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Gavin D. Madakumbura, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles

Wildfire season is starting weeks earlier in California – a new study shows how climate change is driving the expansion

Firefighters battle in Pacific Palisades, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2025 David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images

Fire season is expanding in California, with an earlier start to wildfire activity in most of the state. In parts of the northern mountains, the season is now starting more than 10 weeks earlier than it did in the 1990s, a new study shows.

Atmospheric scientists Gavin Madakumbura and Alex Hall, two authors of the study, explain how climate warming has been driving this trend and why the trend is likely to continue.

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