But the sponge is "thirstier" too. It's like grabbing a sponge that's 7% bigger to mop up a spill, because it can soak up more liquid. A "bigger" atmospheric sponge saps more water from the landscape, so drought is also amplified as well as extreme rain.

Whiplash has increased by up to 66 per cent, they report, since the mid-20th century. The paper's examples include Australia's swing from Black Summer fire conditions in 2019-20 to three years of La Nina rain. Recent dramatic swings between drought and flood in California were referenced too.

There's so much that's extraordinary about the LA fires. They're raging as news hit the world surpassed 1.5C of warming last year, the hottest on record, which was added to the climate stripes with a new shade of red so dark it's almost black.