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The Assignment with Audie Cornish

Meet the Man Who Saw the LA Fires Coming

The Assignment with Audie Cornish

Podcast Admin

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.6844 Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Peter Kalmus left California two years ago in part because of his concerns about hotter days and increasing wildfires. Today, his former neighborhood of Altadena is one of the many communities left scorched by the wildfires. And he says more are coming. Audie talks with Kalmus, who studies future extreme heat impacts on human health and ecosystems at NASA, about how the Los Angeles wildfires are part of a greater climate crisis, and how our grief can be channeled into preventing the next disaster.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

All right, like many of you, I'm sure, my mind this week is in California.

0:06.1

Now, obviously, the situation's evolving, but of course we know that the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires have burned thousands of buildings to the ground.

0:14.8

People's churches, their favorite restaurants, their kids' schools, museums, theaters.

0:26.0

We were talking communities here, and thousands and thousands of homes.

0:28.6

What do you think you're going to miss about that house?

0:33.5

I'm going to miss my room, my stuffies. I'm going to miss my neighborhood.

0:38.3

I've got 60 years of memories in that house and three children. Now it's hitting me.

0:40.3

Although the fires are still burning, the obvious question is facing survivors about what comes next.

0:50.3

The governor of California and local officials have promised to rebuild, but that doesn't mean

0:56.0

that everyone will necessarily want to stay. Last week, while I was watching CNN's coverage of the

1:01.5

fires, I saw Christian Amampur ask CNN reporter Kiyang La, who lives in the area, if the quote

1:08.6

security challenge of climate change ever comes up with the people

1:12.0

that she interviews.

1:14.2

And here's what Kiyang said.

1:16.5

Let's put this into real terms, into real working class terms.

1:20.7

I'm staying in a home that's further south if you're away from the fire with another family

1:27.2

who lives here in Altadena.

1:28.3

I live in a community right next to Altadena.

1:31.3

And what she was wondering, and this is the mother of two kids, where do you go?

1:37.3

Even though climate disaster and wildfire is a part of our daily life now, especially in California, where do you go? Where do you go that you can afford that is safe, where you have a job? It is not as simple as, you know, just move somewhere else. That's far too luxurious to think about. So today we're going to dig into this idea of the realities of living with a changed climate.

2:01.7

How should we think about where to live?

2:03.5

What does it mean to adapt?

...

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