Wildfire smoke. Welcome to California in the summertime!


from NYT: (hint - it won't be getting better)

What exactly is the role of climate change in these intensifying wildfire seasons? Is it all climate change, or are there other factors as well?

(we) put that question to Michael F. Wehner, a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

He stressed that there is no question that warming temperatures have led to severe droughts, meaning more dry fuel, as well as more intense heat waves. Those are essentially the conditions that have made for wildfire seasons that start earlier, last longer and affect larger areas.

“To dismiss the role of climate change on these fires is simply incorrect,” said Mr. Wehner, who was a lead author on a chapter of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, a series of federal summaries of climate change data. He made the point, as most climate scientists do, that the cause of the wildfires is multifold, like in any complex event.

And this trend promises to continue: According to the National Climate Assessment science report released last year, the number of large forest fires in the Western United States and Alaska is projected to rise as the climate continues to warm.



As for the presidents* comments on the fires, the short version is: President Trump, said Mr. Stewart, “conflates it all in a way that’s about as nonsensical as I’ve ever seen.”

Shocking, I know. Web Link