Scientists make alarming assessment about wildfire risk: 'A perfect storm'

A group of climate scientists has quantified the likelihood of extreme wildfires like the ones that destroyed entire communities in California early this year.

In a nutshell: our overheating planet continues to increase the odds for severe weather that contributes to the blazes, as NASA and other experts have long warned. 

What's happening?

When the Pacific Palisades fire and other nearby blazes started on Jan. 7, it was the genesis of a weeks-long disaster fueled by high winds and fed by drought-dried vegetation, according to a fact sheet from Penn State.

Experts from World Weather Attribution concluded the fire was 35% more likely because of hot, dry, and windy conditions driven by our planet's warming, NBC News reported. What's more, the expert group said the conflagration was estimated to be 6% more intense, as a result of worldwide overheating.

The findings are based on our planet's average temperature compared to preindustrial times and weather changes that result from the higher mercury. The Los Angeles area now has 23 more days in its dry season, for example.

"This was a perfect storm when it comes to conditions for fire disasters — the ingredients in terms of the climate enabling, the weather driving the fires, and the huge built environment right downwind from where these ignitions occurred," report contributor John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at the University of California, Merced, said in the NBC story.

The fires, only recently contained, killed "at least" 29 people and damaged or destroyed 17,000-plus buildings, all according to NBC. 

Why is the report important?

World Weather Attribution reported the planet has warmed by 1.3 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has measured it at "roughly" 1 degree Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, in global average since the preindustrial era.

The study drives home the tangible impact of even a couple degrees of warming, increasing in large part from burning dirty fuels, per the experts.

As a result, conditions that fueled the L.A. fires used to be a 1-in-23-year risk. It's now a 1-in-17-year likelihood, with a greater chance of being more severe, according to NBC.

While every extreme weather event can't be linked to planetary overheating, the evidence is mounting that the severity is worsening from coast to coast. 

What's being done to help?

Education and advocacy might be the biggest allies for residents, especially people living along coastlines and other places prone to severe weather. By understanding how changing seasons are impacting regional life, you can make better decisions on where to live and work.

Inventions, like homes that rise above flood waters, can help to protect life and property. A San Antonio company is even leveraging ancient techniques to build fire-resistant homes.

And simply parking your car and using your bike can save you cash and cut air pollution production, not to mention added health benefits.

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