Climate Change Primed LA to Burn — Catastrophically

From the first reports of wildfires breaking out around Los Angeles earlier this month, scientists could say that climate change had worsened the blazes. Sure, wildfires would burn in California regardless of planetary warming, but extra-dry fuels had turned the landscape into tinder. The resulting blazes, fanned by 100-mile-per-hour Santa Ana wind gusts, burned 50,000 acres. They killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures, causing perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars of damage and economic losses.

A more thorough analysis published Tuesday found that those extremely dry and hot conditions were about 35 percent more likely thanks to climate change. Rains starting in October normally dampen the Southern California landscape, reducing wildfire risk, but the almost nonexistent rainfall this autumn and winter was about 2.4 times more likely when compared to a preindustrial climate, according to the study by World Weather Attribution, a U.K.-based research group. The region now has 23 additional days of fire-prone conditions each year, the analysis found, meaning more opportunities for blazes to spread out of control.