Drought and fire activity—what's climate change got to do with it?
Monday, August 22, 2016 - 09:01
in Earth & Climate
It's mid-August and east of Los Angeles, the Blue Cut fire is burning through the mountains of San Bernardino, California. So far it's blackened 30,000 acres and forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate their homes. Several days before, NASA announced that July 2016 was Earth's warmest month since record-keeping began in 1880; it appears that 2016 is likely to beat 2015 for the dubious distinction of being the hottest year on record. And late last week, torrential downpours fell on southeastern Louisiana. The two-day storm resulted in twenty inches of rain, severe flooding and damage to an estimated 40,000 homes.