
Hot Takes by the UCLA Heat Lab
As global warming worsens, heat increasingly impacts people's daily lives - influencing health, behavior, and more. But, we often aren’t very conscious about heat and knowledge of it doesn’t get shared beyond academia and specialized fields. In every episode, our hosts engage different researchers, activists, or community members to share their work and how it can be applied in the real world.
Hot Takes by the UCLA Heat Lab
Ep 7 - Winter Warmerland
In this Hot Takes special mini-episode, we take a look at the concerning weather events of 2025, and how they led to the heartbreaking destruction within the Los Angeles community due to the wildfires that ignited in early January. Walking through the history of Los Angeles weather events and how we have seen the loss of our seasons in recent years, we try to better understand the causes and effects behind these destructive fires, and how we as a community can not only rebuild, but learn to prevent them in the future. Narrated through an educational lens, the Hot Takes podcast hopes to bring awareness to the catalysts and lasting effects of wildfires and Southern California’s “winter warmerland.”
Co-Hosts and Writers: Tiana Hoang, Natalie Gurzeler, and Isaac Lee
Additional writing support from Yasmine Qushair
Check out shownotes here: https://tinyurl.com/hottakes7
Welcome to Hot Takes. Today's special will be co-hosted by me, Tiana Huang, Isaac Lee, and Natalie Gridzler. In this episode, we will discuss the recent Los Angeles fires and dive into LA history, asking ourselves, how did it get this hot? The Hot Takes Podcast is brought to you by the hottest lab on campus, the UCLA Heat Lab, with the production support from Natalie Girdzler, Tiana Huang, and Isaac Lee. We are generously funded by the Green Initiative Fund. You can email us at HottakesUCLA at gmail.com with any suggestions so that we can work to improve your listening experience. Also, don't forget to give the podcast a rating on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and follow our Instagram at UCLA HeatLab. Today's episode will not contain a fire starter, as this mini-episode will be talking about the recent outbreak of fires in Southern California, from their history to their aftermath. More resources will be highlighted at the end of this episode and in our show notes.
SPEAKER_02:So, how did it all start? In 1949, Los Angeles experienced snowfall for four consecutive days. With this being one of the only three measurable snowfalls recorded in Los Angeles history, we are left to wonder what happened to all the snow. In recent years, many Angelinos consider it lucky if we even experience one day of rainfall or some light drizzling. With the city famously being described as sunny for more than 300 days of the year, we are beginning to increasingly experience a new growing weather phenomenon, the heat wave. So, how did we get here? Where is the white Christmas and winter wonderland we've all been dreaming of? With snow in Los Angeles seeming to be only a memory of the past, we have no choice but to welcome a new era. The era of the winter warmer land. With heat waves in Los Angeles increasing in not only duration but also frequency, LA's climate is slowly shifting into a hotter, drier basin. In combination with the terrain and large areas of trees, shrubbery, and dry vegetation, LA has become the perfect breeding ground for wildfire and drought. According to KTLA 5 News, just this January alone, downtown Los Angeles set a record for the longest period without measuring at least one tenth of an inch of rainfall. Before January 15th, 2025, the last day which recorded one tenth of an inch of rainfall was all the way back on May 5, 2024. That was 255 days ago, breaking the 2008 record for 253 days without measurable rain.
SPEAKER_00:Combined with the hottest summer on record per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this continued lack of rain into winter meant that vegetation remained completely desiccated and unfortunately would pose immediate threats if fire conditions were to develop. This became the case during the first couple weeks of January. Although Southern California's scrub biome is prone to natural burning, the intensity of such events is amplified by another weather system. Every year in the fall and winter months, high pressure air cells develop in the Great Basin regions of Nevada and Utah. The cold air compacts together before being squeezed towards Southern California's mountain ranges. These ranges, the Sierra Nevada and Transversed, act as physical barriers to the cold air and temporarily stop their movement. However, at a certain saturation point, the air spills over in masses. Because of the initial blockage, Southern California becomes a bit of a low depression sink in which all of this cold air will rush down the mountains to fill. When they do, the air warms over our cities and gains speed, becoming the Santa Ana winds as they span towards the shore. It's these infamous winds that often bring seasonal allergies when they pass through, but also, and in the case of the Palisade and Eaton fires, exacerbate conditions for huge burning. At time of recording, no definitive cause for either fire has been released. However, experts associated with the Los Angeles Fire Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are firm in their reasoning that both fires were caused by human activity. The Palisades fire seems to have started from the still burning embers of a smaller fire from New Year's celebrations. The Eden fire was most likely ignited by defective Zocal Edison equipment. While these are both causal explanations for ignition, there's another reason that precedes any spark or flame. Improper land and vegetation management is becoming an increasingly common denominator for California wildfire events. In recent decades, administrative management of our natural landscape has shifted towards large-scale general operations without much consideration for local conditions, land topography, and arboreal composition. As a result, vast amounts of thick and dry undergrowth are allowed to accumulate even in forest regions surrounding our communities. It is an undeniable trend that our current management systems are not effective. Within the last decade alone, are the ten largest wildfires in the state's history.
SPEAKER_01:Taking a look back into history, native stewards of the land would practice cultural burning to avoid devastation wrought on by wildfires. According to the National Park Service, their practices played an important role in promoting the health and vegetation of animals. Since then, we've moved past these practices as a result of industrialization and colonization, but we haven't moved past the threats still posed by the natural environment. Fire suppression, in conjunction with global warming and urbanization, has increased the risk of wildfires. This highlights the importance of initiatives which incorporate traditional ecological knowledge, TEK, into land management.
SPEAKER_02:So, how did these fires spread so quickly? The wildfires we've seen in LA aren't like typical building or electrical fires. Firefighters have a specific set of methods used to address different types of fire. In the case of wildfires, firefighters aim to extinguish fire by addressing one of three things heat, oxygen, or fuel. These three things are what keep fires going. In open areas where oxygen is everywhere, suppressing it is not really an option. With localized fires in a kitchen, for example, you can smother the fire with a fire blanket. Or in a more simple context, you can extinguish a candle by putting the lid back on, which cuts off the oxygen. Since that doesn't really work for wildfires, firefighters need to suppress fuel sources and heat. Unfortunately, the LA fire started in areas with large quantities of dry vegetation due to lack of rainfall, which ultimately allowed wildfires to not just spread but spread fast. The high wind speeds carry embers to other areas of land, which ignites the dry shrubbery spreading to the fire. To tackle this, firefighters often take hand tools like axes to remove vegetation and create an outline around fires that prevent them from spreading further. And to address heat, firefighters use fire retardant or water, which directly extinguishes the flames. What makes this all the more difficult is that the LA fires started in areas with not so friendly topography. The hilly locations made it difficult for firefighters to suppress heat and fuel sources, and the high winds made it difficult for planes to fly, which in turn made it easier for fires to spread. One aspect of the LA fires that has health professionals concerned are the potential after effects of smoke inhalation and heat exposure on those exposed, particularly firefighters. Firefighting is a physically demanding job that exposes firefighters to hazardous smoke and particulate matter. Studies have even shown that firefighters have an increased risk of certain cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, as well as cancer and certain forms of mental health issues. With the fires lasting about one month and being so widespread, the health impacts extend past firefighters and to people who lived or worked near the fires.
SPEAKER_01:So where do we go from here? Addressing the immediate, if you're currently in West LA like we are, feel free to look into the new recovery center, which opened on January 15th and is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. An additional FEMA Disaster Recovery Center has also opened at the Pasadena City College Community Education Center. Additionally, for those currently or recently affected by the fires, we encourage you to stay up to date with the air quality in your area and take the necessary precautions when going outside, such as wearing a mask, especially if volunteering for fire recovery. Finally, for those who would like to donate in support of those affected by the LA fires, check out our show notes for this episode, which will have links to various wildfire recovery funds, as well as co-fundmees for LA residents who have been affected by the fires. Our hearts truly go out to everyone who has been affected by the recent fires in Southern California. As our winters continue to warm, it becomes even more crucial that we not only remain aware of how things came to be this way, but also remember to look out for one another and that it is ultimately our communities that keep us safe.
SPEAKER_00:We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you would like to learn more about rising global temperatures and how winters are changing, please reference our show notes, which will be linked on our website as well as the podcast description. You can learn more about the UCLA Heat Lab on our website, heatlab.homspace.ucla.edu. Once more, we would like to send our thanks to the Green Initiative Fund for making this production possible. If you enjoyed our podcast, please feel free to give us a rating. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time on the Hot Takes Podcast.