Meanwhile, Alcohol Concern has launched its Dry January campaign, urging people to take a month off drinking alcohol.

BBC: File photo of a person drinking a bottle of beer

The Los Angeles area has received less than 2 inches of rain since January, making the bone-dry region "definitely ripe for these fires, " said William Patzert, a NASA climatologist.

CNN: Fire rages in California even as winds die down

When the school officially opened in January 2007, groundskeepers sprayed the dry, yellow grass with green dye in preparation for the arrival of dignitaries like Mandela and celebrity friends like Diane Sawyer and Spike Lee.

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The Baltic Dry Index, the most widely followed measure of shipping costs, collapsed in January and, after a brief rally, is now on a down trend again.

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