new normal 復習

　Devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change are "the new normal", California's governor has said.
　Jerry Brown said vast fires, such as the ones that have ravaged southern California in recent days, "could happen every year or every few years".
　"We're facing a new reality in this state," he said. Mr Brown made the comments after surveying the damage in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles.
　Thousands of firefighters have been battling the fires since Monday.
　Mr Brown, a Democrat who has attacked the Trump administration's stance on climate change, said: "We're facing a new reality in this state, where fires threaten people's lives, their properties, their neighbourhoods, and of course billions and billions of dollars. (Skip the rest)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42297370

　今回取り上げる語は、new normal です。この表現は英字新聞を読んでいると、度々見かける表現です。
　まず意味を確認します。OEDをみると、“a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual, or expected” とあり、また URBAN DICTIONARY をみると、“An overused term or slogan by politicians and businesspeople to describe the disruptive, distrustful, or dangerous world in which we live in” とありました。
　次にこの表現の成立について確認します。この表現はリーマンショックが関係しています。『デジタル大辞泉』(小学館)をみると、「世界経済はリーマンショックから回復しても以前の姿には戻れない、との見方から生まれた言葉。構造的な変化が避けられない状況を示唆している。」とありました。wiki にも“New Normal is a term in business and economics that refers to financial conditions following the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the aftermath of the 2008–2012 global recession. The term has since been used in a variety of other contexts to imply that something which was previously abnormal has become commonplace.” とあります。
　今回はカルフォルニアの大規模山火事の記事でこの表現が使われています。今回の文章を一部訳出すると、「気候の変化により勢いを強めた破壊的な山火事が“常態化”している。」となります。(OkaUchi)