The Link Between Climate Change and Wildfires

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2020

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Record-breaking heat, dry vegetation, and lightning each played a role in sparking wildfires that have burnt more than one million acres across California. But to what extent were these factors caused by climate change? UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, along with a team of researchers, published a study earlier this year that found that the “number of days with extreme fire weather during the autumn season has more than doubled since the late 1970s.” The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, calls climate change a key driver of the shift toward longer fire seasons. In this segment, we talk with Swain about the link between climate change and the risk of wildfires in California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:20.6	This is an extraordinary moment in our history.
1:23.7	Mother Nature has now joined this conversation around climate change.
1:28.5	That was Governor Gavin Newsom in his video to the DNC last week, underscoring the links
1:33.5	between climate and wildfires. And coming up on forum, we'll talk with UCLA climate scientist
1:38.8	Daniel Swain about global warming, wildfires, and what California can expect in the future.
1:44.5	And then, what's the best way to help those affected by the fires?
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1:50.9	That's all next after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Michael Krasny. Record-breaking heat, dry vegetation and lightning, each played a role in sparking wildfires that have burnt more than one million acres across California.
2:19.0	But to what extent were these factors caused by climate change?
	...

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