California is boiling and burning

The TLDR: Over the past year, the world witnessed a series of devastating wildfires across the globe—in California, Australia and the Amazon rainforest. Now, it’s California’s turn again! The state is setting new records—both in terms of high temperatures and land destroyed. And yes: this is just a glimpse of the future to come. 

Tell me about the wildfires

More than 2 million acres of land have been burned by wildfires as of Monday—breaking the previous record of 1.9 million set in 2018. The upside: only one person (a hiker) has died so far. But the reason this disaster is especially serious: This is not wildfire season. 

The state witnesses wildfires every year, but they usually kick in next month. As one fire captain explains: “This is crazy. We haven’t even got into the October and November fire season and we’ve broken the all-time record.”

How did this happen then?

The wildfires started around mid-August thanks to three unusual weather phenomena that came together to spark a natural disaster.

First, soaring temperatures: For months now, California has been experiencing unusually high temperatures. 

• Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4°C) on August 16—the highest-ever recorded temperature on the planet (i.e. since 1931 when we started to record these things). 
• And the boiling heat shows no signs of receding. 
• Over the weekend, several parts of California broke new records. In Southern California—which is hotter and drier—Burbank and Palm Springs also hit all-time highs.
• But the northern part of the state was no better. The typically cooler San Francisco hit a record-breaking 100 degrees (37.7°C) on Sunday—in early September!

What this meant: There was plenty of ‘kindling’—i.e. vast expanses of dry vegetation ready to burst into flames.

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