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California's Devastating Fire Season Is the New Normal
United States
The Rocky Fire outside Santa Rosa is the biggest wildfire in California this week. Hector Amezcua/ZUMA
Since the beginning of the year, the number of acres burned has topped 100,000, more than twice the average of the past five years and more than burned in all of 2014. So the wildfire situation is indeed dire. But federal records show that it actually isn't too far above the longer-term average. In other words, thanks in part to global warming, nasty fire seasons are just par for the course in California these days.
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