Wordnerdery Sue Horner’s monthly tips on words and ways to reach readers (and sometimes other diversions) – January 2025

Issue 143 – January 2025

crunch the numbers to Capture context

It’s hard to grasp just how much has burned in the Los Angeles area…This is where reporters and writers can step in to make it clear.
Photo by Guido Jansen on Unsplash.

Other events (cough) have taken over the news this week, but the wildfires that dominated earlier this month are still blazing in Los Angeles.

As I write this, the largest, Palisades, is only 59% contained, although the Eaton fire is at 87%. More than 200,000 people were evacuated; at least 27 are dead. More than 15,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including entire neighborhoods. Gusty Santa Ana winds and dry conditions mean the danger is far from over.

It’s hard to grasp how bad it is and just how much has burned in the Los Angeles area – even seeing footage on TV and social media. This is where reporters and writers can step in to make it clear.

I fell down an online rabbit hole looking for examples.

A week after the fires began, the combined total area burned reached about 164 square kilometres (63 square miles). What does that mean?

Kenneth Chan of blogTO compared this to two major Canadian cities. He said it would cover over 80% of the City of Vancouver's land, including North Vancouver and New Westminster. It would likewise cover a huge swath of Toronto: from the Islington neighbourhood to the west, Thorncliffe Park to the east, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to the north and Toronto Island to the south.

The BBC took a visual angle, showing a map overlaying the Palisades fire over much of New York City and London.

The World Resources Institute posted an article explaining the underlying causes of devastating fires in California. James MacCarthy and Jessica Richter point out that “large wildfires are rare in California this early in the year.” How rare? They note that satellite data shows that more than 170 fire alerts were detected in mid-January, more than 100 times the average. And following a summer of extreme heat, rainfall since October was far below normal: only about 4% of the typical amount.

The two also note that fire is the largest driver of tree cover loss in California. In 2020 and 2021, the state lost over 700,000 hectares (1.73 million acres) of tree cover due to fire. That’s more than five times the area of Los Angeles.

In 2017, non-profit Climate Central was already warning that large wildfires are becoming more frequent and widespread in the western U.S. compared with the 1970s. “The annual average western U.S. wildfire season is now 105 days longer, has three times as many large fires (larger than 1,000 acres), and sees more than six times as many acres burned,” it says.

And what about the dangers of breathing wildfire smoke? Global News’ Katie Dangerfield describes the smoke as a mixture of gases and fine particles. Some of the most dangerous components, particulate matter (PM2.5), are tiny particles “less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — far smaller than the width of a human hair.” Because of their tiny size, they can easily penetrate deep into the lungs, and even enter the bloodstream, posing serious health risks.

Enlightening comparisons, aren’t they?

As firefighters eventually get the wildfires under control, the next big numbers we’re going to see are the insurance costs. So far, I’ve seen estimates like $35 to $45 billion, but I haven't yet seen any striking comparisons.

What helpful comparisons have you seen explaining numbers? Please share.

Related reading:

How to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires

Wildfires affect wildlife and pets, too. Here’s how to help

In the Red Jacket Diaries:

Dissonance and polarization in 2024? Sounds about right

Top 10 posts in the Red Jacket Diaries in 2024

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