In addition to No. California's fires today, Antelope Valley is burning with hurricane-force winds, threatening the Reagan presidential library. The air here in Riverside "seemed" clear as I looked toward the San Berdoo Mountains, but you could smell the smoke. Macabre humor, but I went into a pharmacy today and sang that line from the Christmas tune "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire . . . " There were plenty of chuckles.
About ten years ago, the Times published a global map showing temperatures in areas across the world for that day. Just about everywhere, the temperatures were well above historical averages, but for two places: spots covering Santiago, Chile and So. California -- where temperatures were below the historical averages. I tried to explain statistics to my brother -- a dyed-in-the-wool Tea-Party adherent and now Trumper, but he would have none of it. "Nope! No global warming! No climate change! Because . . . it's colder here today than normal."
With this millstone of ignorance around our collective necks, I doubt that we'll solve this problem before it is too late. And it doesn't matter whether you're on the verge of hypothermia in a midwestern blizzard or fleeing from a canyon fire in the west. The phenomenon is about extremes brought on by a shift in global average temperature.