As wildfires continue to burn throughout Southern California, climate experts are highlighting the role climate change may be playing.
Experts say the current conditions serve as evidence of multiple factors fueling these extreme events and one of them is warming temperatures.
“What we have clear evidence of is that climate change is contributing to the warming, not only globally, but in California in the Southern California region. We know that is elevating the risk that wind and other weather conditions come together, and the odds of severe wildfire conditions are elevated,” said Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh, Stanford climate scientist.
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The Santa Ana winds are driving these wildfires to spread even faster and are making it harder for firefighters to gain control. We spoke with two climate experts about what they are observing.
“It’s a different sort of wind event than what happens in a hurricane or what happens in a severe thunderstorm. There has been research on the Santa Ana winds. For an event that is as extreme as this one, it really falls in the tail of the distribution. There is always going to be a large contribution of natural variability. The scientific question that comes up is, ‘Are the odds of that different with or without global warming that will require careful research?'” Diffenbaugh said.