If we’re being honest, 2025 did not start out great. For basically the whole month of January, a series of wildfires raged across Los Angeles, killing hundreds (more on that number below). On the other side of the country, an Arctic blast brought historic snowfall and bitter cold deep into the South. Then Donald Trump took office for a second time on January 20 and immediately began to unravel the climate progress the United States had made under Joe Biden.
The rest of the year, which is on track to tie for the second hottest on record, was just as momentous, bringing all manner of climate events — some good, some bad. In a lot of ways, we’ll look back on 2025 as a critical moment, both for the environment and humanity. Here’s why.
A firestorm consumes Los AngelesStarting on January 7, wildfires continued for weeks and burned 78 square miles across Los Angeles, driven by strong winds and fueled by extra-dry vegetation. (The conflagration had climate change’s fingerprints all over it.) The fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures and forced more than 1... Read more
