Everyone who's lived in SoCal for a long time can tell you that we never used to get Santa Anas at this time of year. We used to get rain at this time of year. I think the scariest thing about the fires is the firestorm of lies that followed them.
Absolutely. When I was a child three decades ago, it rained so much that winter that people drowned in their cars due to flash flooding in the San Fernando Valley, which sounds beyond belief today. The damage was so extensive that the sewer system was redesigned and worked on for years.
@@shmlanda because in the rush to play politics, the commenter missed the point the video made. The extreme rainfall of 2023 caused increased vegetation growth which dried out and provided fuel for the fires. The OP then made the point that rainfall was normal for January, whilst Santa Ana winds are unusual. The commented missed all this and gave a single talking point out of context - exactly the point the video is making.
Hello! The Santa Ana is caused by the extreme cold roaring down from Hudson Bay. It blows hard all the way to Mexico City and Cuba! It makes everyone else very cold while the mountains block this wind blowing southwards causing a sudden downdraft of warm wind in the LA mountains. PS. my family came to LA way back in the gold rush. We founded Pasadena when it was farmland. We had experienced various earthquakes and hot cycles like the 1920s and the cold cycles like 1960s to 1970s. Nearly everyone today in California are 'recent arrivals'. ALL of my family has fled LA and now, all of California!
Fires are down 25% wolrd wide thx to more co2 which makes the trees grow fast and they hold more moisture. The Earth is 5% than 20 years ago thx the climate change and co2 levels are the lowest they have been in 600 million years just google 600 million years co2 chart. Our magnetosphere is 25% weaker and getting weaker 5% every 10 years before it flips polarity.
My childhood house was in NorCal and built of all wood in 1870. It still stands in the Sierra Nevadas. Forest management was always a thing. Controlled burns happened every year. All that stopped.😢
@@turdfurgason8476i just looked up a chart for controlled burns. Theres been more acres controlled burnt every year in the last decade than any time in the past. The chart i saw went back to 1950 but in the 2020's was the highest level. There was a little lower point around 2015 and around 1960-1980 but overall more area is burnt these days than anytime in the past so your comment is just not accurate.
i know this will get buried in the comments. but i wanted to say, because at the moment i can't afford to support you via patreon, how much i value your content. how happy i am to see such data reasoned, clear consise and well expressed videos. while it certainly seems sometimes like nobody cares and we are shouting into the wind, you are there being a bastion for the light in this sometimes dark world. thank you.
In the last 30 years we have constructed a system of communication that is inherently hostile to human survival. It's kinda crazy how we managed to get this donkey up this minaret so far.
@@Argosh Social Media is perfectly formed to serve the needs of the market. It allows people to be sedated and misinformed at the whims of the algorithm while providing a steady flow of advertising to keep the markets functional. It is the perfect method of control for a new era of oligarchy.
@opossumboyo It's funny because you think any of this is intentional. The truly scary thing is that there is no one in control. This is an emergent phenomenon. We do not know the rules. Think about that.
@@Argosh oh no, I agree. “the algorithm” is shorthand for a bunch of programs that are created by people to make money. If some kind of shadow government were pulling the strings, we’d be much better off, because at least then there would be a chance for those people to wisen up.
@@opossumboyo That's the thing. You're wrong. "The algorithm", in as far as there is such a thing, is not purpose built. You're looking at a grown amalgamation of millions of people making decisions with consequences far beyond their imagination and total lack of even basic understanding of reality. I've worked in too many parts of this grand social experiment to be able to ignore that. Take the YT algorithm as an example. It's developed by people using advanced mathematical techniques but at the behest of people that are not mentally equipped to even understand basic mathematical principles. Developer turnover, mismanagement and just normal processes you find in any company then wreaks mayhem on the foundation over decades at this point. The deciders then try and use base statistical analysis to determine whether they made the right decisions, barely a single one of them understands how a question shapes the answer. And then they base their decisions on a predicted future based on flawed data put through flawed processes. And that's ignoring the fact that the algorithm is interacting with an actual social network built of millions of humans. And that's just UA-cam. There is no driver seat. There is no driver cabin. There is no engine room. All of that would imply a degree of organization that is foreign to the reality we created.
we who? This is not about the system of communication has to do with incentives... the system is outside , the system want people to engage people so they keep online not about truth or anything real that would have value but selling their time for the advertising, now it will get worse as who decide are a few bilionaries and what make their capital grow
On fire hydrants running dry, it's apparently fairly common for a house buring down to cause a significant water leak as pipes crack and melt. So, a whole block burning down can cause a huge drop in pressure, either draining the system or necessitating a shutoff upstream. Fire evacuation procedures calls for people to shut off their water at the mains to prevent this. Many don't out of lack of knowledge, panic during leaving, or people thinking leaving with a running sprinkler will somehow save their house.
As far as I understand, it is really difficult to build anything there. They have a complicated code system and costs a lot to build because of that. And still, they have fences made from plastic and highly flammable stuff everywhere. There are other countries and states with better management and code system. Maybe they should start learning... incompetence is a fact there.
@@azbesthuIt is really hard to build there because it is in the hills / mountains. Also, the building codes are strict for good reasons. One of the current debates going on is if the codes requiring more resilience to wildfires should apply to these areas on the edges of LA (they currently don't). Insurance companies might start requiring it wherever or not the government does.
On the reservoir down for maintenance... It is quite close to the source of the Palisades fire, but BELOW where hydrants were losing pressure. So, despite what it looks like on the map, it is pretty much irrelevant.
talking to people about the climate crisis sometimes makes me feel that the problem isnt social media... maybe the root of the issue is education , so many people just dont have the critical thinking skills, and at a certain age most people just tend to think they already know everything, so its hard to change their mind no matter what you say.
@@alexandermalinowski4277Opening people to their ideas beings challenged is… indoctrination? Did you read what you replied to? Did you read what you wrote?
Climate change is baked in now for the rest of the century and remains global in scope. If you want to appeal to these people, you must address the small hurdles first! Trying to get them to support climate change initiatives is like trying to get a degrowth advocate to support terraforming Mars.
Why is no one mentioning the 10’s of thousands of EV’s? An EV can easily burn down an entire house. In fact spraying water on a battery fire makes it worse, the only thing you can do is let it burn, which is what they did.
Observed data: *this water year (started Oct 2024) is the driest start on record.* Many areas around LA have had no rain so far, or if any rain less than a sixth of an inch over 3 months.
My laptop has been sitting on my balcony for months. Every once in a while I check to make sure no rain is forecast for ten more days. Maybe I should bring it inside so it can rain in Orange County, California again. (Is this all my fault?)
@@jchastain789 That was the _last_ rainy season. And it was that heavy rain which caused so much vegetation to grow, which because it is now dry is easily kindled.
I really appreciate this, thank you for having an actually informed approach. I live two miles from the Eaton fire burn zone and most takes about this fire have been horribly stupid, especially from outside the region. The number of people I've seen say some variation of "clear dead trees" is insane considering it would take approximately 10 seconds to figure out that the areas that burned largely did not have forests, and that's honestly one of the less stupid takes nationwide. I think people are looking for someone to blame, but this was a perfect storm of a ridiculously strong wind event that happens every 14-15 years like clockwork and a ridiculously late start to our rainy season (still no significant rain since last May when we normally should have had the first big storm by November). If the wind had happened a year ago when we had above average rainfall, there's no way this would have played out the same. I would just add that the Eaton fire mostly burned working class neighborhoods, people who were definitely not rich or celebrities, and a lot of buildings that were built a long time ago by California standards. Altadena isn't a recently built place, and most of what burned was so far into the city / far from the flammable brush that few of us here would have imagined they could have burned together like this.
yeah, having 100s of firetrucks out of service, emptying a 13 million gallon reservoir, not hiring "white men", cutting the budget, redirecting water into the pacific, not clearing the scrub, no fire breaks... all insoluble problems.
Fires are down 25% wolrd wide thx to more co2 which makes the trees grow fast and they hold more moisture. The Earth is 5% than 20 years ago thx the climate change and co2 levels are the lowest they have been in 600 million years just google 600 million years co2 chart. Our magnetosphere is 25% weaker and getting weaker 5% every 10 years before it flips polarity.
"clear dead trees" is not a stupid take, btw. Yes the fires are exacerbated by the lack of rains & unusually fast dry winds, there is no denying that. Controlled burn practice are widely established and frequently undertaken to control and contain wild fires, it may not be super relevant in all of SoCal fires, but part of it can be managed by these. This is in no way saying that controlled burns are the only way or Cali failed at it. We need to understand how it can be implemented to reduce wild fire impacts.
Use cement for homes too, it's standard in Certain countries Yes it's uglier but less maintenance on wood Think of the higher cost as a one time payment of permanent insect/fire insurance Expensive yes, Cheaper in long-run (Centuries)
100%. They always happen in October, sometimes September or November. You can't convince me that these winds happening in January is not due to climate change.
We get them in December - San Marcos was ablaze the year after Bonsall was. Many million-dollar race horses burned alive where they are stabled just south of Bonsall. In 1974, I got married Jan 19th - reception was outdoors.
Same, I was a kid when the Cedar Fires happened and got close to us, and remember the fall 2007 fires. We got some of the Santa Ana winds that week, but it's so weird to be this strong in January
The differential between the super cold weather the rest of North America is suffering from and California having warm air circulating over the Pacific Ocean creates this huge downdraft in the mountains. Go to Vendusky weather online to see how the ocean wind and water temperatures interact with California's landscape.
Thanks for the detailed analysis! I use this analogy. You're dining out with friends. You drank a little, but you feel well and you decide to drive home as usual. It's raining, the road is narrow and winding. The lights of the incoming cars reflect on the wet asphalt making it difficult to see the road. A car does not switch off the full beam. You only see a turn at the last minute, you swerve, but you badly scratch the car on the guard rail. Was it the rain, the headlights, that additional glass of wine? Difficult to say, but alcohol statistically increases the risk of accidents.
In California specifically, there is a massive problem with electrical infrastructure maintenance. Nobody is talking about that. I don’t understand it.
Massive problems require massive solutions. It’s possible to dig tunnels through hard rock without the use of chemical explosives, jackhammers, or lubricants. It’s been done with a megawatt-class plasma-heated air gun which reaches thousand of degrees. It’s much faster, cheaper, and more energy efficient than using mechanical drill bits or explosives. The main company working on it is EarthGrid PBC out of Richmond, California.
In 2009 in Australia the terrible black Saturday fires (yes we name our tragedies) at least 2 of the fires were sparked by power lines sparking in wild winds . And our infrastructure in that area is not as old as LA’s maybe 70 yo if that. But when things aren’t maintained/inspected there are issues. Just like LA we had a long running drought for years in the lead up then bad infrastructure and very high winds very low humidity . Very similar to what happened in LA plus we have eucalyptus trees all over here they are full of oil and burn just like petrol! ⛽️ we lost 173 lives awful; people trapped trying to flee and 8000 homes were razed not to mention all our beloved animals that couldn’t flee quick enough!! Fire 🔥 is very unforgiving and horrible to witness.
Socal resident since 1975 here. It's 90% mismanagement and 10% other factors. We've never cleared less brush or did fewer controlled burns after wet years. In socal 50% of all firefighting resources go to extinguish homeless fires despite spending tens of billions at the homeless problem. That leaves 50% for everyone and everything else. In norcal, it's a power grid that's over a century old, along with the failure to clear brush under it. The Santa Ynez reservoir was empty for 11 months because of a damaged cover, meaning it's still usable as a reservoir. We have equipment to lift sea water to shore to augment water supplies but we have never practiced it's use. Californians passed Prop 1 for infrastructure improvements in 2014, but not a single new reservoir has been built and the norcal grid just as bad as it's ever been.
Leftists believe it is too hot. Us conservatives who don't live in the little ocean coast California hot strip, know it is very cold. 90% of America and Canada are literally freezing right now.
And yet not one word about the Israeli billionaires who wrecked virgin lands to grow pistachios and in turn dropped aquifers and planted a crop that is highly unsuited to the habitat but also as flammable as damn eucalyptus, oh and Donald Trumps biggest donors and last year donated 125 million to settle the Palestinian West Bank
Great explanation but you forgot one important symptom. It is neglect! I live in California and have seen wild fires over 3 times. The main problems were neglect. Here they ae as follows: The fire department ignored the fires when they first started because they figured that they would go out by themselves. The electric company received funds from the government to maintain over grown trees and to improve electric poles and wires. The electric comoany spent the money on other things. The forest department allowed the forests to over grow because they wanted to please the Sierra Club even though the Indians proved that controlled burns prevent forest fires. California used to do controlled burns and they stopped doing them. Now that they realize that fires are out of control, they are taking care if these problems in my area. But the truth is that other areas in California are still neglecting the above probblems.
Fire trucks are better than 1970 by far, the new trucks easily offset mild higher risk from climate change. That fires got loose this year was simple incompetence. We have warm and dry 1930s too, and men with shovels kept LA safe...
I don't think he forgot it - the video is specifically talking about how many simplistic talking points detract from a whole view of the situation. Controlled burning is a good idea to manage fire risk, but is made much harder by hotter, drier climate, longer fire seasons and increased building in fire risk areas. How does one perform a controlled burn in a neighbourhood of high value homes? There is some evidence that electrical equipment in California is in considerable need of upgrade, however it is not the only factor here.
@@mostlyguesses8385 I would suggest that LA in 1930 had significantly less urban sprawl than it does in 2025. The Matilija fire was one of the largest wildfires on record, but did very little property damage. I would think it too early and therefore unfair to claim that this years fire spread was due to incompetence without a proper evaluation of the evidence. In fact, the video above shows (5:17) how certain talking points have been pushed politically to make this claim without proper context.
1. With wonderful modern fire trucks the fire should have been controlled. 2. California literally has 4x more income than 1940, can afford 4x more firetrucks and staff. 3. The length of line between city and forest has been pretty constant since 1940, but gdp of Cali is up 10x, it truly should have 100 fire trucks per mile sitting there, but they didnt. Here in MN if govt lacks enough snow plows we don't let Governor blame the weather..
Here in Houston after 5 days without power after hurricane we know not burying power lines is governor's dumbness... , we don't blame climate change 100x times and moan how misinformation is bad so don't judge the polticians. All the harm is 90% the fault of dumb politicians, end of story, bury and buy more equipment, end of story
Thanks for the breakdown, Simon. A substantial issue regarding communication about climate change for me was always how isolated of a topic it was viewed as compared to other societal issues. I always felt it had a kind of separate social umbrella compared to something like the economy.
really? Compared to "the economy"? I do understand the sentiment that climate change feels to abstract to grasp. But taking the economy - a pretty undefined term that is used for everything and nothing - as an example for somehing on the other site of the scale ist really mind baffling for me. How often did I hear "we have to do x, because "the economy!", and then days later somebody telling the opposite because again "the economy!"? And after that we do something completely different and "the economy" does the same it always does: Pumping wealth from the poor to the rich. And that is apparently fine, because - "The economy!".
You made very carefuly worded scientifically backed statements. Your opponents will make vague generalisation that appeal to confirmation bias, and you will appear to lack confidence and certainty by comparison.
Something can be made worse by climate change or made more likely by climate change without that literally being the whole story with no other factors. How hard is this to get for some people?
It takes humility to accept that we probably won’t fix our impact on the climate and that the only viable course of action is to simply adapt to whatever changes the climate throws at us.
@@andrewkuebler4335 some day everything will be dead, accelerationists are not giving up, just making it happen sooner. to give up you need to have to have worked to stop it.
@@andrewkuebler4335 2024 was the highest crude oil production year in history and co2 will still rise for the next 15 years at minimum. Even if every on the planet would be changed to consume green energy - that would not decrease co2. Multiple negative feedbacks will increase that. therefore 2024 will still be comparable nice compared to everything that comes after. And that is the prospect for normal behaviour with honoering climate agreements. Trump just started his term with "bill baby drill" .... At some point in your life you have to be realistic. What goods is it to live in an area that has wildfires for decades if you know that this is going to get worse?
@@ChrisSugdinis Yep. I lost my home in Palisades. It took them 45 minutes from the first 911 call before any firefighters arrived. And I lived right around the corner from a fire-station. The fire-station was fine, no damage. We had roughly 2% of the water we were supposed to have. They say the winds were too severe and water wouldn’t have made a difference, yet there are many stories of homeowners saving their property using pool water and hoses. Not to mention Palisades has the highest density of Teslas in LA. Lithium fires take 10x’s as much water to put out. The reason I can’t return to my home still is due to toxic chemical contamination from the lithium batteries.
@@mongoliansongs1273100%! I have friends who used to be firefighters and left due to corruption from the top down. They have a saying “if the ground is black our pockets are green.” Which means the more land that burns, the bigger their budget for next year
But do you think that forestry management can be improved when so many houses are built in amongst the forest? Do you think controlled burns can be carried out safely in drier, more fire prone conditions. I'm not arguing against controlled burns btw, just wondering if they are still possible given the urban sprawl and tendency of certain people to want to live in amongst the trees.
One issue with trying to talk about the inevitable insurance crisis is that people are quite keen to blame the insurance companies for not insuring tinderboxes in California and future driftwood in Florida but not so interested in blaming the people and companies who build the things in the first place.
The homes are made d century and older. Any burning like what we see is incompetence. When I lived in pallisades I never understood why it didn’t just go up in flames. Why are we less apt in 2025 than 2075
Also, 40% of Americans believe that the earth is ~6,000 years old and there was a global flood. They will reject every trace of science that refutes this, which means they have been practiced and conditioned in being unconvinced by facts.
In my opinion it was a "perfect storm" of conditions. And Global Warming is increasing the chance of perfect storms. Anecdotally I heard that it was the first time many of those neighbourhoods were affected by fire and they are by no means new neighbourhoods; this implies something has changed.
The 'rapid plant growth' that occurs after drought, followed by heavy rain, is mostly Seasonal weeds, that need to be managed when they die. They build soil quality short term, and must not be killed using herbicide. Only long term fix for these areas is building resiliant environment, that can tolerate ups and downs of seasons, and hold water and fertility.
"A week before the fires, Los Angeles Mayor Bass demanded the L.A. Fire Department make an extra $49 million of budget cuts and mandated closing at least 16 fire stations, a leaked memo revealed."
He talked at length but didn't say much. He blamed social media for how details of the fires were misreported. The budget was cut and later increased, but I came too late to repair the fire trucks in the repair depots and whether the additional equipment could've made a difference is all speculation like this video.
@@diemes5463he provided great points, such as social media making it easier to spread out of context information and allow people to base entire arguments on false assumptions. Is that a waste? Do you disagree politically with him?
I have a saying: > If someone tries to answer a complex question with a simple answer instead of "sometimes", "maybe", "it's complicated" or "it depends", then it's a bad answer.
@@jamesn0vawhile you are right, can you fault anyone all that much for leaving if they have the means to? I certainly cannot even though I am forced to stay and deal with the state of the US bc I can’t afford to leave
@@jamesn0va OP isn't talking about abandoning the country, they're giving sound survival advice. These disasters are going to get more frequent and worse, it's best you have a supply of food, water, and essentials to grab before you evacuate.
@@unduloid Any where safe. For instance to high ground in a flood or a place not on fire if it's a wildfire. I'm not suggesting radical moves here, just getting out of immediate danger. I'm sure FEMA has a checklist you can use for these things.
Excellent video Simon🎉 Loved the statistical analysis included here! I’m also conducting a fire extent and burned area mapping project with a team and plan to release a video soon on it.
I consider this poly crisis of extreme weather. Super abundant rainfall, leading to dense vegetation, followed by a drought and maybe what could be called a flash drought. Climate change built the matchbox and tinder. Santa Ana winds blew it into a fire storm. The cycle of heavy rain, intense brush growth followed by extreme fire hazard conditions is the new normal.
that's what we're all seeing in used-to-be temperate climate zones even here in Europe: extremization of weather events. Problem is all news, social, and average folks take away from it is "hey look how cold and rainy it is today!!! check mate science buff!! lololol"
I know someone who works quite high up in insurance & his climate research & advice to not insure many areas earned him 23 million a couple of years ago, I suspect he's going to receive a much bigger bonus every time we have another disaster like this. All of the big money is working against us these days!
It's madness to insure flammable structures in a high fire-risk zone. Moving forward, we will need those structures to be built to resist fire. That technology exists, and has for years. It is not magic. It's not even difficult. Pulling someone's coverage without warning, if that's actually what happened, is pretty evil.
The reason social media algorithms favor simplistic narratives is the fact that most people on social media are desperately searching for simplistic narratives. Any suggestion that reality is complex gives them the vapors, or worse. This is the basis of the appeal of populism. It is also why democracies are very unlikely to focus on the climate crisis before it is already far too late.
It definitely shines a light on how little faith and trust we have in our government to prevent, react to, and inform us about disasters. Citizens feel that the government is more likely to work against us and cover up failures than actually help (just ask the Helene survivors in TN & NC).
Thank you for saying this. In my country Iran, there was a flood that killed dozens of people. The politicians blamed climate change but they ignore that they permitted building homes in the path of river that was dried due climate and damming.
He is making me realize why I constantly have these long exacerbated social media comments to stuff people post, I’m fighting a structure that prioritize propoganda over complex narratives. Like decentralization is neccesary, and we can do both while preventing oligarchy owned media from dominating everything
Heres a good idea. Cover your roofs not with slates or ceramic tiles which dont burn themselves...but with bitumin based shingles highly flammable and the walls with what made the `London Grenfell fire burn so hot and tragically.
Finally some responsible content and researched perspective! We need more of it. I live in Southern California and the misinformation, false narratives and untruths are more rampant than the fires themselves. Thank you for sharing logic over ignorance and politics.
The whole section about climate denialists pointing at some local factor to distract from the role of climate change in a natural disaster is so true. When the flooding in Spain happened, immediately the talking point came out about people illegally building/dumping in a major riverbed, clogging it up and alleging that this was why the flooding was so bad, rather than the *literally unprecedented* rainfall.
The relevant local factors can turn around in days or months - at most a few years. Climate change will continue to get worse for a few decades and will trend back to “normal” after most of us die due to old age. It’s hardly surprising that people are more passionate about reforming something that can turn around in less time than one election cycle.
@@AmericatheBeautiful-p4z you are Missing the point (again? ) For information, cold fronts, the polar vortex and snow are not evidence that climate change is not happening. In fact, the evidence suggests that the amplification of climate change in the Arctic will lead to more extreme rainfall in Europe. There is substantial evidence the rainfall in Spain was exacerbated by climate change.
How about talking about the neighborhoods that the fires stopped dead at. These were fire hardened neighborhoods. These are not barren areas with high cost fire proofing. Really these are neighborhoods where fire is thought of and things are done ensure that fire does not have an ablity to take hold. Most of the stuff is common sense. No wood fences up to the houses, enclosed eves, roof vents screened, fire proof roofs & siding, tempered windows with heat blocking treatments, of course defense able areas around the houses, vegetation control and other simple things. These places do have plants and landscaping but stuff that is fire resistant. Cost of all this prep? Less that 3% the cost of the housing. Can working class neighborhoods do this or even single homes yes. Simply matter of thinging of the issue and make changes as time goes on to fire harden the home. What is needed is education and enforcement of codes. The neighborhoods and homes that did this survived.
Making a house or neighbourhood ready for fire is like making it ready for disabled people. Cheap if done at the design stage .. progressively more expensive the longer you don't think about it.
@tealkerberus748 I kind of disagree that fire hardening in older homes is prohibitively expensive. I saw a house survive an inferno in Santa Barbara California that an owner hardened an older house. While everybody else was letting the bushes grow all woodsy this guy kept the bushes back and planted succulents. He did enclose his eves and put in double pane windows. He did have some trees that were types that don't like to burn. The roof vents were screened. Like the guy knew a fire was coming which everyone in that area should have known too. The fire that came through was so intense that houses had super heated air enter through broken windows, heat that caused the interior to volatilize, causing explosions that blew the houses up like gas explosions. There was the guy, after, in front of his house with singed trees and devastation all around him checking things out. A few broken outer windows, wilted succulents, some singed paint but not much more. His house was built in the sixties and he simply kept it up over the years with the idea that a fire was coming. Really I don't think the guy spent any more than other people in the neighborhood on maintaining their homes. Really, even in older houses fire hardening is not expensive. What is needed is thinking that a fire is coming and it needs to be prepared for
While Santa Ana wind events are nothing new in California, I certainly don’t recall any this intense happening in January. I’d be very interested in seeing if extreme wind events like this in California are happening across more of the calendar year as the climate warms. The Santa Ana’s aren’t even driven by weather in coastal California - they’re mainly caused by dropping temperatures up in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin hundreds of miles to the northeast of California. The air gets denser as it cools and it tries to fall to lower elevations. This sends it rushing toward California and the Pacific. The air warms up as the pressure increases at lower elevations, creating a hot dry wind. This normally happens in the early fall as temperatures plummet in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin. I suspect climate change is keeping them warmer later into the fall and even thru the start of winter, making things like the Santa Ana’s happen in the middle of calendar winter now.
They cannot stop a Santa Ana firestorm; it's more about poor development planning, so, blame the original city planners who though it was a good idea to put millions of people under Santa Ana winds in the most fire prone region in the world. This fire spread by embers and radiant heat from home to home as largely homes and buildings are separated by only 5'- to -10'. Once the fire reached the first homes it only took 2 hrs. to travel halfway through to Palisades communities. With 80 Mph. winds embers and flames move at the speed of freeway travel.
It took me looking at the aerial photos for about ten minutes to realize that those houses were so close together, with trees and bushes squished between them, narrow streets, no defensible space no firebreaks no safety zones ANYWHERE -NO WONDER this happened! Amazing this hadn’t happened LONG before now. Your comment is the first one I’ve seen ANYWHERE noting this. 🤷♀️
The funny thing about the internet is that it facilitates basically unlimited data collection and sharing. So the capacity for nuanced and complicated idea sharing is there (as this video demonstrates. But also many sites where research papers are shared demonstrate). Not choosing to use that capability is IMHO a cultural issue or maybe even a societal issue.
One part in my opinion is that top down structures require complexity reduction to function effectively. We live in top down dominated world right now, so no wonder oversimplified ideas get a push. Lets change that!
How do you burn chaparral in the suburbs without burning the occasional house? This is not light grasses. Have you ever used a drip torch in heavy fuels? I have. In forest lands you get an acre or two of slop over and no one cares very much. If two houses are in that acre it’s national news.
I am ao happy to finally watch a video that doeant immediately launch into an ad for Ground News after mentioning multiple news perspectives 🙈 Props for that lol!
I was thinking the same thing. I felt myself getting twitchy when the graphic of different news sources popped up and then relief when he didn’t launch into a Ground News ad. 😅
The average person has always kind of scoffed at nuance. But the internet these days seem almost to be... offended by it. It's exhausting to live in a society where people actively and aggressively refuse to consider any perspective that doesn't fit the narrative they want it to fit.
Those saying the cause is global warming are trying to get people concerned enough about it to DO SOMETHING about this huge problem. All the other reasons are relatively minor and a lot easier to address with local action.
Such a horrible comment..even if you are critical to the indiference and superficiality or lack of responsability of the rich people , as they were all the same...its so miserable to express content on others tragedy....just miserable. and only to remember, not only rich people loose their homes here !!
The bel-Air fire in LA which occurred in 1961 burned 500 homes, many of which were celebrity homes during the Santa Ana winds. CoCal has experienced high winds and fires before Europeans settled there in the 1500's
The preference given to simplistic narratives is nothing new. When I was a high school student back in 1975 one of my teachers used the phrase "exchanging ignorances" to describe his assessment of conversations between students. We do not need fact checkers as much as we need quality education and non-partisan institutions that are widely trusted because they are responsible and accountable.
Thanks for the video. I'm glad to hear a reasoned explanation for why the short sound bite video format is completely inadequate to address complex issues. Unfortunately it needs agreement from policy makers on both sides not to cynically exploit this new normal for information exchange. I hope wise heads prevail but I'm not hopeful at the moment.
Is it the simplicity of twitter that leads to this bias towards simple answers, or rather is it that lots of people prefer these simple answers, and so choose to use twitter? There’s lots of good books, video essays, and news stories going into great depth on this issue, but lots people are routinely demanding for these simplistic takes. It doesn’t seem like the tech is doing this to us, it seems we are doing this to the tech
The biggest change to human civilization since the invention of fire and agriculture was the invention of the printing press. It changed our interactions, allowed ideas to travel fast, far and wide. As a result - kingdoms fell, societies rose, Science, art, philosophy and the economy got a significant boost, and overall life quality rose (opinion). 30 years ago, the Internet was invented, which made the communication bi-directional, Instead of just a few people writing the printed books, and the rest just reading them - now everyone can write, and read, and respond. The game has stepped up a level, and I don't see why history wouldn't repeat itself once again. I think humanity will be just fine, I just hope I'll get to retire eventually in a nice place after the initial storm passes. So let's keep it well-meaning, open-minded, and as honest as we can (:
Stewart and Lynda Resnick hold me water and water rights (paper water) than all the residents of cali, their pistachio company alone uses more as well. Own the water. Oh dont look into how they are buying up winery's for the water rights not the grapes. And also the aquifers under them. They also own fiji water. Where the locals cant get as much access. Something nobody's speaking of..
Just to be clear, there's no concern for the insurance not having sufficient funds to pay out all of their liabilities. Private insurers are required by CA law to carry enough savings and reinsurance to fully cover their liabilities. The fair plan (the state plan) does not have enough savings +reinsurance but there are provisions for this (private insurers pay up to $1 billion to cover the shortfalls and then policy holders can be assessed a special assessment to cover the rest) not to mention the potential that the state might bail it out before they have to give policy holders an additional bill.
I feel for anyone who lost their home. Homes are so expensive, Yet our country has NO SYSTEM if someone loses their homes. Two things can be true at the same time: 1•Yes It was an extreme weather event and 2 •The city UTTERLY FAILED to prepare their systems. Fire is the #1 threat there so It makes no sense how Los Angeles didn't utilize their resources in a better way to prepare them to fight fires.. The city has to prepare for stuff like this. I Hope we will see them build extensive water pumping systems from the ocean. They could Install water spraying systems onto the individual houses. They could install remote controlled valves so they could control the water pressure. They need to build systems that redirect & collect any rain water that they receive, rather than dumping it back out into the ocean. We need to adapt our systems so they work cohesively with our ecosystem. We should build Desalination plants & We definitely should bring the Beaver's back. Honestly, how are people supposed to recover from a Disaster such as this? We are seeing insurance companies fail us, we are seeing our government fail us. Most people are struggling to afford basic living. Our country is completely unable to handle this kind of stuff. Our country is failing these people. How does our country expect people to rebuild a second house when affording the first house was already a life long achievement.. How can our country keep functioning like this? Our country is in complete denial about the impacts of these disasters. How will our systems continue to function? We have to adapt. We have to.
Personally, I don't think Twitter's word limit on posts helps much, because I think it only increases fragmentation of information and discussions, makes it easier to cherrypick and take out of context. But also, the way most social media is structured means that the stuff that gets a reaction out of people - good or bad - is more likely to get more attention, which leads to sensationalisatin and rage bait... But we could go on. Social media does very little to help inform people - though new outlets also don't help with their biases making it more likely for them to sensationalize, misreport or not report on certain events for the sake of their audience, stakeholders, etc.
This same issue may be happening with the seasons being disrupted here in the Central American isthmus. Wet season lasted 2 months longer this time. I worry dry season will also be lasting longer, resulting in fires that burn down the rain forest. My only hope is that they handle it better here. I also wonder if insurance companies will ironically cause a rush for climate action.
Lack of forest management left the fuel. Political and bureaucratic decisions created the lack of water. Not only with the pivotal reservoir being empty, but also not diverting water from the north for ongoing supply. This all happened with full knowledge of climate concerns. This was overseen by democrats who are climate crisis advocates. This should have prompted them to take the necessary preventive actions. The fact they did not take the necessary actions is direct evidence of their ineptitude. Arson and homeless fires explain much of California's wild fire increases. Even starting from the conclusion that climate change is a major factor, ineptitude, inaction and ideological decision making provided many of the contributing circumstances that allowed the fires to be so destructive. Protecting a fish was more important than water supply. Forest management seems to have been thrown in the "too hard basket". It's almost as though some are happy to induce a disaster in order to provide evidence supporting their ideological and theoretical presumptions. A wet 2023 created more growth that dried out in 2024? Were the relevant authorities aware of this? Yes. Did they do the necessary forest and water management to mitigate the threat? No. And now they can stand back claiming impunity and say "see, climate change, I told you so". Typically in a sanctimonious tone whilst feigning empathy, like Gavin Newscum.
Asphalt shingles(burnable oil product) instead of spanish tile,Vinyl siding(burnable plastic oil by product ,2x3 popsicle stick construction instead of brick/block/stone&mortar in known fire hazard area,no emergency saltwater firefighting systems in place,no dry-hydrants tapped into ocean for oceanfront property,no fixed small buildings with strategic diesel pumps to pump saltwater via non corrosive pipes that couldve fed strategic underground and above ground non corrosive holding tanks that couldve fed the firefighters trucks farther inland,no inmate labor prior to fire to clear underbrush in the dangerzone.The intake pump heads could have been floating or submerged with barriers and screens to protect marine life,debris,and things like LGBQT from getting sucked into the pipes.The financial damage,toxic particulates and smoke was far worse then what the activists,tree huggers,were trying to prevent,gross negligence and ineptitude on a scale of epic proportions to the point one wonders if the inept DEI hires were planted to give property developers the opportunity to build souless mega apartment complexes without paying fair market value.
I think its super valuable to address all the potential factors in any situation. I dont think thats " playing both sides" at all, just that its an unpleasant reality for some people who want something simple to blame.
12:01 "climate change is no longer just an environmental problem it is a looming economic threat" good! then maybe something will finally be done to stop or, at least, slow it
What puzzles me is this: If this "climate change" is looming over us, why doesn't CA step UP the forest management (controlled burns, for example) and step UP the infrastructure for the fire departments? Something is not adding up.
Geoengineering operations are not only completely cutting off precipitation from the US West and destroying the ozone layer globally, the desiccant particulates from the fallout create an incendiary dust that coats foliage and structures.
If you check the historical wildfire information from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention, you will find the largest 20 wildfires by acreage happened in the last 20 years. The largest two each burning about 200,000 acres happened in 2020. In December 2021, the Marshall Fire burned about 1000 homes in 6200 acres in less than 12 hours. This is consistent with hotter and dryer weather caused by CO2 greenhouse gases.
Loved this. Both the deep dive and the subtle irony in recognising the myriad of factors involved in LA's current woes and shallow "dismissal" of social media as a tool to help address the changing climate. Where else could we get such insights from a clearly knowledgeable source without the barriers of mass media filters and dumbing down of the past. Thank you Simon for all your hard work.
Thank you for such a thorough and nuanced explanation of this particular situation and the coverage of natural disasters at large. Your work and efforts are desperately continuously needed! Thank you.
Isn't pragmatic Climate Action: brush removal, water to fight fire, not cutting fire protection budget and hiring people who make fire safety the primary mission?
Former LA fire chiefs testified that every time they saw strong Santa Anna winds they prepositioned additional fire engines and fighters near areas most vulnerable, so if a fire started they could pounce on it right away. This did not happen this fire. Everybody knew exceptionally strong Santa Ana winds, but zero exceptional preparations were made. This is a leadership failure
If a city is built on 10,000 powderkeg, eventually someone will drop the match. The problem isn’t commanding someone to hold the torch away. The problem is the powderkegs
In 2020, LA Department of Water and Power was fined 1.9 million dollars for damage to an endangered shrub (Braunton's milkvetch) while trying to replace utility poles in the Pacific Palisades which were wood, and some dated to the 1930s. When the poles were being replaced, the plan had been also to clear land for a fire road and make fire breaks. This was halted and they were ordered by California Coastal Commission to restore all of the damage which meant no fire road. This is the problem. Many of the homes that burned were over 100 years old in some of the early neighborhoods in LA and survived all those years because homes were valued over plants. Of course, now all of the Braunton's milkvetch burned during the fire and are likely are extinct. All those old wooden utility poles also burned and will finally be replaced. It's not clear if that would have prevented this fire, but these efforts have been halted in LA for decades since plants and wildlife are more important than people and their homes. This isn't climate change. It's idiots thinking "rewilding" should be done in areas that burn. It's rather telling how there's been a lack of fires getting out of control in Ventura County while Los Angeles is experiencing far more fires since they have very different approaches. After the Thomas Fire, Ventura has been far more aggressive with brush clearances, pre-stationing fire units at homeless encampments during wind events and getting aerial assets on fires quickly.
And in the 5 years since then, all the planned utility and road work was carried out. You can actually see the fire roads on Google maps. They just aren’t much help in 100 mph winds. Thanks for only providing half the story. Sorry if I ruined your narrative.
11:30 "Sell their houses to who, Ben? Fucking Aquaman?!"
The classic reference.
The Human Torch
OH MY GOD I didn't understand this, then the next fucking video I click on references this clip
I had to come back and comment 😭
@@Ashtoobaked Sometimes the youtube algorithm scares me, too 🙂
Homberguy moment
Everyone who's lived in SoCal for a long time can tell you that we never used to get Santa Anas at this time of year. We used to get rain at this time of year. I think the scariest thing about the fires is the firestorm of lies that followed them.
Absolutely. When I was a child three decades ago, it rained so much that winter that people drowned in their cars due to flash flooding in the San Fernando Valley, which sounds beyond belief today. The damage was so extensive that the sewer system was redesigned and worked on for years.
@@WorldConstruct 2023 broke the 100-year rainfall record for S.CA and refilled Tulare Lake after 130 years of being dry. But thanks for playing!
@@AmericatheBeautiful-p4z why so aggressive?
@@shmlanda because in the rush to play politics, the commenter missed the point the video made. The extreme rainfall of 2023 caused increased vegetation growth which dried out and provided fuel for the fires. The OP then made the point that rainfall was normal for January, whilst Santa Ana winds are unusual. The commented missed all this and gave a single talking point out of context - exactly the point the video is making.
Hello! The Santa Ana is caused by the extreme cold roaring down from Hudson Bay. It blows hard all the way to Mexico City and Cuba! It makes everyone else very cold while the mountains block this wind blowing southwards causing a sudden downdraft of warm wind in the LA mountains. PS. my family came to LA way back in the gold rush. We founded Pasadena when it was farmland. We had experienced various earthquakes and hot cycles like the 1920s and the cold cycles like 1960s to 1970s. Nearly everyone today in California are 'recent arrivals'. ALL of my family has fled LA and now, all of California!
The Australia Institute said something similar: Whether you believe climate change is real, insurance companies do.
Fires are down 25% wolrd wide thx to more co2 which makes the trees grow fast and they hold more moisture. The Earth is 5% than 20 years ago thx the climate change and co2 levels are the lowest they have been in 600 million years just google 600 million years co2 chart. Our magnetosphere is 25% weaker and getting weaker 5% every 10 years before it flips polarity.
Another thing: Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but they're fucking awful to build houses with. Only not sticks and stones, but paper and glue.
My childhood house was in NorCal and built of all wood in 1870. It still stands in the Sierra Nevadas. Forest management was always a thing. Controlled burns happened every year. All that stopped.😢
@@turdfurgason8476i just looked up a chart for controlled burns. Theres been more acres controlled burnt every year in the last decade than any time in the past. The chart i saw went back to 1950 but in the 2020's was the highest level. There was a little lower point around 2015 and around 1960-1980 but overall more area is burnt these days than anytime in the past so your comment is just not accurate.
@@BM1982.V2 I lived it. Controlled burns in my town every year to never in two decades. But your Leftist news fed by lying Democrats bests reality.
i know this will get buried in the comments. but i wanted to say, because at the moment i can't afford to support you via patreon, how much i value your content. how happy i am to see such data reasoned, clear consise and well expressed videos. while it certainly seems sometimes like nobody cares and we are shouting into the wind, you are there being a bastion for the light in this sometimes dark world. thank you.
I totally agree!
lmao - u mean a mouthpiece for the globalist "own nothing and be happy" mob...
Yes, it's great to see some trying to improve the discussion culture.
It's really hard.
I totally disagree!
@@speedymark8517 would you care to explain why you disagree and with what exactly?
In the last 30 years we have constructed a system of communication that is inherently hostile to human survival.
It's kinda crazy how we managed to get this donkey up this minaret so far.
@@Argosh Social Media is perfectly formed to serve the needs of the market. It allows people to be sedated and misinformed at the whims of the algorithm while providing a steady flow of advertising to keep the markets functional. It is the perfect method of control for a new era of oligarchy.
@opossumboyo It's funny because you think any of this is intentional. The truly scary thing is that there is no one in control. This is an emergent phenomenon. We do not know the rules. Think about that.
@@Argosh oh no, I agree. “the algorithm” is shorthand for a bunch of programs that are created by people to make money. If some kind of shadow government were pulling the strings, we’d be much better off, because at least then there would be a chance for those people to wisen up.
@@opossumboyo That's the thing. You're wrong. "The algorithm", in as far as there is such a thing, is not purpose built.
You're looking at a grown amalgamation of millions of people making decisions with consequences far beyond their imagination and total lack of even basic understanding of reality.
I've worked in too many parts of this grand social experiment to be able to ignore that.
Take the YT algorithm as an example. It's developed by people using advanced mathematical techniques but at the behest of people that are not mentally equipped to even understand basic mathematical principles. Developer turnover, mismanagement and just normal processes you find in any company then wreaks mayhem on the foundation over decades at this point.
The deciders then try and use base statistical analysis to determine whether they made the right decisions, barely a single one of them understands how a question shapes the answer. And then they base their decisions on a predicted future based on flawed data put through flawed processes.
And that's ignoring the fact that the algorithm is interacting with an actual social network built of millions of humans. And that's just UA-cam.
There is no driver seat. There is no driver cabin. There is no engine room. All of that would imply a degree of organization that is foreign to the reality we created.
we who? This is not about the system of communication has to do with incentives... the system is outside , the system want people to engage people so they keep online not about truth or anything real that would have value but selling their time for the advertising, now it will get worse as who decide are a few bilionaries and what make their capital grow
As a great man once said "A lie can circle the world before the truth has even got it's boots on"
News on social media is only making that worse.
The truth is usually the harder pill to swallow. If the red pill had been a suppository the matrix would probably not have happened
On fire hydrants running dry, it's apparently fairly common for a house buring down to cause a significant water leak as pipes crack and melt. So, a whole block burning down can cause a huge drop in pressure, either draining the system or necessitating a shutoff upstream. Fire evacuation procedures calls for people to shut off their water at the mains to prevent this. Many don't out of lack of knowledge, panic during leaving, or people thinking leaving with a running sprinkler will somehow save their house.
As far as I understand, it is really difficult to build anything there. They have a complicated code system and costs a lot to build because of that. And still, they have fences made from plastic and highly flammable stuff everywhere. There are other countries and states with better management and code system. Maybe they should start learning... incompetence is a fact there.
@@azbesthuLol, the idea of plastic fencing in the Pacific Palisades. You clearly don’t understand that area.
@@azbesthuIt is really hard to build there because it is in the hills / mountains. Also, the building codes are strict for good reasons. One of the current debates going on is if the codes requiring more resilience to wildfires should apply to these areas on the edges of LA (they currently don't). Insurance companies might start requiring it wherever or not the government does.
On the reservoir down for maintenance... It is quite close to the source of the Palisades fire, but BELOW where hydrants were losing pressure. So, despite what it looks like on the map, it is pretty much irrelevant.
This means system is stupid and prone to disaster.
talking to people about the climate crisis sometimes makes me feel that the problem isnt social media... maybe the root of the issue is education , so many people just dont have the critical thinking skills, and at a certain age most people just tend to think they already know everything, so its hard to change their mind no matter what you say.
What you actually wish is not education but indoctrination.
@@alexandermalinowski4277have you considered that it’s only “indoctrination” to teach critical thinking because you disagree with facts and reality?
@@alexandermalinowski4277Opening people to their ideas beings challenged is… indoctrination? Did you read what you replied to? Did you read what you wrote?
Climate change is baked in now for the rest of the century and remains global in scope. If you want to appeal to these people, you must address the small hurdles first! Trying to get them to support climate change initiatives is like trying to get a degrowth advocate to support terraforming Mars.
The lame faded Take the )ab 'Appeal to Expertise', when 'expertise' is the GOVERNMENT.
Cheers to the Mexican & Canadian firefighters for helping out.
They're taking US firefighters' jobs! Close the borders, stat!
Do you mean gulf of America and State Canada?
And Ukraine!
@ I should've been more clear, I am also Canadian. I'm just proud of people who step up.
Cheers from Edmonton! Even while our “ally” lambasts and threatens us, we’ll still step up and do what we can!
So the reason fire damage worldwide is going down is that there's less burnable land.
I guess you can't have a forest fire if you cut down the forest.
Yes, global aridification is a significant problem, and not even a word in my phone’s dictionary despite being a well-known term.
It seems you can't have a forest fire in an urban area either, given the number of vegetation and trees still standing.
Why is no one mentioning the 10’s of thousands of EV’s? An EV can easily burn down an entire house. In fact spraying water on a battery fire makes it worse, the only thing you can do is let it burn, which is what they did.
There are more trees currently then in decades past
@@Chandra355Last time I checked there were more trees than EVs
Observed data: *this water year (started Oct 2024) is the driest start on record.* Many areas around LA have had no rain so far, or if any rain less than a sixth of an inch over 3 months.
I thought cali had record rain fall in 2024
It was worse only 14 years ago. That was straight from the mayor's mouth.
My laptop has been sitting on my balcony for months. Every once in a while I check to make sure no rain is forecast for ten more days. Maybe I should bring it inside so it can rain in Orange County, California again. (Is this all my fault?)
@@jchastain789 That was the _last_ rainy season. And it was that heavy rain which caused so much vegetation to grow, which because it is now dry is easily kindled.
@@yimb8437 Citation? Maybe you mean the flooding?
I really appreciate this, thank you for having an actually informed approach. I live two miles from the Eaton fire burn zone and most takes about this fire have been horribly stupid, especially from outside the region. The number of people I've seen say some variation of "clear dead trees" is insane considering it would take approximately 10 seconds to figure out that the areas that burned largely did not have forests, and that's honestly one of the less stupid takes nationwide. I think people are looking for someone to blame, but this was a perfect storm of a ridiculously strong wind event that happens every 14-15 years like clockwork and a ridiculously late start to our rainy season (still no significant rain since last May when we normally should have had the first big storm by November). If the wind had happened a year ago when we had above average rainfall, there's no way this would have played out the same.
I would just add that the Eaton fire mostly burned working class neighborhoods, people who were definitely not rich or celebrities, and a lot of buildings that were built a long time ago by California standards. Altadena isn't a recently built place, and most of what burned was so far into the city / far from the flammable brush that few of us here would have imagined they could have burned together like this.
yeah, having 100s of firetrucks out of service, emptying a 13 million gallon reservoir, not hiring "white men", cutting the budget, redirecting water into the pacific, not clearing the scrub, no fire breaks... all insoluble problems.
The areas do have undergrowth and many flame happy homeless people.
Fires are down 25% wolrd wide thx to more co2 which makes the trees grow fast and they hold more moisture. The Earth is 5% than 20 years ago thx the climate change and co2 levels are the lowest they have been in 600 million years just google 600 million years co2 chart. Our magnetosphere is 25% weaker and getting weaker 5% every 10 years before it flips polarity.
"clear dead trees" is not a stupid take, btw. Yes the fires are exacerbated by the lack of rains & unusually fast dry winds, there is no denying that. Controlled burn practice are widely established and frequently undertaken to control and contain wild fires, it may not be super relevant in all of SoCal fires, but part of it can be managed by these.
This is in no way saying that controlled burns are the only way or Cali failed at it. We need to understand how it can be implemented to reduce wild fire impacts.
Use cement for homes too, it's standard in Certain countries
Yes it's uglier
but less maintenance on wood
Think of the higher cost as a one time payment of permanent insect/fire insurance
Expensive yes, Cheaper in long-run (Centuries)
As a San Diegan I can say that these Santa Ana winds in January are very unusual. October is when all the major fires I lived through occurred.
100%. They always happen in October, sometimes September or November. You can't convince me that these winds happening in January is not due to climate change.
We get them in December - San Marcos was ablaze the year after Bonsall was. Many million-dollar race horses burned alive where they are stabled just south of Bonsall.
In 1974, I got married Jan 19th - reception was outdoors.
Same, I was a kid when the Cedar Fires happened and got close to us, and remember the fall 2007 fires. We got some of the Santa Ana winds that week, but it's so weird to be this strong in January
Haarp
The differential between the super cold weather the rest of North America is suffering from and California having warm air circulating over the Pacific Ocean creates this huge downdraft in the mountains. Go to Vendusky weather online to see how the ocean wind and water temperatures interact with California's landscape.
Thanks for the detailed analysis!
I use this analogy.
You're dining out with friends. You drank a little, but you feel well and you decide to drive home as usual. It's raining, the road is narrow and winding. The lights of the incoming cars reflect on the wet asphalt making it difficult to see the road. A car does not switch off the full beam. You only see a turn at the last minute, you swerve, but you badly scratch the car on the guard rail.
Was it the rain, the headlights, that additional glass of wine? Difficult to say, but alcohol statistically increases the risk of accidents.
In California specifically, there is a massive problem with electrical infrastructure maintenance. Nobody is talking about that. I don’t understand it.
We do talk about it it's just ignored
$hareholder$ first, ratepayers last.
Yup. PG&E is a nightmare.
Massive problems require massive solutions. It’s possible to dig tunnels through hard rock without the use of chemical explosives, jackhammers, or lubricants. It’s been done with a megawatt-class plasma-heated air gun which reaches thousand of degrees. It’s much faster, cheaper, and more energy efficient than using mechanical drill bits or explosives. The main company working on it is EarthGrid PBC out of Richmond, California.
In 2009 in Australia the terrible black Saturday fires (yes we name our tragedies) at least 2 of the fires were sparked by power lines sparking in wild winds . And our infrastructure in that area is not as old as LA’s maybe 70 yo if that. But when things aren’t maintained/inspected there are issues. Just like LA we had a long running drought for years in the lead up then bad infrastructure and very high winds very low humidity . Very similar to what happened in LA plus we have eucalyptus trees all over here they are full of oil and burn just like petrol! ⛽️ we lost 173 lives awful; people trapped trying to flee and 8000 homes were razed not to mention all our beloved animals that couldn’t flee quick enough!! Fire 🔥 is very unforgiving and horrible to witness.
Socal resident since 1975 here. It's 90% mismanagement and 10% other factors. We've never cleared less brush or did fewer controlled burns after wet years. In socal 50% of all firefighting resources go to extinguish homeless fires despite spending tens of billions at the homeless problem. That leaves 50% for everyone and everything else. In norcal, it's a power grid that's over a century old, along with the failure to clear brush under it. The Santa Ynez reservoir was empty for 11 months because of a damaged cover, meaning it's still usable as a reservoir. We have equipment to lift sea water to shore to augment water supplies but we have never practiced it's use. Californians passed Prop 1 for infrastructure improvements in 2014, but not a single new reservoir has been built and the norcal grid just as bad as it's ever been.
Since 1975? Perhaps it's time to leave. CA is circling the drain.
"It's complicated." Yes, it often is. Reality is complex and messy. Great explaining in this vid.
Nuance, something not represented in politics.
Leftists believe it is too hot. Us conservatives who don't live in the little ocean coast California hot strip, know it is very cold. 90% of America and Canada are literally freezing right now.
And yet not one word about the Israeli billionaires who wrecked virgin lands to grow pistachios and in turn dropped aquifers and planted a crop that is highly unsuited to the habitat but also as flammable as damn eucalyptus, oh and Donald Trumps biggest donors and last year donated 125 million to settle the Palestinian West Bank
Its not complicated. It was a Guy with a Handburner running around setting Fire on multiple Places. There is even Videofootage off it.
Great explanation but you forgot one important symptom. It is neglect! I live in California and have seen wild fires over 3 times. The main problems were neglect. Here they ae as follows: The fire department ignored the fires when they first started because they figured that they would go out by themselves. The electric company received funds from the government to maintain over grown trees and to improve electric poles and wires. The electric comoany spent the money on other things. The forest department allowed the forests to over grow because they wanted to please the Sierra Club even though the Indians proved that controlled burns prevent forest fires. California used to do controlled burns and they stopped doing them. Now that they realize that fires are out of control, they are taking care if these problems in my area. But the truth is that other areas in California are still neglecting the above probblems.
Fire trucks are better than 1970 by far, the new trucks easily offset mild higher risk from climate change. That fires got loose this year was simple incompetence. We have warm and dry 1930s too, and men with shovels kept LA safe...
I don't think he forgot it - the video is specifically talking about how many simplistic talking points detract from a whole view of the situation. Controlled burning is a good idea to manage fire risk, but is made much harder by hotter, drier climate, longer fire seasons and increased building in fire risk areas. How does one perform a controlled burn in a neighbourhood of high value homes?
There is some evidence that electrical equipment in California is in considerable need of upgrade, however it is not the only factor here.
@@mostlyguesses8385 I would suggest that LA in 1930 had significantly less urban sprawl than it does in 2025. The Matilija fire was one of the largest wildfires on record, but did very little property damage. I would think it too early and therefore unfair to claim that this years fire spread was due to incompetence without a proper evaluation of the evidence. In fact, the video above shows (5:17) how certain talking points have been pushed politically to make this claim without proper context.
1. With wonderful modern fire trucks the fire should have been controlled. 2. California literally has 4x more income than 1940, can afford 4x more firetrucks and staff. 3. The length of line between city and forest has been pretty constant since 1940, but gdp of Cali is up 10x, it truly should have 100 fire trucks per mile sitting there, but they didnt. Here in MN if govt lacks enough snow plows we don't let Governor blame the weather..
Here in Houston after 5 days without power after hurricane we know not burying power lines is governor's dumbness... , we don't blame climate change 100x times and moan how misinformation is bad so don't judge the polticians. All the harm is 90% the fault of dumb politicians, end of story, bury and buy more equipment, end of story
Thanks for the breakdown, Simon. A substantial issue regarding communication about climate change for me was always how isolated of a topic it was viewed as compared to other societal issues. I always felt it had a kind of separate social umbrella compared to something like the economy.
There are so many misconceptions about climate change in the public, I wish our education system could address this.
really? Compared to "the economy"? I do understand the sentiment that climate change feels to abstract to grasp. But taking the economy - a pretty undefined term that is used for everything and nothing - as an example for somehing on the other site of the scale ist really mind baffling for me.
How often did I hear "we have to do x, because "the economy!", and then days later somebody telling the opposite because again "the economy!"? And after that we do something completely different and "the economy" does the same it always does: Pumping wealth from the poor to the rich. And that is apparently fine, because - "The economy!".
You made very carefuly worded scientifically backed statements. Your opponents will make vague generalisation that appeal to confirmation bias, and you will appear to lack confidence and certainty by comparison.
Something can be made worse by climate change or made more likely by climate change without that literally being the whole story with no other factors. How hard is this to get for some people?
It takes humility to accept that we probably won’t fix our impact on the climate and that the only viable course of action is to simply adapt to whatever changes the climate throws at us.
@@ayoutubechannelname No, that's just giving up.
@@andrewkuebler4335 some day everything will be dead, accelerationists are not giving up, just making it happen sooner.
to give up you need to have to have worked to stop it.
@@andrewkuebler4335 2024 was the highest crude oil production year in history and co2 will still rise for the next 15 years at minimum.
Even if every on the planet would be changed to consume green energy - that would not decrease co2. Multiple negative feedbacks will increase that.
therefore 2024 will still be comparable nice compared to everything that comes after.
And that is the prospect for normal behaviour with honoering climate agreements. Trump just started his term with "bill baby drill" ....
At some point in your life you have to be realistic. What goods is it to live in an area that has wildfires for decades if you know that this is going to get worse?
They had basically the same fire in 1962
I’ve lived in Los Angeles 43 years. This was the result of bad forestry and water management made worse by climate change
主要是政策造成的，当零元购不被惩罚时，就会有人为了劫掠纵火，当灭火成为收费服务时，就会有人为了挣钱纵火。
Funny how he fails to bring up bad forestry and water management. Definitely left leaning opinion.
@@ChrisSugdinis Yep. I lost my home in Palisades. It took them 45 minutes from the first 911 call before any firefighters arrived. And I lived right around the corner from a fire-station. The fire-station was fine, no damage. We had roughly 2% of the water we were supposed to have. They say the winds were too severe and water wouldn’t have made a difference, yet there are many stories of homeowners saving their property using pool water and hoses. Not to mention Palisades has the highest density of Teslas in LA. Lithium fires take 10x’s as much water to put out. The reason I can’t return to my home still is due to toxic chemical contamination from the lithium batteries.
@@mongoliansongs1273100%! I have friends who used to be firefighters and left due to corruption from the top down. They have a saying “if the ground is black our pockets are green.” Which means the more land that burns, the bigger their budget for next year
But do you think that forestry management can be improved when so many houses are built in amongst the forest? Do you think controlled burns can be carried out safely in drier, more fire prone conditions.
I'm not arguing against controlled burns btw, just wondering if they are still possible given the urban sprawl and tendency of certain people to want to live in amongst the trees.
I was waiting for the Ground News plug...it would have been so apropros.
One issue with trying to talk about the inevitable insurance crisis is that people are quite keen to blame the insurance companies for not insuring tinderboxes in California and future driftwood in Florida but not so interested in blaming the people and companies who build the things in the first place.
The homes are made d century and older. Any burning like what we see is incompetence. When I lived in pallisades I never understood why it didn’t just go up in flames. Why are we less apt in 2025 than 2075
One thing to note here
About 50% of Americans have a reading compression level at or bellow a 6th grade level..
So.. yeah
Also, 40% of Americans believe that the earth is ~6,000 years old and there was a global flood. They will reject every trace of science that refutes this, which means they have been practiced and conditioned in being unconvinced by facts.
Reading compression?😂
Comprehension?😊
PARDON
yea we knew tjat in56 here in uk
they were ammeerriiccan service men
they looked like 16 year old boys
And you are one of the upper 50%?
In my opinion it was a "perfect storm" of conditions. And Global Warming is increasing the chance of perfect storms. Anecdotally I heard that it was the first time many of those neighbourhoods were affected by fire and they are by no means new neighbourhoods; this implies something has changed.
Really like the framing of these statements as tweets - helps with media literacy showing that even a true post is an incomplete part of the story
i always hated twitter. reducing discussion to brief headlines that just compete to get the biggest reaction has basically ended the world.
The 'rapid plant growth' that occurs after drought, followed by heavy rain, is mostly
Seasonal weeds, that need to be managed when they die. They build soil quality short term, and must not be killed using herbicide.
Only long term fix for these areas is building resiliant environment, that can tolerate ups and downs of seasons, and hold water and fertility.
"A week before the fires, Los Angeles Mayor Bass demanded the L.A. Fire Department make an extra $49 million of budget cuts and mandated closing at least 16 fire stations, a leaked memo revealed."
This video demonstrates masterfully the need for critical thinking, analyse and understanding. I love it.
It was just bickering over politics, waste of time
carefull
critical think about your gov dont give a XXX about you people.
He talked at length but didn't say much. He blamed social media for how details of the fires were misreported. The budget was cut and later increased, but I came too late to repair the fire trucks in the repair depots and whether the additional equipment could've made a difference is all speculation like this video.
@@diemes5463he provided great points, such as social media making it easier to spread out of context information and allow people to base entire arguments on false assumptions.
Is that a waste?
Do you disagree politically with him?
I thought we had already learnt how to build cities so that fires can't ingolfs entire cities after the great fire of London
engulf*
Then we forgot it or ignored it for profit, as humans often do.
A lot of these were built before certain building regulations were out in place
And just like that, Trump has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement.
really?! yeah we're fucked for at least the next 4 years
And cut environmental policies and reduced the EPA to nothing
@@Solstice261Car manufacturing and AI are apparently the priority of the Environmental Protection Agency of the USA. We are cooked lol.
@@Solstice261 ....If only!
Sell their houses to who Ben? F***ING Aquaman? - I seen the reference
I have a saying:
> If someone tries to answer a complex question with a simple answer instead of "sometimes", "maybe", "it's complicated" or "it depends", then it's a bad answer.
And we're out of the Paris climate agreement. Everyone better start packing their grab and go bag because it's going to get worse!
Running away when things are bad just makes them worse
@@jamesn0vawhile you are right, can you fault anyone all that much for leaving if they have the means to? I certainly cannot even though I am forced to stay and deal with the state of the US bc I can’t afford to leave
@@jamesn0va OP isn't talking about abandoning the country, they're giving sound survival advice. These disasters are going to get more frequent and worse, it's best you have a supply of food, water, and essentials to grab before you evacuate.
@
Evacuate? Where to??
@@unduloid Any where safe. For instance to high ground in a flood or a place not on fire if it's a wildfire. I'm not suggesting radical moves here, just getting out of immediate danger. I'm sure FEMA has a checklist you can use for these things.
I suspect that the real reason this happened was building codes and adherence to them. These buildings simply should not have been so very flammable.
Excellent video Simon🎉
Loved the statistical analysis included here!
I’m also conducting a fire extent and burned area mapping project with a team and plan to release a video soon on it.
I consider this poly crisis of extreme weather. Super abundant rainfall, leading to dense vegetation, followed by a drought and maybe what could be called a flash drought. Climate change built the matchbox and tinder. Santa Ana winds blew it into a fire storm. The cycle of heavy rain, intense brush growth followed by extreme fire hazard conditions is the new normal.
Well said
that's what we're all seeing in used-to-be temperate climate zones even here in Europe: extremization of weather events. Problem is all news, social, and average folks take away from it is "hey look how cold and rainy it is today!!! check mate science buff!! lololol"
I know someone who works quite high up in insurance & his climate research & advice to not insure many areas earned him 23 million a couple of years ago, I suspect he's going to receive a much bigger bonus every time we have another disaster like this. All of the big money is working against us these days!
It's madness to insure flammable structures in a high fire-risk zone. Moving forward, we will need those structures to be built to resist fire. That technology exists, and has for years. It is not magic. It's not even difficult. Pulling someone's coverage without warning, if that's actually what happened, is pretty evil.
Insurance is meant to cover possible losses not inevitable ones.
The reason social media algorithms favor simplistic narratives is the fact that most people on social media are desperately searching for simplistic narratives. Any suggestion that reality is complex gives them the vapors, or worse. This is the basis of the appeal of populism. It is also why democracies are very unlikely to focus on the climate crisis before it is already far too late.
It definitely shines a light on how little faith and trust we have in our government to prevent, react to, and inform us about disasters. Citizens feel that the government is more likely to work against us and cover up failures than actually help (just ask the Helene survivors in TN & NC).
As a German, His spelling of "Schadenfreude" Just killed me 😂
Spelling, or pronunciation?
Getting quality information from a youtube video is rare... thank you sir
Thank you for saying this. In my country Iran, there was a flood that killed dozens of people. The politicians blamed climate change but they ignore that they permitted building homes in the path of river that was dried due climate and damming.
Another very good reason never to use Twitter. It's become a cesspit.
X please, it no longer deserves to be called Twitter.
@@QT5656 I know, but I can't bring myself to use that name for it, it's so asinine.
@@malcolmjcullen Fair.
He is making me realize why I constantly have these long exacerbated social media comments to stuff people post, I’m fighting a structure that prioritize propoganda over complex narratives. Like decentralization is neccesary, and we can do both while preventing oligarchy owned media from dominating everything
Heres a good idea. Cover your roofs not with slates or ceramic tiles which dont burn themselves...but with bitumin based shingles highly flammable and the walls with what made the `London Grenfell fire burn so hot and tragically.
Finally some responsible content and researched perspective! We need more of it. I live in Southern California and the misinformation, false narratives and untruths are more rampant than the fires themselves. Thank you for sharing logic over ignorance and politics.
The whole section about climate denialists pointing at some local factor to distract from the role of climate change in a natural disaster is so true. When the flooding in Spain happened, immediately the talking point came out about people illegally building/dumping in a major riverbed, clogging it up and alleging that this was why the flooding was so bad, rather than the *literally unprecedented* rainfall.
The relevant local factors can turn around in days or months - at most a few years. Climate change will continue to get worse for a few decades and will trend back to “normal” after most of us die due to old age. It’s hardly surprising that people are more passionate about reforming something that can turn around in less time than one election cycle.
Torrential rains are caused by COLD FRONTS, as we all watched the POLAR VORTEX drop SNOW in Saudi Arabia. You can't stop chewing the sweater can you?
@@AmericatheBeautiful-p4z you are Missing the point (again? )
For information, cold fronts, the polar vortex and snow are not evidence that climate change is not happening. In fact, the evidence suggests that the amplification of climate change in the Arctic will lead to more extreme rainfall in Europe. There is substantial evidence the rainfall in Spain was exacerbated by climate change.
So social media is basically making everything worse. What an invention.
Both sides of the aisle need to be raising the alarm on this.
How about talking about the neighborhoods that the fires stopped dead at. These were fire hardened neighborhoods. These are not barren areas with high cost fire proofing. Really these are neighborhoods where fire is thought of and things are done ensure that fire does not have an ablity to take hold. Most of the stuff is common sense. No wood fences up to the houses, enclosed eves, roof vents screened, fire proof roofs & siding, tempered windows with heat blocking treatments, of course defense able areas around the houses, vegetation control and other simple things. These places do have plants and landscaping but stuff that is fire resistant. Cost of all this prep? Less that 3% the cost of the housing. Can working class neighborhoods do this or even single homes yes. Simply matter of thinging of the issue and make changes as time goes on to fire harden the home. What is needed is education and enforcement of codes. The neighborhoods and homes that did this survived.
Making a house or neighbourhood ready for fire is like making it ready for disabled people. Cheap if done at the design stage .. progressively more expensive the longer you don't think about it.
@tealkerberus748 I kind of disagree that fire hardening in older homes is prohibitively expensive. I saw a house survive an inferno in Santa Barbara California that an owner hardened an older house. While everybody else was letting the bushes grow all woodsy this guy kept the bushes back and planted succulents. He did enclose his eves and put in double pane windows. He did have some trees that were types that don't like to burn. The roof vents were screened. Like the guy knew a fire was coming which everyone in that area should have known too. The fire that came through was so intense that houses had super heated air enter through broken windows, heat that caused the interior to volatilize, causing explosions that blew the houses up like gas explosions. There was the guy, after, in front of his house with singed trees and devastation all around him checking things out. A few broken outer windows, wilted succulents, some singed paint but not much more. His house was built in the sixties and he simply kept it up over the years with the idea that a fire was coming. Really I don't think the guy spent any more than other people in the neighborhood on maintaining their homes. Really, even in older houses fire hardening is not expensive. What is needed is thinking that a fire is coming and it needs to be prepared for
While Santa Ana wind events are nothing new in California, I certainly don’t recall any this intense happening in January.
I’d be very interested in seeing if extreme wind events like this in California are happening across more of the calendar year as the climate warms. The Santa Ana’s aren’t even driven by weather in coastal California - they’re mainly caused by dropping temperatures up in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin hundreds of miles to the northeast of California.
The air gets denser as it cools and it tries to fall to lower elevations. This sends it rushing toward California and the Pacific. The air warms up as the pressure increases at lower elevations, creating a hot dry wind. This normally happens in the early fall as temperatures plummet in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin. I suspect climate change is keeping them warmer later into the fall and even thru the start of winter, making things like the Santa Ana’s happen in the middle of calendar winter now.
They cannot stop a Santa Ana firestorm; it's more about poor development planning, so, blame the original city planners who though it was a good idea to put millions of people under Santa Ana winds in the most fire prone region in the world. This fire spread by embers and radiant heat from home to home as largely homes and buildings are separated by only 5'- to -10'. Once the fire reached the first homes it only took 2 hrs. to travel halfway through to Palisades communities. With 80 Mph. winds embers and flames move at the speed of freeway travel.
It took me looking at the aerial photos for about ten minutes to realize that those houses were so close together, with trees and bushes squished between them, narrow streets, no defensible space no firebreaks no safety zones ANYWHERE -NO WONDER this happened! Amazing this hadn’t happened LONG before now. Your comment is the first one I’ve seen ANYWHERE noting this. 🤷♀️
Absolutely amazing journalism and communication. Thank you
Environmental “road blocks” prevent or delayed good fire protection practices known for a hundred years.
The funny thing about the internet is that it facilitates basically unlimited data collection and sharing. So the capacity for nuanced and complicated idea sharing is there (as this video demonstrates. But also many sites where research papers are shared demonstrate). Not choosing to use that capability is IMHO a cultural issue or maybe even a societal issue.
One part in my opinion is that top down structures require complexity reduction to function effectively. We live in top down dominated world right now, so no wonder oversimplified ideas get a push. Lets change that!
gonna hope that proper forest management (like prescribed burns) is mentioned in this video.
How do you burn chaparral in the suburbs without burning the occasional house? This is not light grasses. Have you ever used a drip torch in heavy fuels? I have. In forest lands you get an acre or two of slop over and no one cares very much. If two houses are in that acre it’s national news.
I am ao happy to finally watch a video that doeant immediately launch into an ad for Ground News after mentioning multiple news perspectives 🙈 Props for that lol!
I was thinking the same thing. I felt myself getting twitchy when the graphic of different news sources popped up and then relief when he didn’t launch into a Ground News ad. 😅
The average person has always kind of scoffed at nuance. But the internet these days seem almost to be... offended by it. It's exhausting to live in a society where people actively and aggressively refuse to consider any perspective that doesn't fit the narrative they want it to fit.
The Aquaman Hbomb reference!
Those saying the cause is global warming are trying to get people concerned enough about it to DO SOMETHING about this huge problem.
All the other reasons are relatively minor and a lot easier to address with local action.
"Rich finally feeling the burn" - best youtuber comment so far this year
Such a horrible comment..even if you are critical to the indiference and superficiality or lack of responsability of the rich people , as they were all the same...its so miserable to express content on others tragedy....just miserable. and only to remember, not only rich people loose their homes here !!
Nah that's pretty much a braindead take
The bel-Air fire in LA which occurred in 1961 burned 500 homes, many of which were celebrity homes during the Santa Ana winds. CoCal has experienced high winds and fires before Europeans settled there in the 1500's
Classic media never cared a bats eye about context either, as long as they get people to watch their breaking news.
Thank you for making this video. The fact that so many people can’t hold two or more ideas that are simultaneously true, bothers me so much.
The preference given to simplistic narratives is nothing new. When I was a high school student back in 1975 one of my teachers used the phrase "exchanging ignorances" to describe his assessment of conversations between students. We do not need fact checkers as much as we need quality education and non-partisan institutions that are widely trusted because they are responsible and accountable.
Thanks for the video. I'm glad to hear a reasoned explanation for why the short sound bite video format is completely inadequate to address complex issues. Unfortunately it needs agreement from policy makers on both sides not to cynically exploit this new normal for information exchange. I hope wise heads prevail but I'm not hopeful at the moment.
Have never seen this channel before and am super glad to have found it! You are great at explaining things and have a great level head.
All while the governor dances and rejoice
Is it the simplicity of twitter that leads to this bias towards simple answers, or rather is it that lots of people prefer these simple answers, and so choose to use twitter? There’s lots of good books, video essays, and news stories going into great depth on this issue, but lots people are routinely demanding for these simplistic takes. It doesn’t seem like the tech is doing this to us, it seems we are doing this to the tech
The biggest change to human civilization since the invention of fire and agriculture was the invention of the printing press.
It changed our interactions, allowed ideas to travel fast, far and wide.
As a result - kingdoms fell, societies rose,
Science, art, philosophy and the economy got a significant boost, and overall life quality rose (opinion).
30 years ago, the Internet was invented, which made the communication bi-directional,
Instead of just a few people writing the printed books, and the rest just reading them - now everyone can write, and read, and respond.
The game has stepped up a level, and I don't see why history wouldn't repeat itself once again.
I think humanity will be just fine, I just hope I'll get to retire eventually in a nice place after the initial storm passes.
So let's keep it well-meaning, open-minded, and as honest as we can (:
The most expensive wildfire so far.
Stewart and Lynda Resnick hold me water and water rights (paper water) than all the residents of cali, their pistachio company alone uses more as well. Own the water. Oh dont look into how they are buying up winery's for the water rights not the grapes. And also the aquifers under them. They also own fiji water. Where the locals cant get as much access. Something nobody's speaking of..
@@jchastain789 Calif allows fracking... Second economic
pressure on already badly
taxed resources!
Just to be clear, there's no concern for the insurance not having sufficient funds to pay out all of their liabilities. Private insurers are required by CA law to carry enough savings and reinsurance to fully cover their liabilities. The fair plan (the state plan) does not have enough savings +reinsurance but there are provisions for this (private insurers pay up to $1 billion to cover the shortfalls and then policy holders can be assessed a special assessment to cover the rest) not to mention the potential that the state might bail it out before they have to give policy holders an additional bill.
I feel for anyone who lost their home. Homes are so expensive, Yet our country has NO SYSTEM if someone loses their homes. Two things can be true at the same time: 1•Yes It was an extreme weather event and 2 •The city UTTERLY FAILED to prepare their systems. Fire is the #1 threat there so It makes no sense how Los Angeles didn't utilize their resources in a better way to prepare them to fight fires.. The city has to prepare for stuff like this. I Hope we will see them build extensive water pumping systems from the ocean. They could Install water spraying systems onto the individual houses. They could install remote controlled valves so they could control the water pressure. They need to build systems that redirect & collect any rain water that they receive, rather than dumping it back out into the ocean. We need to adapt our systems so they work cohesively with our ecosystem. We should build Desalination plants & We definitely should bring the Beaver's back.
Honestly, how are people supposed to recover from a Disaster such as this? We are seeing insurance companies fail us, we are seeing our government fail us. Most people are struggling to afford basic living. Our country is completely unable to handle this kind of stuff. Our country is failing these people. How does our country expect people to rebuild a second house when affording the first house was already a life long achievement.. How can our country keep functioning like this? Our country is in complete denial about the impacts of these disasters. How will our systems continue to function? We have to adapt. We have to.
This is truly terrifying and frustrating, thank you for continually speaking up about this.
Personally, I don't think Twitter's word limit on posts helps much, because I think it only increases fragmentation of information and discussions, makes it easier to cherrypick and take out of context. But also, the way most social media is structured means that the stuff that gets a reaction out of people - good or bad - is more likely to get more attention, which leads to sensationalisatin and rage bait... But we could go on. Social media does very little to help inform people - though new outlets also don't help with their biases making it more likely for them to sensationalize, misreport or not report on certain events for the sake of their audience, stakeholders, etc.
This same issue may be happening with the seasons being disrupted here in the Central American isthmus. Wet season lasted 2 months longer this time. I worry dry season will also be lasting longer, resulting in fires that burn down the rain forest. My only hope is that they handle it better here. I also wonder if insurance companies will ironically cause a rush for climate action.
Lack of forest management left the fuel. Political and bureaucratic decisions created the lack of water. Not only with the pivotal reservoir being empty, but also not diverting water from the north for ongoing supply. This all happened with full knowledge of climate concerns. This was overseen by democrats who are climate crisis advocates. This should have prompted them to take the necessary preventive actions. The fact they did not take the necessary actions is direct evidence of their ineptitude. Arson and homeless fires explain much of California's wild fire increases.
Even starting from the conclusion that climate change is a major factor, ineptitude, inaction and ideological decision making provided many of the contributing circumstances that allowed the fires to be so destructive. Protecting a fish was more important than water supply. Forest management seems to have been thrown in the "too hard basket".
It's almost as though some are happy to induce a disaster in order to provide evidence supporting their ideological and theoretical presumptions.
A wet 2023 created more growth that dried out in 2024? Were the relevant authorities aware of this? Yes. Did they do the necessary forest and water management to mitigate the threat? No.
And now they can stand back claiming impunity and say "see, climate change, I told you so". Typically in a sanctimonious tone whilst feigning empathy, like Gavin Newscum.
Do you mean brush management? There’s no forest on the hillsides where the fire burned. Forest won’t grow there.
✨Truth is Dead ✨
Truth was an illusion all along.
Really well made thought provoking video. It’s definitely complicated
Asphalt shingles(burnable oil product) instead of spanish tile,Vinyl siding(burnable plastic oil by product ,2x3 popsicle stick construction instead of brick/block/stone&mortar in known fire hazard area,no emergency saltwater firefighting systems in place,no dry-hydrants tapped into ocean for oceanfront property,no fixed small buildings with strategic diesel pumps to pump saltwater via non corrosive pipes that couldve fed strategic underground and above ground non corrosive holding tanks that couldve fed the firefighters trucks farther inland,no inmate labor prior to fire to clear underbrush in the dangerzone.The intake pump heads could have been floating or submerged with barriers and screens to protect marine life,debris,and things like LGBQT from getting sucked into the pipes.The financial damage,toxic particulates and smoke was far worse then what the activists,tree huggers,were trying to prevent,gross negligence and ineptitude on a scale of epic proportions to the point one wonders if the inept DEI hires were planted to give property developers the opportunity to build souless mega apartment complexes without paying fair market value.
Aluminum and Masonry don't easily burn
I think its super valuable to address all the potential factors in any situation. I dont think thats " playing both sides" at all, just that its an unpleasant reality for some people who want something simple to blame.
12:01 "climate change is no longer just an environmental problem it is a looming economic threat"
good! then maybe something will finally be done to stop or, at least, slow it
You should look up the work by Steve Keen. He makes Nordhaus look like a fool.
What puzzles me is this: If this "climate change" is looming over us, why doesn't CA step UP the forest management (controlled burns, for example) and step UP the infrastructure for the fire departments? Something is not adding up.
Aren’t there fewer wildfires because of deforestation and declining forest cover globally?
Geoengineering operations are not only completely cutting off precipitation from the US West and destroying the ozone layer globally, the desiccant particulates from the fallout create an incendiary dust that coats foliage and structures.
@@sejnb1 Just IMO Tnx 4
reminder geoengineering
not just interplanetary
terraforming... inherent
to responsible husbandry!
If you check the historical wildfire information from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention, you will find the largest 20 wildfires by acreage happened in the last 20 years. The largest two each burning about 200,000 acres happened in 2020. In December 2021, the Marshall Fire burned about 1000 homes in 6200 acres in less than 12 hours. This is consistent with hotter and dryer weather caused by CO2 greenhouse gases.
Lets ignore the great fire of 1910, Colorado is all we need to look at according to alarmist
Thank you Simon for bringing the nuance and depth to this event !
Loved this. Both the deep dive and the subtle irony in recognising the myriad of factors involved in LA's current woes and shallow "dismissal" of social media as a tool to help address the changing climate. Where else could we get such insights from a clearly knowledgeable source without the barriers of mass media filters and dumbing down of the past. Thank you Simon for all your hard work.
Thank you for such a thorough and nuanced explanation of this particular situation and the coverage of natural disasters at large. Your work and efforts are desperately continuously needed! Thank you.
Thank you for presenting reasonable data in a reasonable way. This is very refreshing.
one of the best one you did this past year
well done!
Another amazing and well researched video!
Although slightly terrifying 😅
Isn't pragmatic Climate Action: brush removal, water to fight fire, not cutting fire protection budget and hiring people who make fire safety the primary mission?
Former LA fire chiefs testified that every time they saw strong Santa Anna winds they prepositioned additional fire engines and fighters near areas most vulnerable, so if a fire started they could pounce on it right away. This did not happen this fire. Everybody knew exceptionally strong Santa Ana winds, but zero exceptional preparations were made. This is a leadership failure
If a city is built on 10,000 powderkeg, eventually someone will drop the match. The problem isn’t commanding someone to hold the torch away. The problem is the powderkegs
But why wasn't it done this time? Whose leadership failed?
You didn’t watch the whole video, did you?
Worthy of the Title of Great Fire
I'm just staring at this in Australian.
In 2020, LA Department of Water and Power was fined 1.9 million dollars for damage to an endangered shrub (Braunton's milkvetch) while trying to replace utility poles in the Pacific Palisades which were wood, and some dated to the 1930s. When the poles were being replaced, the plan had been also to clear land for a fire road and make fire breaks. This was halted and they were ordered by California Coastal Commission to restore all of the damage which meant no fire road. This is the problem. Many of the homes that burned were over 100 years old in some of the early neighborhoods in LA and survived all those years because homes were valued over plants. Of course, now all of the Braunton's milkvetch burned during the fire and are likely are extinct. All those old wooden utility poles also burned and will finally be replaced. It's not clear if that would have prevented this fire, but these efforts have been halted in LA for decades since plants and wildlife are more important than people and their homes. This isn't climate change. It's idiots thinking "rewilding" should be done in areas that burn. It's rather telling how there's been a lack of fires getting out of control in Ventura County while Los Angeles is experiencing far more fires since they have very different approaches. After the Thomas Fire, Ventura has been far more aggressive with brush clearances, pre-stationing fire units at homeless encampments during wind events and getting aerial assets on fires quickly.
And in the 5 years since then, all the planned utility and road work was carried out. You can actually see the fire roads on Google maps. They just aren’t much help in 100 mph winds. Thanks for only providing half the story. Sorry if I ruined your narrative.