Weather or not, it’s our fault: Human-caused climate change blamed for surge in wildfires

Human-caused climate change may be playing a significant role in fueling the surge of devastating wildfires in California, according to a new study from a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist and other collaborators.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, determined that nearly all recent increases in wildfire burned areas is attributed to anthropogenic climate change — caused or influenced by humans, either directly or indirectly — rather than to natural climate variation.