Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.) As California firefighters battle historic wildfires across the state, our readers have reached out with questions about the role climate change plays in the intensity and frequency of these blazes. Others have expressed confusion over tweets by President Trump laying the blame on the state’s forestry and water management policies. The New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman, who covers climate and wrote about this topic, dug into her reporter’s notebook to answer some of your top questions: What exactly is the role of climate change in these intensifying wildfire seasons? Is it all climate change, or are there other factors as well? Lisa: I put that question to Michael F. Wehner, a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He stressed that there is no question that warming temperatures have led to severe droughts, meaning more dry fuel, as well as more intense heat waves. Those are essentially the conditions that have made for wildfire seasons that start earlier, last longer and affect larger areas.<doc-sep>In the past few decades, wildfire season in California has expanded from a few months each year to a year-long phenomenon. This summer’s Carr and Mendocino Complex fires — which together have burned more than 400,000 acres of land in Northern California — follow a string of smaller but still disastrous blazes earlier this year and last. From a scientific perspective, this new reality is made much more likely by climate change, which raises temperatures and makes drought more persistent. But climate policy experts say the law hasn’t caught up when it comes to people, businesses and communities on the ground who need to recoup the billions in damage caused by the fire. In California, government investigators say the local electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric is responsible for 12 fires that caused billions in damage late last year because the fires were sparked by power lines, in most cases, coming into contact with trees. The utility points to climate change as the true culprit: the warming planet created conditions that makes such fires all but inevitable. “This is about more than PG&E. And it’s about more than one bad fire season,” said PG&E CEO Geisha Williams in May. “Climate change makes wildfires and other extreme weather events more likely.” The situation in California offers a window into an increasingly relevant legal question as the signals of climate change appear more frequently: who should bear the responsibility when climate disaster strikes? It’s a question that climate change activists have floated in courthouses, negotiating rooms and legislative halls across the globe in recent years, but the answer is still yet to be determined. The wildfires and other extreme weather events across the globe have made the question an immediate concern. In May, the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that 12 devastating fires that struck Northern California late last year were the result of trees coming into contact with power lines or other failures by PG&E. Thanks to a policy known as inverse condemnation the utility will be on the hook for those damages, which the company says could easily surpass $10 billion, even if the company is not found to be negligent. In the past, PG&E has paid the bills when the company was blamed for fires and other damages. But the company now says it cannot continue to foot the bill so long as climate change continues to increase the likelihood of fires. Millions of trees have died across California after years of intense drought, creating vast quantities of fuel that allow fires to burn faster and over greater distances. Combine that with higher temperatures and there’s a recipe for disaster — one that the company argues will be difficult to keep up with despite its best efforts. The problem is only going to get worse with time. A May report from the state described climate change as a “real, immediate, and growing threat to California’s future” and highlighted the link between rising temperatures and wildfires. “Fire season used to be a five, six-month proposition,” says Kurt Henke, former Sacramento fire chief who now heads AP Triton, a fire consulting firm. “It’s now year round due to drought and the fact that climate is changing.” To keep utility companies out of bankruptcy, which utilities in California said they could face without a rule change, officials are pushing a change in the law. Late last month, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a new plan that would allow a court to decide whether the utility acted “reasonably” before forcing the company to pay claims. “Costly wildfires and natural disasters have the potential to undermine the system,” Brown told legislators, “leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it should be making even greater investments in safety.” PG&E has also pushed to raise electricity rates to pay for damage rather than collecting from shareholders and risking their bankruptcy. That would allow the companies to continue normal operations without bankruptcy, which would lead to higher electricity prices in the state. The debate over liability is nothing new. As early as 1991, a group of small developing countries facing devastation as a result of sea level rise and flooding called on rich countries to pay for “loss and damage.” That topic has been a sticking point in recent climate change negotiations, with developing countries arguing that the countries that have emitted the most greenhouse gases — namely, the U.S. and other developed countries — should pay the cost of damages. Discussions on that topic remain ongoing as a significant rift remains even among governments committed to addressing global warming. Within the U.S., that debate has taken several different forms. Proactive policymakers have pushed to rework the National Flood Insurance Program, which pays people to rebuild their homes after floods even in areas where climate-related damage is likely to strike again. That program, which is $25 billion in debt, puts the burden of climate change-related natural disasters in the hands of the federal government and the taxpayer by extension. Infrastructure experts have also pushed the federal government, without much positive reception, to rethink its disaster assistance dollars to incorporate climate change preparedness. A group of pioneering cities and states have sought to address the question of who pays the costs of climate change differently, pushing the oil and gas industry to pay for climate-related damages. A series of lawsuits across the country have blamed the companies for years of polluting the planet while concealing evidence that emissions would contribute to devastating climate change. The authorities behind the lawsuits, brought by officials everywhere from San Francisco to New York state, hope that courts will force the industry to pay up to cover the costs of damage and adaptation. “Because of climate change we are incurring costs, whether it’s the decision to raise a sea wall or installing air conditioning in schools,” says Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator now an adviser at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. “We’re looking for them to pay their fair share.” But courts have thus far expressed skepticism — not necessarily at the fault of oil and gas companies, but at the ability of the judicial system to deal with it. “The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,” wrote William Alsup of the U.S. District Court in Northern California as he dismissed a suit from the cities of San Francisco and Oakland. That may be. But as the situation in California shows, figuring out who pays for the devastation brought by climate change could not happen fast enough. Get our climate newsletter. Learn how the week’s major news story connects back to the climate crisis. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com.<doc-sep>California wildfires: Flames pour from homes as blaze spreads top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Where is Mendocino complex fire? Mendocino county is 155 miles north of San Francisco, California, and is located by the coast of the Pacific ocean. The massive blaze is burning in an area larger than New York City, and has continued to spread rapidly this past weekend. The fire has now become the largest wildfire in Californian history as emergency firefighters are drafted in while crews battled to keep flames from descending into foothill communities. The Mendocino Complex Fire, made up of two separate conflagrations that merged, grew to 283,800 acres (114,800 hectares) and was still growing, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The Mendocino Complex Fire is compromised of the Ranch and River fires. Together these compromise the second largest California wildfire on record in terms of acreage burned. Spokeswoman for Cal Fire, Lynne Tolmachoff said the state is only in the middle of its fire season, with the “worst fires often occurring later in the year, as the land becomes increasingly dry and weather pattern create windy conditions.” More than 20,000 people have been evacuated A helicopter drops water while battling the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire The 3,900 crews battling the Mendocino Complex are trying to keep flames from breaking through fire lines on a ridge above the foothill communities of Nice, Lucerne, Glen Haven, and Clearlake Oaks, said Tricia Austin, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire. The fire has already surpassed the Thomas Fire, which burned 281,893 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in 201. The Mendocino Complex Fire has led to evacuation for portions of Colusa County, as well as Lake and Mendocino counties. More than 20,000 people have been evacuated and residents who have not been forced to leave their homes yet are urged to closely monitor alerts from the governments officials. Flames leap above a vehicle on High Valley Rd as the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire Rapidly-rising air caused by the extreme heat helps the fire to grow explosively as the fire will create its own wind, as well as fire vortices (firenadoes) and tree crowning (when the leaves get engulfed by flames), even on otherwise calm days Evan Duffey Smoke may also be spread farther away from the fires, creating dangerously poor air quality conditions throughout California and the western USA. Heat and poor relatively humidity will continue to plague firefighters battling this fire into early this week. “Rapidly-rising air caused by the extreme heat helps the fire to grow explosively as the fire will create its own wind, as well as fire vortices (firenadoes) and tree crowning (when the leaves get engulfed by flames), even on otherwise calm days," AccuWeather Meteorologist and volunteer firefighter Evan Duffey said. Temperatures could reach 43C (110F) in Northern California over the next few days with gusty winds fanning the flames of the complex, a National Weather Service meteorologist said. California fires: Pictures show wildfires devouring northern California Tue, July 31, 2018 At least 17 California fires have destroyed more than 275,000 acres across the state dating back to at least July 23 Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 12 Burnt antique cars sit ruined in the Keswick neighborhood as the Carr fire continues to spread Where are the California wildfires? Further south in California, stronger Sundowner winds are anticipated to develop and increase the fire danger around Santa Barbara. AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun said “These winds tend to flow from north to south from Santa Barbara County to Los Angeles County in the mountain and through the north-south passes.” Elsewhere in California, evacuations were ordered for cabins in Cleveland National Forest canyons in Orange County after a blaze broke out and quickly spread to span 700 acres. California fire: Aerial footage shows extent of HUGE wildfire Mendocino county is 155 miles north of San Francisco, California<doc-sep>
California wildfires: Flames pour from homes as blaze spreads Thousands of fire crews are battling eight catastrophic fires across the state. The Mendocino Complex grew to span 290,692 acres today as two fires merged to form the biggest wildfire in Californian history. Fire crews said today the blaze was expected to continue for at least the rest of the month. Officials had previously said they hoped the Mendocino fire would be out by mid-August but have now pushed the date to September. At least 75 homes have been destroyed by the super fire, and thousands remain displaced after being forced from their homes. President Donald Trump has declared a “major disaster” across the state. What causes the fires? The fires have been caused by various things - for example, the Carr Fire, which has burned 167,000 acres of land, was started by a vehicle engine fault. However, with nearly half of the ten largest California wildfires on record occurring in the last decade, experts are looking for the root cause of the upward trend. The intense heatwaves sweeping the drought-stricken state have magnified the issue. Years of drought have resulted in dry vegetation across the state, allowing fires to spend rapidly. Scientists have said climate change is the underlying cause of all the factors which have added up to allow the fires to get out of control. California fires: At least 75 homes have been destroyed, and more hot weather is forecast President Trump tweeted on Monday that “the fires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilised.” But experts have disputed the President’s claim. LeRoy Westerling, a climate scientist and associate professor at the University of California, said: “The problem here is he’s not acknowledging the role climate change is playing in California’s fire problem, and the scale of the problem is far beyond anything he’s talking about doing.” Scott McLean, deputy chief at California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) told TIME: “We have plenty of water to fight these wildfires. “Our changing climate is leading to more severe and destructive fires that we are seeing this year and last.” California fires: President Donald Trump has declared a “major disaster” across the state. California fires:The intense heatwaves sweeping the drought-stricken state have magnified the issue.