Human-caused climate change is to blame for the increase in California’s wildfires, a study published this week suggests. In fact, in the quarter century from 1996 to 2020, wildfires in California consumed five times more land than they did from 1971 to 1995.
“The 10 largest fires in California history have all occurred in the past two decades, and five of those have happened since 2020,” said study co-author Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine. “Through our study, it has become clear that anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change is the major driver of this increase in wildfire damage.”
The research was published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Along with fueling extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes, climate change has also increased the extent and severity of wildfire seasons across the U.S., scientists say. “Climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires not only in California but also all over the world,” the state of California’s Air Resource Board said.
Scientists say human-caused climate change has increased air temperatures in California, which has resulted in more land burned in wildfires across the state
Over the past 50 years, the area burned by summer wildfires in California has been increasing. The study shows how surface temperatures almost mirror the amount of area burned, a phenomenon that is particularly noticeable over the past 20 years. The two seasons with the greatest area burned: 2020 and 2021, which also coincide with the two highest temperature values.
Another way to look at the data is by near-surface air temperature without time. The warmer it is, the more acres tend to burn:
More:Climate change fueled California’s recent surge in catastrophic wildfire seasons, study says
