Lifehacker: “While Los Angeles County continues to battle devastating wildfires, you may be wondering about the safety of your own home. More specifically, how are you covered when the unthinkable happens? Unfortunately, insurance doesn’t function like a gas or electric company; even in the face of disaster, insurers aren’t obligated to service your home. And while homeowners insurance isn’t legally mandated, choosing to forgo protection in an attempt to save money could prove to be one of the most expensive decisions a homeowner can make. Homeowners insurance is a crucial financial protection for your home and belongings, but many homeowners don’t fully understand their coverage. Let’s take a look at how exactly homeowners insurance works so that you can make informed decisions about your coverage…”
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Category Archives: Climate Change
Map: How big are the LA fires? Use this tool to overlay them atop where you live
CalMatters is joining with our public media partners at PBS SoCal, LAist and KCRW to bring you reliable, essential, free information to support people affected by the wildfires and keep all Californians up to date. Sign up for the Daily Wildfire Updates newsletter. “The fires sweeping across Los Angeles County for the past week have… Continue Reading
Toyota exposed as major funder of climate change deniers
Raw Story: “Nearly three decades after its introduction, the hybrid Toyota Prius is still associated with environmental action and the scientific consensus that fossil fuel emissions, including those from vehicles, must be reduced to avoid the worst effects of planetary heating. But a Tuesday report from watchdog group Public Citizen reveals how Toyota has spent… Continue Reading
Fluoride in water: A research roundup and reporting tip sheet
The Journalist’s Resource: “Several U.S. communities are debating whether to remove fluoride from their water supplies in the wake of comments by President-elect Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called the mineral an “industrial waste,” looking to remove it from water systems across the nation once Trump takes office. Local… Continue Reading
New NOAA dataset to help improve flood mitigation tools, flood-risk assessment
“The first modeled, historical water level and wave dataset for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf coasts was released today by NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS). This comprehensive dataset — known as Coastal Ocean Reanalysis (CORA) — advances NOAA’s ability to better serve the nation’s coastal communities and lays the foundation for future NOAA coastal flooding… Continue Reading
The home insurance crisis can’t be fixed with money alone
Semafor: “The devastating wildfires that are sweeping Los Angeles may accelerate the flight of home insurance companies from California in spite of recent regulatory changes aimed at retaining them, the state’s previous top insurance official told Semafor. At least two major fires are still raging largely uncontained, aided by ongoing high winds, and 24 people… Continue Reading
California wildfires map
The Los Angeles Times has this amazing interactive map, based on real-time open data provided by CalFire and the Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination. See also Analysing satellite imagery of the Jan 2025 Southern California wildfires: “3.9 micron data from the GOES-16 East and GOES-18 West satellites on the January 2025 Southern California fires. We download the… Continue Reading
Strict Scrutiny
“A podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors– Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray– Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down… Continue Reading
NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
This tool converts letters and numbers into the NATO phonetic alphabet, which is used to clearly communicate spelling over radio, phone, or in any situation where clarity is crucial. For example, “BAT” becomes “Bravo Alpha Tango”. This helps avoid confusion between similar-sounding letters like ‘B’ and ‘P’ or ‘M’ and ‘N’. Important: This is an… Continue Reading
Supreme Court’s Contempt for Facts Is a Betrayal of Justice
Scientific American [unpaywalled] – The Supreme Court majority’s recent decisions about homelessness, public health and regulatory power, among others, undermine the role of evidence, expertise and honesty in American democracy. “When the Supreme Court’s Ohio v. EPA decision blocked Environmental Protection Agency limits on Midwestern states polluting their downwind neighbors, a sad but telling coda… Continue Reading
LA wildfire damages set to cost record $135 Billion – 10,000+ buildings destroyed
Semafor – “JPMorgan said this morning, more than double an earlier estimate. That comes as those companies are still rebuilding their reserves from the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons, which included the deadly Camp Fire in California. Insurers have been fleeing California in recent years as weather-related catastrophes become more common, pushing more homeowners to… Continue Reading
States struggle to curb food waste despite policies
State-level policies alone are insufficient to meet the federal food waste reduction goal in the United States, Nature Food (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01092-w – PHYS.org: “…The United States generates more food waste than all but two countries. To address this, the federal government set a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030 compared to 2016… Continue Reading
