blame him, blame the Democrats. They chose a woman with the highest unfavorability ratings of any candidate in recent memory. True her favorability rating was not too different from Trump but unfavorability is a driver for the opponent’s supporters.
Young men turned to him in historic numbers for the young are affected almost twice as much by unemployment compared to others — those hired last are out first.
Traditional democratic supporters like Latinos also gave Trump a boost. Usually a solid democrat vote, and while a majority still voted against Trump, he managed to peel away significant numbers gaining a 14 percent bump compared to the 2020 election.
He won Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin states that were in the Democrat column in 2020. In Pennsylvania, he won 42 percent of the vote compared to 27 percent in 2020 against Biden. The story was repeated in the others with voters blaming democrats for high prices — the other side of the coin for an economy growing too fast.
So here we are with a new, old president, and by the looks of him perhaps a vengeful one. Heaven help the working classes as he brings forth a golden age with tax cuts, which by their nature are of much greater benefit to the richer amongst us … and at the same time cuts holes in the safety net protecting ordinary people.