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> The tragic reality of climate change Oh, please. I am so sick of this being shoved in front of people's faces as an indisputable cause for, well, everything

> The tragic reality of climate change Oh, please. I am so sick of this being shoved in front of people's faces as an indisputable cause for, well, everything. Might as well bring Odin and Zeus into it as causes...because they are just as valid. I have lived in the Los Angeles area for nearly 40 years. The Santa Ana winds happen every year, multiple times per year. It never fails. The winds are strong and mostly directionally constant. Some years are worse than others. Average speeds are not monotonically increasing. Guess what? Strong wind + a small fire + lots of fuel = massive fire. It's that simple. So please, pretty please, with sugar on top, stop with the nonsense. This was a case of bad governance, bad decision-making, misplaced priorities, complete lack of preparedness and, yes, some bad luck. Here's a simple example of that: Why is it that we have to rent firefighting aircraft from Canada every year? Seriously? I understand costs. Well, I look around Los Angeles today and it is easy to call that argument to be criminally demented. We should OWN a large fleet of these planes and have them ready to deploy en-masse as needed. Again, it isn't like these winds surprise us! Brush and vegetation (fuel) management are crucial. In our neighborhood, a few months ago, we received a notice from the fire department saying they were going to come around and inspect for overgrown vegetation. In this letter they said that the requirement was to not have trees or large bushes/plants within about 6 feet (~2 m) from the property line. NOBODY CAME! The inspections were not done at all, or, if they were conducted, they were done at an almost invisible scale. I have always been very responsible about this. I do not have large trees anywhere on my property. We live in a fire hazard zone with serious winds multiple times per year. My entire backyard is non flammable and my back fence is concrete block. My neighbors, on the other hand, they have massive highly flammable trees almost touching the fence we share and covering their entire property. Every other year massive branches break off due to strong winds. I have advised them that, if we ever have a fire, their trees are going to become massive ember manufacturing machines. They either don't understand, don't care or a combination of both. The point is: The fire department could have come around and enforced some kind of a reasonable safety standard. They have not. Ever. And so, if a massive fire takes out the entire neighborhood, this lack of bad governance is what is going to result in a high cost in property and lives. This isn't about climate change. That's ridiculous. This is about incompetence and misplaced priorities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds

rstuart4133 2y ago
> Guess what? Strong wind + a small fire + lots of fuel = massive fire. Yes, that's true. Yes, it is always more or less inevitable it these circumstances will happen. Most won't dispute that. What climate change changes is the frequency. A suburb being wiped out once in 100 years is something we can collectively afford. But now, you have wild fires in the middle of winter. It's not once in 100 years any more. Probably the best illustration of that is Great Barrier Reef, something in my back yard. People who aren't keen on blaming climate change repeatedly point out the reef has always suffered the setbacks we see now - like bleaching, crown of thorns that killed parts of it off. That's true. But is also true that now, unlike before, the reef is rapidly shrinking, especially in the northern regions where it's hotter, whereas before it wasn't. The reason is the frequency of these die offs. Before, when a section of the reef was destroyed by something or other, in 10 years it would be recover, growing back. Now these things are happening at 5 year intervals and the interval is growing shorter. The reef is retreating as a consequence. It is no longer viable in the regions it once was. The same is true for California. Climate change has made the frequency of these disasters increase. Whereas before you could afford to insure against 100 year event, you can't afford to insure against a 10 year event. Ergo, climate change is decreasing the amount of California that is habitable.
- robomartin 2y ago
  > What climate change changes is the frequency. Where is the data you used to support that claim? And, what is this "climate change" thing anyway. The climate has been changing since this planet was formed. So, yeah, climate is a part of the reality of living on this planet. And that's news, how? You see, that's the problem with this issue. Of course climate change is real. Who would dispute that fact? What isn't real is instantly attributing EVERYTHING to climate change. Every fire we ever have in California is instantly attributed to climate change, and this is spoken as indisputable truth that nobody should dare doubt. Like fires materialize out of nowhere due to molecular alchemy caused by climate change. This is pure unadulterated insanity. When someone says "it's climate change" we are all supposed to kneel down, bow our collective heads and accept it as the truth. Well, I call on Zeus then. Why not? Who is going to dispute that the fires and your reef example were not caused by Zeus being angry at us? Prove me wrong. You know what was needed to prevent this disaster? Simple: Water: Reservoirs were EMPTY due to political decisions Funding: The fire department has been shrinking for many years. During that time the city has grown. And, during that time, they have been asking for more funding. Instead they got budget cuts and less fire stations. Execution: Companies who hire incompetent people fail. The same is true of government. People have been voting for the incompetent, and this is the result. Maintenance: The only vegetation control we have is when a wild fire burns down entire hills. If we don't control the fuel the results are predictable. Enforcement: People must be responsible for hardening their property against fires. Reservoir: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flames-raged-in-palisades-a-key-reservoir-nearby-was-offline https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flame... https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/los-angeles-water-chief-knew-about-empty-reservoir-broken-hydrants-months-before-fires-mayor-karen-bass-department-water-power-janisse-quinones-reservoir-pacific-palisades-report https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/los-angeles-water-c... Climate change? The other day there was an interview with the Chief of the fire department. They printed and displayed, on a table, some thirty different documents (if not more) from the last several years. These documents show how they have been asking for help and got nothing at all. Climate change? There's an interview with a guy who saved his home and those of two of his neighbors...using a garden hose. Sure, a bit of luck had to play a part here. However, one thing he said during the interview is endemic to aspects of this event: He said that in the time he spent fighting the fires he never saw a single fire brigade come by to protect any of the surrounding homes. Not one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQlnHdMqC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQlnHdMqC0 Climate change? > Climate change has made the frequency of these disasters increase. And, out of the million other variables driving planetary forces, not a single one plays part on any of these events. It is decreed that it this is due to a single variable, climate change. Time to kneel down and accept it. We cannot do a damn thing about climate change. Not one thing. The hubris in this religion is incredible. People are walking around talking about this like controlling a planetary scale effect is actually something we can do. It's madness. I mean, the LA fires this week, when compared to planetary scale, were utterly insignificant in scale. A planetary rounding error. And we had no power when facing such a thing, while, in the same breath, people are saying things like "We have to control climate change!". The only reason we had some control is because the winds stopped for a couple of days. Have we gone mad? The planet has always changed, evolved and mutated. And we learned to live on it. It --the planet-- sets the rules. We have to live within them. If things are changing, we adapt. It isn't apocalyptic. It's just change. We can't fix it. Now, that would require Zeus.

rstuart4133 2y ago

> Guess what? Strong wind + a small fire + lots of fuel = massive fire. Yes, that's true. Yes, it is always more or less inevitable it these circumstances will happen. Most won't dispute that. What climate change changes is the frequency. A suburb being wiped out once in 100 years is something we can collectively afford. But now, you have wild fires in the middle of winter. It's not once in 100 years any more. Probably the best illustration of that is Great Barrier Reef, something in my back yard. People who aren't keen on blaming climate change repeatedly point out the reef has always suffered the setbacks we see now - like bleaching, crown of thorns that killed parts of it off. That's true. But is also true that now, unlike before, the reef is rapidly shrinking, especially in the northern regions where it's hotter, whereas before it wasn't. The reason is the frequency of these die offs. Before, when a section of the reef was destroyed by something or other, in 10 years it would be recover, growing back. Now these things are happening at 5 year intervals and the interval is growing shorter. The reef is retreating as a consequence. It is no longer viable in the regions it once was. The same is true for California. Climate change has made the frequency of these disasters increase. Whereas before you could afford to insure against 100 year event, you can't afford to insure against a 10 year event. Ergo, climate change is decreasing the amount of California that is habitable.

robomartin 2y ago
> What climate change changes is the frequency. Where is the data you used to support that claim? And, what is this "climate change" thing anyway. The climate has been changing since this planet was formed. So, yeah, climate is a part of the reality of living on this planet. And that's news, how? You see, that's the problem with this issue. Of course climate change is real. Who would dispute that fact? What isn't real is instantly attributing EVERYTHING to climate change. Every fire we ever have in California is instantly attributed to climate change, and this is spoken as indisputable truth that nobody should dare doubt. Like fires materialize out of nowhere due to molecular alchemy caused by climate change. This is pure unadulterated insanity. When someone says "it's climate change" we are all supposed to kneel down, bow our collective heads and accept it as the truth. Well, I call on Zeus then. Why not? Who is going to dispute that the fires and your reef example were not caused by Zeus being angry at us? Prove me wrong. You know what was needed to prevent this disaster? Simple: Water: Reservoirs were EMPTY due to political decisions Funding: The fire department has been shrinking for many years. During that time the city has grown. And, during that time, they have been asking for more funding. Instead they got budget cuts and less fire stations. Execution: Companies who hire incompetent people fail. The same is true of government. People have been voting for the incompetent, and this is the result. Maintenance: The only vegetation control we have is when a wild fire burns down entire hills. If we don't control the fuel the results are predictable. Enforcement: People must be responsible for hardening their property against fires. Reservoir: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flames-raged-in-palisades-a-key-reservoir-nearby-was-offline https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-10/as-flame... https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/los-angeles-water-chief-knew-about-empty-reservoir-broken-hydrants-months-before-fires-mayor-karen-bass-department-water-power-janisse-quinones-reservoir-pacific-palisades-report https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/los-angeles-water-c... Climate change? The other day there was an interview with the Chief of the fire department. They printed and displayed, on a table, some thirty different documents (if not more) from the last several years. These documents show how they have been asking for help and got nothing at all. Climate change? There's an interview with a guy who saved his home and those of two of his neighbors...using a garden hose. Sure, a bit of luck had to play a part here. However, one thing he said during the interview is endemic to aspects of this event: He said that in the time he spent fighting the fires he never saw a single fire brigade come by to protect any of the surrounding homes. Not one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQlnHdMqC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQlnHdMqC0 Climate change? > Climate change has made the frequency of these disasters increase. And, out of the million other variables driving planetary forces, not a single one plays part on any of these events. It is decreed that it this is due to a single variable, climate change. Time to kneel down and accept it. We cannot do a damn thing about climate change. Not one thing. The hubris in this religion is incredible. People are walking around talking about this like controlling a planetary scale effect is actually something we can do. It's madness. I mean, the LA fires this week, when compared to planetary scale, were utterly insignificant in scale. A planetary rounding error. And we had no power when facing such a thing, while, in the same breath, people are saying things like "We have to control climate change!". The only reason we had some control is because the winds stopped for a couple of days. Have we gone mad? The planet has always changed, evolved and mutated. And we learned to live on it. It --the planet-- sets the rules. We have to live within them. If things are changing, we adapt. It isn't apocalyptic. It's just change. We can't fix it. Now, that would require Zeus.