Invasive Species
Jan. 11th, 2025 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraThe Los Angeles fires continue to burn…
One of the more interesting things about them—from a strictly anthropological point of view—is the reaction of the victims.
These fires are destroying some of the priciest real estate in the U.S.—which means some of the priciest real estate on the planet.
These victims are not the dejected & broken mobile home residents so familiar from press coverage of hurricanes, tornados, floods, et al that sweep the South & the heartlands periodically.
These people are rich & entitled.
Did their houses burn down because all of Southern California is a desert that, particularly in the wake of climate change, cannot possibly sustain the 23 million humans crammed into it?
Hell, no!
There is a Blame Train, and the victims are all riding it. They’re gonna sue the State of California! Which apparently should be more proactive about ending the natural ecology of fire regimes that have blown through this area for thousands of years since the Native American Tongva people lived in the Santa Monica Mountains.
They have the money to hire the lawyers and an unassailable belief in their own exceptionalism that’s strong enough to be outraged rather than crushed when the Universe tries to pull a fast one on them.
###
The fire cycle has been accelerated by climate change in obvious and not-so-obvious ways.
One of those not-so-obvious ways: Native California plants have adapted to the fire regime ecology. Some of them actually depend upon the fire cycle for germination. Many of them have fire-retardant qualities.
Climate change gives a push to non-native plants, invasive species that are not adapted to the fire cycle and crowd out native vegetation, resulting in less natural levels of protection.
###
Anyway, there’s no doubt in my mind that Gavin Newsom is out, and California is about to make a very creaky, vibrating turn to the right.
California’s population centers are all in the south.
And it seems like the entitled victims of this natural disaster blame the disaster on DEI. I’m confident they will vote accordingly.
###
When I look at photographs of obliterated Pacific Palisades, gotta say I think about Gaza residents and Syria returnees facing very similar sights. With no one to sue and absolutely no ability to bail out.
###
Meanwhile, I am a bit sore from a workout I didn’t think much about while I was doing it at the Y yesterday. I have hardly any upper body strength at all, so biceps curls, triceps extensions, etc are unfamiliar muscle workouts.
Hideous White Stuff fell From the Sky this morning—not a lot, but enough to make leaving the house unappealing.
I am working my way through the IRS certification materials. There is a lot to know, and I never remember any of it from the year before.
Iggy is back in residence for the next five days or so. When I went downstairs last night to scavenge dinner, I beheld Gus, the youngest spawn, sitting miserably on the couch. At 14, Gus is on some heavy-duty antidepressants, and he barely interacts with his father, just sits on that couch watching endless YouTube videos on how to ace various video games.
I wonder if it’s ever dawned on Iggy that the reason Gus is so depressed is because at regular intervals, he gets plucked from his life with his seems-relatively-sane mother and forced to spend time with Iggy?
Probably not.
Anyway, I am cordial when I have to be.
But I try not to have to be.
One of the more interesting things about them—from a strictly anthropological point of view—is the reaction of the victims.
These fires are destroying some of the priciest real estate in the U.S.—which means some of the priciest real estate on the planet.
These victims are not the dejected & broken mobile home residents so familiar from press coverage of hurricanes, tornados, floods, et al that sweep the South & the heartlands periodically.
These people are rich & entitled.
Did their houses burn down because all of Southern California is a desert that, particularly in the wake of climate change, cannot possibly sustain the 23 million humans crammed into it?
Hell, no!
There is a Blame Train, and the victims are all riding it. They’re gonna sue the State of California! Which apparently should be more proactive about ending the natural ecology of fire regimes that have blown through this area for thousands of years since the Native American Tongva people lived in the Santa Monica Mountains.
They have the money to hire the lawyers and an unassailable belief in their own exceptionalism that’s strong enough to be outraged rather than crushed when the Universe tries to pull a fast one on them.
###
The fire cycle has been accelerated by climate change in obvious and not-so-obvious ways.
One of those not-so-obvious ways: Native California plants have adapted to the fire regime ecology. Some of them actually depend upon the fire cycle for germination. Many of them have fire-retardant qualities.
Climate change gives a push to non-native plants, invasive species that are not adapted to the fire cycle and crowd out native vegetation, resulting in less natural levels of protection.
###
Anyway, there’s no doubt in my mind that Gavin Newsom is out, and California is about to make a very creaky, vibrating turn to the right.
California’s population centers are all in the south.
And it seems like the entitled victims of this natural disaster blame the disaster on DEI. I’m confident they will vote accordingly.
###
When I look at photographs of obliterated Pacific Palisades, gotta say I think about Gaza residents and Syria returnees facing very similar sights. With no one to sue and absolutely no ability to bail out.
###
Meanwhile, I am a bit sore from a workout I didn’t think much about while I was doing it at the Y yesterday. I have hardly any upper body strength at all, so biceps curls, triceps extensions, etc are unfamiliar muscle workouts.
Hideous White Stuff fell From the Sky this morning—not a lot, but enough to make leaving the house unappealing.
I am working my way through the IRS certification materials. There is a lot to know, and I never remember any of it from the year before.
Iggy is back in residence for the next five days or so. When I went downstairs last night to scavenge dinner, I beheld Gus, the youngest spawn, sitting miserably on the couch. At 14, Gus is on some heavy-duty antidepressants, and he barely interacts with his father, just sits on that couch watching endless YouTube videos on how to ace various video games.
I wonder if it’s ever dawned on Iggy that the reason Gus is so depressed is because at regular intervals, he gets plucked from his life with his seems-relatively-sane mother and forced to spend time with Iggy?
Probably not.
Anyway, I am cordial when I have to be.
But I try not to have to be.
