Climate change made the devastating and deadly LA wildfires worse, a scientific study has confirmed.
The hot, dry weather that led to the inferno was made 35 per cent more likely due to the warming planet, research by the World Weather Attribution found. And the fires were more severe due to a reduction in the rainfall that normally puts out blazes during the wildfire season.
Wildfires in the Californian city started on January 7 and spread quickly, killing around 30 people and destroying more than 10,000 homes. The World Weather Attribution network of researchers from the US, UK and a number of other European countries warned the hot, dry and windy conditions that drove the fires were about 35 per cent more likely due to global warming – and made the blazes 6 per cent more intense.
It added that the fire-risk conditions could become another 35 per cent more likely if global temperatures rise 2.6C above pre-industrial levels, for which the world is currently on track by 2100. The low rainfall between October and December, a period when rain usually brings an end to the region’s wildfire season, is now about 2.4 times more likely than in pre-industrial times, an analysis of historical weather data found.
And the fires were accelerated by strong so-called “Santa Ana winds” – powerful easterly gusts of winds in the US which blow inland from the coast.
Dr Clair Barnes, World Weather Attribution researcher at Imperial College London, said: “Climate change increased the risk of the devastating LA wildfires. Drought conditions are more frequently pushing into winter, increasing the chance a fire will break out during strong Santa Ana winds that can turn small ignitions into deadly infernos.
“Without a faster transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels, California will continue to get hotter, drier, and more flammable.”
Roop Singh, head of urban and attribution at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said: “Climate change set the stage, helping turn the hills around LA tinder-dry. However, hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, the rapid spread of fires into urban zones, and a strained water system all made the blazes extremely difficult to contain.
“These fires have highlighted just how vulnerable California is to winter wildfires, underscoring the need for better preparation for a more dangerous future.”
Dr Friederike Otto, co-lead of World Weather Attribution and senior climate scientist at Imperial College London, warned America is experiencing the “devastating consequences of fossil fuel warming”, from wildfires in the west to violent hurricanes in the east. She said: “In 2025, the choices facing world leaders remain the same – to drill and continue to burn oil, gas and coal and experience ever more dangerous weather, or transition to renewable energy for a safer and fairer world.”
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