For a long time, coronavirus overshadowed just how quickly and drastically the climate crisis was escalating. But 2020 is a highly dramatic year — worldwide, and in Germany too.

It's another record. Of course — what else could it be. It was heralded by an orange sky. Then ash rain fell over Los Angeles, and the birds fell silent. For many days now, smog has been hanging over the city of four million. Ash is settling on window frames — from the inside. People have been urged to stay indoors as much as possible, and hospitals have been treating large numbers of asthma cases. Instagrammers have been posting photos of palm trees against an apocalyptic backdrop, with captions reading: "Armageddon".

More than two dozen fires have been burning their way along the US West Coast for a month, from the Mexican border up into California's northern neighbouring states of Oregon and Washington; one has been raging for weeks 50 kilometres north of Los Angeles. Several hundred thousand Americans are fleeing their homes. While wildfires are nothing new, this year they are burning worse than ever before — and the actual fire season hasn't even started yet. In California, the land of optimism, the sun simply doesn't rise on some days any more.

Read more at: stern.de