Democrats hold super-majorities in the California State Assembly and the Senate. Democrats can, and do, pass legislation without a single Republican vote.

The California fires erupted amid extremely dry conditions. UCLA scientists say extreme heat linked to climate change was a factor in the fires' intensity.

About 1,600 policies for Pacific Palisades homeowners were dropped by State Farm in July, the state insurance office says.

The Eaton Fire is one of several that have swept across Los Angeles County. At least 24 people have died and more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed. Parts of Altadena, a mixed-income neighbourhood set ablaze by windblown embers,

Today, the Los Angeles Times is launching Boiling Point, a podcast about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. Yes, that’s the same name as this newsletter. I hope you’ll subscribe and listen.

A 2023 study found from 1971 to 2021, human-caused climate change contributed to a +172% increase in burned areas in California, with a +320% increase from 1996 to 2021. In the coming decades, a further increase in annual forest burned areas is expected, ranging from 3% to 52%.

T housands of personnel—firefighters, first responders, and the National Guard—have turned their attention towards stifling the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, some of the worst California has ever seen.

As fires rage on the West Coast, officials warn that Massachusetts could be set up for an active spring fire season.

Besides the heartbreak of losing lives and losing homes, there are obvious economic factors here that cannot be ignored:

Climate change has brought both fiercer rains and deeper droughts, leaving the city with brush like kindling—and the phenomenon is on the rise worldwide.

Somini Sengupta, a Times climate reporter, on her relationship with the city, its mythology, and a reckoning with disaster.