Fire Storms in Los Angeles: Davis’ ‘Ecology of Fear’ re-read in the 21st century

In January 2025, series of firestorms exploded in the Los Angeles region. The occurrence appeared exceptional in terms of its magnitude, Conversation suggested by:
Renaud Le Goix, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, UMR Géographie-cités 8504, Paris , & Céline Vacchiani-Marcuzzo, Université Paris Cité, UMR Géographie-cités, Paris
its extent (some 12,000 homes and businesses destroyed, 150,000 people evacuated), the number of casualities (20 and possibly more), and its media coverage, linked to the celebrities involved and live images broadcasted on social media. The event has been said to be “unprecedented”, not only because of its magnitude, but because this climatic event exceptionally occurred in January, in the middle of the winter. The consequences of climate change are well known and documented: two particularly wet seasons in 2022 and 2023, wet vegetation spreading over the highlands, followed by an exceptionally arid summer season; the violent north-easterly hot and dry Santa Ana winds, blowing from the high desert fueled the fire and spread the embers, as journalist and writer Joan Didion described back in 1968:

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