Climate News: Cracking jokes about serious shit; Boiling Point; Economic impact of LA's fires in Australia - Matt Kean

A group of people reached for some normalcy "As L.A. burned, some venues tried to provide laughter, drinks and normalcy"; "As a Climate Scientist, I Knew It Was Time to Leave Los Angeles"; "Calif. Republicans weigh in on Trump allies’ calls for fire aid conditions"; "The home front: Could the Los Angeles fires happen in Australia?"; "How Los Angeles Dreams Became Kindling"; "For L.A.’s homeless population, the fires upend hard-earned stability"; "A new kind of urban firestorm"; "Advocates Warn of Climate, Cancer Risks From a Potential Trump Rollback on Electric Big Rigs and Buses"; "Power utility sued over woman’s death as crews make progress against LA fires"; "Misinformation Spreads Like Wildfire Online While LA Neighborhoods Burn"; "GoFundMe, Mandy Moore and the unfairness of disaster relief: ‘If you were poor before, you should stay poor’"; "‘Virtually Any City on Earth Can Burn Now’"; "Peering Into a Bleak, ‘Uninsurable Future’"; "Timeline: How the LA fires erupted into the worst natural disaster in California history"; "The California wildfires are not ‘natural disasters’ – they’re man-made catastrophes"; "Hottest year on record sent planet past key global warming limit of 1.5C for first time in 2024"; "Supreme Court declines to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits"; "A Court Says Coastal Marine Ecosystems Have Intrinsic Value—and Legal Rights"; "Why Chinese EVs are displacing Teslas"; "How climate-friendly waterwheels are coming around again"; "What might sports look like in a warming world?"; "Chart: EV sales grew slowly in 2024 — but still set new records"; "Without enough utility power, California EV truck depots try microgrids"; "‘There’s literally nothing’: surrounded by destruction, Los Angeles begins to process scale of loss"; "‘It’s going to be rough’: what Trump’s response to LA fires portends for future climate disasters"; "I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers"; "New weather system to strike eastern Australia with strong winds and rain"; "Major banks are abandoning their climate alliance en masse. So much for ‘woke capital’"; "New Study Shows How Fossil Fuel Sectors Create a Climate Denial Echo Chamber on Social Media"; "More Americans, Risking Ruin, Drop Their Home Insurance"; "The Wrong Lesson From Trudeau’s Fall Is That Climate Action Is Unpopular"; "Trump Energy Secretary Pick Chris Wright Calls Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg a ‘Friend’"; "I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real"; "Texas Is Unprepared for Compound Climate Disasters"; "How Climate Change Is Complicating a Beloved Midwest Pastime: Ice Fishing"; "Los Angeles Fires Are Exacerbating the City’s Housing Crisis"; "Wealthiest 1% Have Used Up Their Share of World’s Carbon Budget in Just 10 Days, Analysis Finds"; "

Stuart Goldsmith (pictured) flies business class but makes his ethical point about flying that way, with a smile on his face. "The Media’s Mega-Failure on LA’s Mega-Fires"; "Press Briefing: How the LA Wildfires Are Fueled by Climate Change"; "‘Some homes weren’t designed with fire in mind’: Is timber to blame for LA wildfires?"; "‘Not out of the woods yet’: Critical fire warning for LA extended an extra day"; "VIDEO: 'Absolutely terrifying': Former NSW Fire Commissioner discusses LA wildfires"; "Climate change is forcing us to rethink our sense of ‘home’ – and what it means to lose it"; "Easing conditions will help crews battle L.A. fires"; "Los Angeles Fires Lead to Over $200 Billion in Losses, Potentially the Most Expensive Wildfire Event in U.S. History"; "Wealthiest 1% Have Used Up Their Share of World’s Carbon Budget in Just 10 Days, Analysis Finds"; "Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis’ history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California"; "Boiling Point" - podcast; "Australia is becoming an uninsurable nation. There may only be one solution"; "Why the LA fires should spark economic alarm in Australia"; "‘Some homes weren’t designed with fire in mind’: Is timber to blame for LA wildfires?"; "Shattered in the Fire: A Historic Black Haven".

New York Times climate reporter, Christopher Flavelle (pictured) discusses Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses and how the city responded to the present fire crisis. "California’s insurance crisis is a warning for America"; "‘It’s ironic’: how climate crisis is driving Trump push on Greenland and Panama"; "Republicans see the LA wildfires as an opportunity to punish California"; "Death toll from Palisades and Eaton fires climbs to 24. What we know about those killed"; "‘The Love in the Air Is Thicker Than the Smoke’"; "Why firefighters say the Los Angeles blazes have been unstoppable"; "Much of Australia enjoys the same Mediterranean climate as LA. When it comes to bushfires, that doesn’t bode well"; "In pictures: The deadly path of a small bush fire that came to devastate the LA elite"; "California’s Insurance System Faces Crucial Test as Losses Mount"; "Supreme Court Clears a Path for Climate Lawsuits to Proceed".

Amy Chozick (pictured) wants someone to take control in Los Angeles, as she writes in her guest essay in The New York Times: "Los Angeles Is Being Crushed Under the Weight of Inaction"; "‘We got our fingers crossed’: residents in limbo after LA fires force evacuations"; "The Eaton Fire Is Now One of California’s Deadliest"; "'We are not in the clear': Dangerous Santa Ana winds forecast to resume in Los Angeles"; "Disinformation reigns as bushfires devastate California": "How the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires: ‘We have tweaked nature and pissed it off’"; "Middle-Class Dreams Lie in Ruins in Palisades Mobile Home Park"; "L.A.’s wildfires have leaders fighting on two fronts: Nature and politics"; "The Los Angeles fires won’t affect climate denial. They should."; "Can the Coalition turn teal seats back to blue?"; "Are Australia's urban centres prepared for a fire like Los Angeles?".

Bushfire expert, David Bowman, has warned us against "kicking the can down the road" - he asks: "Could what happened in LA occur here? Short answer: Yes"; "Los Angeles prepares for return of strong winds as fire death toll rises to 16"; "Five battles that will define Australia’s climate war election"; "The Last House Standing"; "Gov. Gavin Newsom says he expects death toll will rise"; "'Unimaginable terror and heartbreak' in LA as heightened winds threaten to worsen fires"; "As Los Angeles combusts, 2024 is declared Earth’s hottest on record"; "‘We’re in a New Era’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters"; "Scientists Say Musk Wrongly Downplays Climate Role in L.A. Fires"; "What it feels like to live in a city on fire"; "Winds will ramp up in coming days, challenging firefighters and keeping evacuees from being able to return"; "U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged".

Tesla and X owner, billionaire Elon Musk uses his position to spead disinformation about the LA fires and the California Fire Authority using sexist and racist language: "Elon Musk blames female firefighters of colour for LA fires"; "Their homes torched amid a housing crisis, L.A. residents wonder where to go"; "‘We don’t know the half of it’: More deaths feared in ever-expanding LA fires"; "Drones Take Off in the Battle Against the Los Angeles Fires"; "‘It was just dust’: Shocked families return to find their charred homes"; "Los Angeles wildfires already pegged as costliest blaze in U.S. history"; "Why Los Angeles was unprepared for this fire"; "More evacuations as fire changes direction, posing new threat to Los Angeles"; "See how a small fire in L.A. turned into a monster, hour by hour"; "The LA Fires and the Big Bang"; "Los Angeles wildfires already pegged as costliest blaze in U.S. history"; "Coming Soon to Our Musk-Trump Hellscape: AI-Trained Tesla Robotaxis"; "Misinformation Spreads Like Wildfire Online While LA Neighborhoods Burn⁠"; "Global Warming Surges Well Past 1.5-Degree Mark in 2024"; "Another Polar Vortex Is Blasting the U.S. With Harsh Winter Weather. So How Is Climate Change Involved?"; "Caught in a Climate Bind, New York State Is Reconsidering Nuclear Power"; "After Three Hurricanes in 13 Months, Residents of Cedar Key, Florida, Are Considering the Island’s Future—and Their Own".

What's happened in Los Angeles is a portent for what we could see in Australia according to: listen to Greg Mullins - "As California burns, how will Australia respond to this climate-fuelled crisis?"; "Los Angeles residents flee wildfire, firefighters battle blaze in Pacific Palisades"; "Southern California is extremely dry, and that’s fueling fires − maps show just how dry;" "BoM data finds 2024 was Australia’s second-hottest year on record"; "Wade Crowfoot on Building Wildfire Resilience"; "11 killed, 35,000 acres burned by California wildfires"; "‘There was nothing you could do’: The two days when fire swallowed Los Angeles"; "Deadly wildfires surge in size in Southern California and force more evacuations"; "As fires rage, CA fears home insurance collapse"; "You just lived through the hottest year on record. Again."; "LA is on fire. How will Australia cope when bushfires hit Sydney, Melbourne or another major city?"; "The role of climate change in the catastrophic 2025 Los Angeles fires"; "Celebrities kick off fire relief efforts, Jamie Lee Curtis pledges $1.6m"; "Nearly 800 prisoners now helping to battle Los Angeles fires"; "Australia leases US firebombing aircraft in the northern winter. So what happens when LA burns in January?"; "Epic aerial assault to protect homes in Brentwood, Encino as L.A. wildfire death toll rises"; "‘We don’t know the half of it’: More deaths feared in ever-expanding LA fires"; "Wildfires latest: Pacific Palisades fire is most destructive in Los Angeles history"; "‘Like a bomb was dropped’: Devastating before-and-after pictures reveal scale of destruction".

Devastating fires at Palisades in America's California are, in my view from some 12,000 kilometres away, a direct outcome of climate change. "What it was like on the ground as the Pacific Palisades fire spread"; "California wildfires ignite as strong winds fuel flames"; "The A.I. Power Grab"; "The new phantom menace isn’t as bad as you think. Waymo rocks!"; "Fires rage out of control across Los Angeles as officials warn of worse to come"; "Live Updates: California Officials Scramble to Fight Fires With Strained Resources"; "Why the L.A. fires became so bad so quickly"; "Wildfires are raging through the US west. Here’s how to protect yourself"; "World’s climate fight needs fundamental reform, UN expert says: ‘Some states are not acting in good faith’".

Geelong's Climate Cafe meets again this month - "Climate Café launched in Geelong"; "Winter Storm Blankets the East Coast, With Arctic Air on Its Heels"; "Locking up a 77-year-old climate protester is proof of a broken justice system"; "Wind Wars"; "Cost-of-living crisis meets new era of electric cars"; "Biden Bans New Oil and Gas Drilling Along Most U.S. Coasts"; "What Would It Take to Bring Renewable, Reliable Power to Puerto Rico?"; "Polar Vortex’ Got You Baffled? Try This Extreme-Weather Guide"; "Global Water Monitor"; "High Heat Is Preferentially Killing the Young, Not the Old, New Research Finds"; "World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School"; "'He was prescient’: Jimmy Carter, the environment and the road not taken"; "A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice"; "UK EV sales reached record highs in 2024, SMMT reveals"; "In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world"; "Artefacts from Pacific museums being put at risk"; "UK Electricity Reached a Record 58% From Low-Carbon Sources in 2024"; "All Chicago City Buildings Now Run on Renewable Energy"; "Deep-Sea Mining 101: Everything You Need to Know"; "Arbor Day Foundation to Plant 10 Million Trees to Replace Those Destroyed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton"; "Winter Storm Blair: Millions across North America hit by polar vortex"; "Fuel-hungry utes and SUVs dominate Australian sales, with Corolla the only small car on top 10 list"; "Fully recovering Australia’s threatened species would cost 25% of GDP. We can’t do it all at once – so let’s start here"; "Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows"; "The Renewable Energy Transition Has Residents of a Small Arizona Town on Edge".

Ingrid Robeyns (pictured) has written an amazingly timely book - "Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth". You can hear an interview with her by Adam Canover on "Factually - Why Billionaires Should Be Banned". Powerful writing by Adam Knox in the Melbourne Age - "It’s worse than any war or pandemic, so why are our leaders ignoring it?"; "More than 100 water rescues as heatwave sweeps across Victoria"; "The Weather That Changed Us | Heatwave"; "Federal Labor pledges to fund bulk of Bruce Highway upgrade in re-election bid"; "The first major winter storm of the season will bring heavy snow and ice to millions"; "Creating clean hydrogen power is hard. Biden’s new subsidies show why."; "The oldest animal ever found could reveal whether a crucial ocean current will collapse": "Southern Ocean winds to break stifling heatwave baking Australia’s south-east"; "Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. That’s where ‘flow batteries’ can help"; "Why drought and a big wind event spell fire trouble for Southern California"; "Several flights cancelled across Germany as extreme winter weather brings widespread disruption"; "After Three Hurricanes in 13 Months, Residents of Cedar Key, Florida, Are Considering the Island’s Future—and Their Own"; "These cities will be hardest hit as winter storm brings snow and ice to many states"; "Trump team takes aim at crown jewel of US climate research"; "What to know about the heavy snow and ice storms soon to hit a swath of the U.S."; "Polar vortex expected to bring snow, ice and brutal cold to most of US"; "Landman Is in Love With the Myths That Oilmen Tell About Themselves"; "Why the Argument That LNG Is Essential to the Energy Transition Is ‘Nonsense’"; "2024 – a dire year for Human Survival"; "Improvements to Electric Vehicles Ease Concerns About Range Loss in Cold Climates"; "Firefighters battle fresh blazes in Victoria as pockets of NSW burn"; "Biden to block oil drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. waters"; "A season of uncertainty for this Helene-stricken Christmas tree farm"; "China records warmest temperature in 2024"; "Weather warnings remain as flooding clean-up starts"; "An economic lifeline: Why Iran opposes production curbs in UN plastics treaty "; "Medical Schools Around the World Are Expanding Their ‘Climate Change Curriculums’"; "World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink"; "Greenhushing’ Is On the Rise as Companies Go Silent on Climate Pledges"; "On beaches of Gaza and Tel Aviv, two tales of one heatwave": "Reckoning With Climate Anxiety in the Wake of the US Election"; "The Earth’s Colors Are Changing—and Climate Change Could Be Partially to Blame"; "Most Costly Climate Disasters of 2024 Killed 2,000 People and Inflicted $229 Billion in Damages"; "Climate-friendly electricity sees big battery projects soar again for 2024"; "Year of deadly weather: Climate change added 41 extra heat days and supercharged disasters"; "‘Ironic’: climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports, study shows"; "Plants Are Becoming Less Nutritious Because of Climate Change, Impacting Herbivores From Insects to Giant Pandas"; "Trump accused of attacking UK energy policies on behalf of fossil fuel industry"; "Creating clean hydrogen power is hard. Biden’s new subsidies show why."; "The first major winter storm of the season will bring heavy snow and ice to millions"; "New York to Charge Biggest Emitters for Climate Damages Under New Law"; "The world’s hope to fight common threats: The U.S. will wake up"; "‘An ecological disaster’: Russia deals with aftermath of massive fuel oil spill"; "<a href="https://www.canarymedia.c