Were in serious trouble.
Thats the message I saw written in the ashes of Los Angeles.
Were in trouble not because were helpless, or because we have broken the planet beyond repair.
We are much smarter than dinosaurs.
But we are also deeply stupid in our own way.
The sparks that ignited the fires were almost certainly human-sparked, likely by power lines or fireworks.
THE MOUNTAINS WERE LIKE A GIANT PILE OF KINDLING.
ANY SPARK WOULD IGNITE AN INFERNO.
The best way to think about the role of climate change in the L.A. fires is as an accelerant.
Last year was the hottest on Earth ever recorded by humans.
Ten of the hottest years have all been in the past decade.
With more heat comes more fire.
That means it sucks the moisture out of the ground, and out of plants.
And when that wood does catch fire, it burns faster and more intensely.
Swain was lead author on a recent study that described climates role in amplifying weather extremes.
This is exactly what happened before the fires in L.A. Then, starting in May 2024, the rain stopped.
In L.A., the summer was hot.
But the fall was even hotter.
Starting in early September, daytime temperatures were 10 to 20 degrees above normal for that time of year.
By that time, the mountains around L.A. were like a giant pile of kindling.
Any spark would ignite an inferno.
In the fall, the Santa Ana winds arrived in Los Angeles.
On their way west, the winds blow across the Mojave Desert, where they dry out.
The city burning is Los Angeless deepest image of itself.
Last fall, no rains came.
But in January, the flames did.
Gusts measured up to 90 mph.
From the core of the city, the population moved horizontally out toward the beach and valley.
But the bigger the flatlands grew, the more the mountains beckoned.
Movie stars sought refuge in the Hollywood Hills.
Others were looking for cheap real estate or an escape from the smog.
White people wanted distance from the Black and brown people on the flatlands.
Zoning has encouraged this.
LOS ANGELES SPREAD LIKE PANCAKE BATTER OVER A HOT, DRY GRIDDLE.
Twenty-first-century cities arent supposed to burn.
The problem in L.A. was none of that mattered much.
In fact, in some cases, dependence on better firefighting technology made the situation worse.
Or at the very least, provided a false sense of security.
But the biggest fire accelerant was the homes themselves.
When it catches fire, it goes up like a can of gasoline or worse.
When polyurethane foam burns, it releases deadly hydrogen-cyanide gas.
In a fire, a modern house is its own flaming toxic Superfund site.
And it can burn for hours, at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees.
Within a few hours, entire blocks were aflame.
For Trump, the L.A. fires were like a Netflix series in which he played the King of Chaos.
It was all bullshit, of course.
HIGH WINDS MADE IT TOO DANGEROUS TO FLY AIRCRAFT, LEAVING THEM SITTING ON THE TARMAC.
Nowhere is this more clear than with homeowners insurance.
But state-mandated insurance plans are a big loser for insurers.
As insurance costs soar, more homeowners may struggle to keep up with mortgage payments, risking widespread defaults.
What will that do to the real-estate market in Los Angeles?
The shell game is ending.
And this is not just a problem for L.A. Its a problem for America.
Its predatory, says Samantha James, 24, who is a sixth-generation Black Californian.
Her family lost one home in a fire, and they had other homes damaged.
MODERN HOMES ARE FULL OF PLASTIC, MAKING THEM BURN HOTTER, FASTER, AND MORE TOXIC.
Our family received multiple calls from predatory investors within one day of the fire, she says.
My dad yelled at them and hung up.
Goodbye FEMA and any notion of a government response designed to aid those who need it most.
OK, but its going to cost you.
But disasters also have a way of bonding communities together.
So was virtually everyone else I talked to.
Altadena Strong: We Will Rebuild read a big banner downtown.
Yes, they will.
But at what cost?
The future of L.A. is a future of heat, which means it is a future of fire.
What will the extreme [fire] risk days in 20, 30, or 40 years look like?
Swain asked during an interview on CNN.
Its pretty clear that they will be even more extreme than what were seeing today.
In this new, hotter world, fire is no longer just a wildland threat.
It is a threat that is coming to a city near you.
Its clear that Trump sees climate chaos as a feature, not a bug.
So dont expect a bold, forward-thinking response to help rebuild Los Angeles from any federal agency.
If that happens, its like passing out tickets to a disaster theme park.
Tougher building codes could reduce flammable materials in home construction.
Water infrastructure needs to be upgraded and power lines buried.
And most important, development should be restricted in high-risk areas that are guaranteed to burn again.
None of this will be easy.
There will be years of political infighting, courtroom battles, and financial chicanery.
I sure hope we all learn something from it.
