How the climate crisis is making fire season longer and more destructive

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 10, 2020

As the skies in parts of California turn a dark orange as a result of wildfires scorching the western United States, UC-Santa Barbara professor Leah Stokes says political leaders must act to halt the climate crisis. She notes that fire season in the western parts of the country is now two-and-a-half months longer than it used to be. “It’s a question of burning fossil fuels, which is what we’ve been doing, which has been heating up the planet and, as scientists tell us, have increased fire risk by 500%,” Stokes says. “That’s the kind of increase that we’re seeing as a result of climate change.”