Justin Rowlatt

And there was a new scientific paper published yesterday talking about a kind of double fingerprint of climate change in the California fires. They call it climate whiplash. Higher temperatures mean we see more heat waves and droughts that obviously we saw in the Californian summer last year. But we also see more rain. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture.

And there was a new scientific paper published yesterday talking about a kind of double fingerprint of climate change in the California fires. They call it climate whiplash. Higher temperatures mean we see more heat waves and droughts that obviously we saw in the Californian summer last year. But we also see more rain. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture.

And that's what we saw in the two years preceding these fires. More rain in California, which allowed the vegetation to grow, the trees, shrubs, grasses to grow. When they dried out in the summer and there were no winter rains dampening them last year, then you have this dry vegetation.

And that's what we saw in the two years preceding these fires. More rain in California, which allowed the vegetation to grow, the trees, shrubs, grasses to grow. When they dried out in the summer and there were no winter rains dampening them last year, then you have this dry vegetation.

It just takes one spark, as we've seen, the seasonal Santa Ana winds to whip those flames up, and we see the consequences unfolding in California as we speak.

It just takes one spark, as we've seen, the seasonal Santa Ana winds to whip those flames up, and we see the consequences unfolding in California as we speak.