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Santa Ana winds to return as wildfires continue
AccuWeather
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1/14/2025
Kaitlyn Trudeau from Climate Central shares the factors making these California wildfires more and more dangerous.
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00:00
Our still focus is in Southern California where it's high winds, months of drought,
00:05
and climate change are some of the factors contributing to the catastrophic wildfires
00:10
in Los Angeles. And Kaitlin Trudeau is a senior research associate with climate science or for
00:16
climate science with Climate Central. Thank you for joining us this morning, Kaitlin.
00:20
No, thanks for having me. Kaitlin, how is climate change making wildfires more dangerous?
00:25
Well, there's a couple different ways, but one of the most important ways is that it's increasing
00:31
the frequency and severity of the weather conditions, which really allow wildfires to
00:36
burn, to blow up really quickly. It's exactly what we've seen this week. So we're seeing more
00:40
really hot, dry, windy days that really amplify the risks. Now you lead Climate Central's fire
00:46
weather research. Are you finding there are factors increasing the wildfire risk in California?
00:51
Absolutely. There's a combination of factors. I mean, people are moving out into the wildland,
00:57
urban interface more often. We're kind of being out in nature more often and
01:01
most fires are started by people. But climate change is also a really big role here. It's
01:06
drying out the landscape and it's really heating things up and allowing for wildfires to become
01:10
more severe. We've been talking about the unhealthy air quality across Southern California.
01:16
Is the smoke from an urban wildfire with building particles more toxic than smoke from a wildfire
01:23
in an unpopulated forest area? No, you know, generally speaking,
01:28
you know, burning natural materials like wood, you know, is less toxic than things like plastics and
01:35
diesel fuel and all the things that you end up finding in a city or urban environment.
01:38
But to be clear, there's no safe kind of smoke, but you can imagine that it would be more toxic.
01:45
Sure. And looking ahead, will there be more of these types of wildfires in California and
01:50
elsewhere? And how can we reduce the risk conditions posed with these wildfires?
01:58
Well, I think it's important to remember that wildfire is a part of life if you live in this
02:02
part of the world, and that's something we need to learn to live with. But there are things we
02:06
can do to reduce, you know, our vulnerability and the kind of risks that we're facing right now.
02:11
There's things people can do in terms of just educating yourself if you live in one of these
02:16
areas, creating defensible space around your home, having an emergency evacuation plan.
02:21
There's things governments can do, too, to implement policies that reduce risks to residents.
02:26
But ultimately, the only long-term solution is dramatically reducing our carbon pollution.
02:32
And until we do that, it's going to become increasingly difficult to use
02:36
the experiences of the past to prepare for the future.
02:40
Caitlin Trudeau, Senior Research Associate for Climate Science with Climate Central. Thank you
02:45
so much for that important information and for joining us this morning on AccuWeather Early.
02:50
Thanks for having me.
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