Strong winds and low humidity continue as five fires rage across Los Angeles area, with death toll expected to rise
California wildfires – live
Los Angeles fires: the damage in maps, video and images
Weather forecasters in Los Angeles expect fast, dry winds to return towards the end of the weekend, threatening to fuel wildfires that have already destroyed 10,000 structures and killed 10 people.
Urgent “red flag” alerts – meaning critical fire weather conditions – announced by the US National Weather Service (NWS) said moderate to strong wind and low humidity would continue on Friday morning, as five fires raged across the metropolis.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
01/10/2025 - 08:51
01/10/2025 - 08:00
Those who lived in regions with firefighting training areas earned about 1.7% less later in life, research shows
Early life exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” could affect economic success in adulthood, new first-of-its-kind research suggests.
The Iowa State University and US Census Bureau working paper compared the earnings, college graduation rates and birth weights of two groups of children – those raised around military installations that had firefighting training areas, and those who lived near bases with no firefighting training site.
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01/10/2025 - 06:00
A similar campaign of rumors and lies was seen after the North Carolina hurricane, with DEI a primary target
As Los Angeles firefighters battle ongoing blazes, prominent rightwing figures are spreading bigoted criticism of the response and lies about who is to blame, including that the fire is raging because of diversity within the fire department.
The misinformation echoes the claims that plagued the North Carolina hurricane response. Both disasters led to outrage, which partisan actors seized upon to advance their political goals, muddying the already confusing information ecosystem that accompanies a fast-moving news event.
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01/10/2025 - 05:55
Police urge public not to approach illegally released animals understood to have been spotted by cameras in Cairngorms
Two more lynx have been seen in the Scottish Highlands, close to the site where two of the illegally released animals were captured on Thursday.
It is understood the pair were spotted on camera traps set by staff from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in woods near Kingussie, in the Cairngorms, close to where the first two were trapped.
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01/10/2025 - 03:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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01/09/2025 - 22:00
Highest recorded temperatures supercharged extreme weather – with worse to come, EU data shows
Climate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing “misery to millions of people”.
The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows. That is a jump of 0.1C from 2023, which was also a record hot year and represents levels of heat never experienced by modern humans.
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01/09/2025 - 19:09
It’s possible for massive fires to burn in Australian cities. Planning needs to reflect this
As the Los Angeles wildfires rage, we are watching a disaster unfold in real time.
We knew this would happen eventually. We have moved from possible futures to these things now happening. The deferment has ended.
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01/09/2025 - 19:01
Emissions caused by wealthiest 1% so far this year would take someone from poorest 50% three years to create
The world’s richest 1% have already used up their fair share of the global carbon budget for 2025, just 10 days into the year.
In less than a week and a half, the consumption habits of an individual from this monied elite had already caused, on average, 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to analysis by Oxfam GB. It would take someone from the poorest 50% of humanity three years to create the same amount of pollution.
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01/09/2025 - 18:39
With winds scattering embers across swaths of land, the Eaton fire burns down some houses while leaving others unscathed
Tell us: how have the California wildfires affected you?
Ash was falling gently over the Historic Highlands neighborhood of Pasadena, California, on Thursday as residents began to grapple with the toll of the Eaton fire still being fought in the mountains above.
This area was under an evacuation order on Wednesday, and the next day the streets were still littered with fallen branches from Tuesday night’s intense windstorm. The fire broke out early in the evening and spread rapidly amid the powerful gusts, killing at least four people and destroying more than 5,000 structures in the area, which also includes the Altadena and Sierra Madre neighborhoods. As of Thursday afternoon, the blaze had burned 13,690 acres (5,540 hectares) and remained 0% contained.
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01/09/2025 - 18:05
What began as a wildfire in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday has expanded to five fires still burning fiercely on Thursday
LA fires live updates: California wildfires latest news
A fierce wildfire erupted in the affluent western Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, 7 January, and quickly expanded as a major windstorm whipped up flames.
In the next two days, several other blazes ignited around the wider Los Angeles county, which is home to 9.6 million people. Fires were still burning fiercely on Thursday and a terrified region was braced for more danger and destruction.
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