The devastation from the wildfires in the Los Angeles area is a human tragedy beyond belief. It only adds to those who are suffering globally from droughts, floods and other climate-related disasters. An article on the Financial Times (behind a paywall) counts the cost from catastrophes in 2024. “Hurricanes, fires and other disasters caused $320bn in losses in 2024, or about a third more than the year before, highlighting the toll taken by climate change and property development in areas hit by extreme weather,” the world’s largest reinsurance group Munich Re said. “About $140bn of these losses were covered by insurance . . . making last year the most expensive for the industry since 2017 when the hurricane trio of Harvey, Irma and Maria struck the US.” About two-thirds of the global losses last year occurred in North America.
Focusing on the on-going wildfires in the Los Angeles area, the New York Times (behind a paywall) estimates that the damages so far come to US$57 billion. The Financial Times reported Friday that insurers are bracing for losses of as much as US$20 billion from the wildfires. They report that JPMorgan doubled its expectations for insured losses from only the day before. There are surely losses to public infrastructure that are not included in these estimates. What will the total losses end up being whenever these wildfires end?
These are happening when it is reported this week that globally the average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, already beyond our long-term Paris Agreement target of 1.5C. Mitigation efforts are failing. We are seeing these catastrophes daily. When are we going to recognise this as a crisis that requires unprecedented action?
As we get ready to see what the Trump administration will do to our climate and energy efforts, check out this cartoon from the archives.
In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here is some useful ideas to help you along:
- Country Living Magazine provides 3 European train routes set to transform travel in 2025.
- Much Better Adventures provides us with 10 of the best winter walks in Europe.
- For those who want to combine hiking with food and wine in Europe and Australia, check out the Hedonistic Hiking website.
- Cycling for Softies provides us with the 15 Best Cycling Holidays in Europe 2025.
- Travelling in 2025? Here’s how to become a ‘regenerative’ tourist.
Yuval Noah Harari (b. 1976), an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual, and popular science writer, provides us with another thought-provoking message from his recent book, NEXUS: “History isn’t the study of the past; it is the study of change. History teaches us what remains the same, what changes, and how things change.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
- Jimmy Carter was the first world statesman to select energy conservation as one of his absolutely key policy priorities
- Over the past year, over 60% of all homes sold, let, or constructed in England and Wales achieved an EPC rating of C or above
- Without meaningful action, net zero by 2050 for the aviation sector will never be achieved
- Update on Scotland’s green ambitions
- Blog by Jane Marsh – Battery Cities: the next step in sustainable urban development
- France’s energy transition: “The fact that emissions are on the rise again should be an electroshock for this new government”
- The amount of high-tech waste from sports is growing fast but there are ways to recycle it
- Scientists have discovered a way to turn previously useless industrial waste into a vital material used in batteries
Please send your comments on any of the posts. Please recommend EiD to your friends and colleagues.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 