Santa Ana winds to return as wildfires continue

Kaitlyn Trudeau from Climate Central shares the factors making these California wildfires more and more dangerous.

Transcript

00:00Our still focus is in Southern California where it's high winds, months of drought,

00:05and climate change are some of the factors contributing to the catastrophic wildfires

00:10in Los Angeles. And Kaitlin Trudeau is a senior research associate with climate science or for

00:16climate science with Climate Central. Thank you for joining us this morning, Kaitlin.

00:20No, thanks for having me. Kaitlin, how is climate change making wildfires more dangerous?

00:25Well, there's a couple different ways, but one of the most important ways is that it's increasing

00:31the frequency and severity of the weather conditions, which really allow wildfires to

00:36burn, to blow up really quickly. It's exactly what we've seen this week. So we're seeing more

00:40really hot, dry, windy days that really amplify the risks. Now you lead Climate Central's fire

00:46weather research. Are you finding there are factors increasing the wildfire risk in California?

00:51Absolutely. There's a combination of factors. I mean, people are moving out into the wildland,

00:57urban interface more often. We're kind of being out in nature more often and

01:01most fires are started by people. But climate change is also a really big role here. It's

01:06drying out the landscape and it's really heating things up and allowing for wildfires to become

01:10more severe. We've been talking about the unhealthy air quality across Southern California.

01:16Is the smoke from an urban wildfire with building particles more toxic than smoke from a wildfire

01:23in an unpopulated forest area? No, you know, generally speaking,

01:28you know, burning natural materials like wood, you know, is less toxic than things like plastics and

01:35diesel fuel and all the things that you end up finding in a city or urban environment.

01:38But to be clear, there's no safe kind of smoke, but you can imagine that it would be more toxic.

01:45Sure. And looking ahead, will there be more of these types of wildfires in California and

01:50elsewhere? And how can we reduce the risk conditions posed with these wildfires?

01:58Well, I think it's important to remember that wildfire is a part of life if you live in this

02:02part of the world, and that's something we need to learn to live with. But there are things we

02:06can do to reduce, you know, our vulnerability and the kind of risks that we're facing right now.

02:11There's things people can do in terms of just educating yourself if you live in one of these

02:16areas, creating defensible space around your home, having an emergency evacuation plan.

02:21There's things governments can do, too, to implement policies that reduce risks to residents.

02:26But ultimately, the only long-term solution is dramatically reducing our carbon pollution.

02:32And until we do that, it's going to become increasingly difficult to use

02:36the experiences of the past to prepare for the future.

02:40Caitlin Trudeau, Senior Research Associate for Climate Science with Climate Central. Thank you

02:45so much for that important information and for joining us this morning on AccuWeather Early.

02:50Thanks for having me.