Climate change is expected to intensify fire-friendly weather conditions across the US and to lengthen the fire season.
Globally, carbon emissions from fires were near the long-term average in 2014, but North America's emissions were 70% higher than average.
Second-highest in number and third-highest in costs, 2021 was another extreme year for weather and climate disasters in the United States.
In 2019, the U.S. experienced 14 separate disasters costing at least a billion dollars each. Since 1980, 258 billion-dollar disasters have brought damages in excess of $1.75 trillion.
El Niño could bring increased rain to California. How might this affect the threat of wildfire?