Republicans are poised to take control of the House of Representatives this month by the narrowest seat margin in nearly 100 years, with a 220-215 majority that will be thinned out even further in the coming weeks as two members join the Trump administration. And if the drama on the floor of the chamber surrounding the election of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was any indication, Republicans might be in for a wild ride. They could even lose their slim majority.

Republicans' challenge
Johnson's victory is a "chance for the Republican majority in the House to show the American people it can govern," said Roll Call. But the procedural struggle to choose Johnson as speaker "seems like a skirmish in a wider fight," said David Dayen at The American Prospect. 

Republicans will have little room to push their agenda, especially considering a caucus with so much past feuding. Johnson's job will be particularly hard until special elections are held to fill the vacancy of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), as well as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Walz (R-Fla.), who have been tapped for jobs in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet.

If Trump were to "continue to raid" the House to "fill out his White House and Cabinet," Republicans could "lose their edge altogether," said The New York Times. If Democrats win all three special elections, control of the chamber would flip. 

Lessons from the past
The last time the House was this closely divided, it was 1930 and the U.S. was in crisis. As the Great Depression deepened, Republicans held a 218-216 majority. But a "truly insane thing happened" between the election in November 1930 and when Congress convened in March 1931: 14 members-elect died, said The Washington Post. After special elections were held to fill the vacancies, Democrats emerged with a narrow majority. But with Republicans leading the Senate, it's remembered as the "do-little Great Depression's 72nd Congress" that failed to address the horrors of the unfolding economic crisis.

Republicans won a 215-214 plurality in 1916, shortly before the House voted to declare war on the Central Powers. While the narrow margin might have seemed like a recipe for gridlock, a rally-around-the-flag effect made the new Congress quite productive.

Los Angeles is experiencing the worst wildfires in the county's history. As thousands of people are being forced to evacuate and losing homes to the flames, wildlife may also be facing deadly consequences. 

How does fauna (and flora) react?
Like hurricanes or earthquakes, wildfires are disasters that can occur naturally. Wildlife is therefore generally prepared for it. Forest animals "typically have some ability to escape the heat," said National Geographic. "Birds may fly away, mammals can run, and amphibians and other small creatures burrow into the ground, hide out in logs or take cover under rocks." And other animals, including "large ones like elk, will take refuge in streams and lakes." 

In some cases, fire is even beneficial to the natural landscape. The heat from the flames can "stimulate some fungi, like morel mushrooms, to release spores," said National Geographic. Certain plants will "seed only after a blaze." And some animals, such as "mule deer and black-backed woodpeckers, require burned areas to both eat and nest."

Despite wildlife's ability to escape, fires are still dangerous for them. "Some animals do die in the flames of wildfires, mostly the elderly and very young animals," said the National Forest Foundation. However, the "majority of wildlife mortalities come after the fire is out," due to the "loss of important habitat and food sources burned in the fire."

Mass fire destruction can alter an ecosystem. "The burns create a new type of habitat, usually open areas where dense forests used to be that are quickly colonized by grasses and shrubs," said the foundation. Invasive species can set up camp before the native species get a chance to recover and regrow in the area.

What about the future?
Climate change is making wildfires larger and more frequent. The warming planet has given rise to megafires, or "large-scale, uncontrollable blazes that consume more than 100,000 acres of land," said North Carolina State University. These fires pose a significant threat to landscapes in states like California. Wildlife has "adapted to deal with smaller fires," said Stephanie Eyes, a wildlife biologist, to Newsweek, but sometimes it "can't escape these recent big fires."