Strong blazes continue to rage in different parts of California, destroying thousands of homes and buildings and killing at least 11 people. Simultaneously, the EU’s CCCS has just confirmed 2024 as officially the hottest year on record.
It is too soon to determine the role of rising global temperatures in the California disaster, as not all such fires can be linked to climate change. But recent studies are trying to connect rising temperatures and some major fires in different locations across the globe.
Last year, for the first time, climate change pushed the annual global heating beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit set by the Paris agreement. This reflects that climate change continues to intensify, exacerbating existing problems in atmospheric conditions.
California fires and similar ones in the past are not directly caused by climate change, possibly. Most of them are related to human actions. But the burning of fossil fuels has led to rising temperatures and an increased likelihood and intensity of extreme heat.
