LOS ANGELES — Although California may be enjoying a lull in this year's wildfire season — courtesy of a wet winter and a cool spring — scientists say humanity's relentless burning of fossil fuels has ensured that wildland fires will scorch ever larger portions of the state, perhaps as much as 52% more by midcentury.
While residents here have been spared the hardship of massive wildfires burning across the Canadian wilderness and the noxious smoke that has blanketed the eastern U.S., new research suggests California has yet to experience its worst fire season.
In a study published recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers used model simulations to isolate the role of greenhouse gas emissions on California's worsening conflagrations, as well as their future effects.
