Image by Jessica Christian.

Who needs dystopian political science fiction in Amerika today? Real time nonfiction feels dystopian enough.

The other morning I was awakened by the sound of Interstate 80, two miles north. The constant dull shrieks of the trucks merges into one never-ending scream of engines and tires.

This death roar can be heard in every corner of this country. The carbon that spews out of these monstrous machines and all the cars, pickup trucks and SUVs between them and the jet planes crisscrossing the sky above is helping turn the planet into a giant Greenhouse Gas chamber.

This – fossil capitalist Ecocide – is the biggest issue of our or any time: there’s no justice, decency, “democracy,” or freedom on a dead planet. Nothing else we care about will matter on an overcooked Earth.

In 2000, the global warming pace indicated that average global surface temperature would hit 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in 2041. The 1.5C mark was just hit last year. It is a benchmark global climate science and policy experts said the world should never pass if humanity hopes to avoid catastrophe.

Just minutes ago, as I was writing this (in the afternoon of Wednesday, January 8th) CNN reported the following:

“Massive wind-driven fires in Los Angeles County have killed at least two people and left others with ‘significant injuries.’ The fires are 0% contained as emergency workers struggle to battle fast-moving blazes. Tens of thousands are under evacuation orders across Los Angeles County. The Eaton Fire ballooned to more than 10,000 acres Tuesday and is now threatening about 13,000 buildings. Meanwhile, the Palisades Fire, which has destroyed 1,000 structures and burned more than 5,000 acres, has been exacerbated by intense winds, which temporarily grounded firefighting aircraft. All fire hydrants temporarily went dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood overnight, according to local officials. The LA County Fire Department ‘was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four,’ the county’s fire chief said. There is not enough county personnel to handle all the fires, he said.”

It’s at least five dead and five Los Angeles area fires and many more torched acres and structures by now (the morning of Thursday, January 9th). Expect a higher body count as crews sift through the charred ruins across Los Angeles County. CounterPunch’s Joshua Frank three days ago:

“Schools are burning, libraries, restaurants, stores, churches, state parks, mobile homes, apartment complexes, horses, mountain lions. People will die. Lives are being destroyed. As I write in the early morning hours, fire crews aren’t working to stop Malibu from burning. Or the Palisades, Topanga, Pasadena or Altadena. They can’t. There is not time and no way to do so. They are attempting to save lives as the winds howl and embers fly through the canyons. I just got word that an artist friend’s home is on fire, many more are under evacuation orders. Hurricane-level winds of up to 100 mph make the flame’s path almost impossible to predict. I smell smoke in our home, even though we aren’t in a danger zone. A collision of climate factors – a record-hot summer and bone-dry winter are worsening matters. Fire season here typically ends by November, but it’s January, and we’ve had no significant rain in nearly eight months.”

In a frantic rush for safety, local highways and roads became impassable as people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot with suitcases, pets, and small children in their arms. Bulldozers cleared forsaken cars and SUVs so emergency vehicles could pass through.

The photography coming out of the latest epic climate change-fueled fires in California is positively apocalyptic – Hollywood dystopian imagery in real life. Pacific Palisades looks “like Gaza” now.

“Like Gaza,” where escape from a 15-month US- and Israel-inflicted holocaust of genocidal ethnic cleansing has been impossible for at least 50,000 murdered Palestinians, whose survivors are living under conditions the United Nations General Secretary calls “apocalyptic.”

The re-election of the malevolent eco-fascist Donald “Drill,........

© CounterPunch