Firefighters gaining control of wildfire that closed scenic California highway
Climate Signals summary: Human-caused climate change is leading to longer wildfire seasons - and fueling wildfires in the winter, such as January 2022's "Colorado Fire".
Article excerpt:
Firefighters gained greater control on Sunday of a wildfire that closed northern California's scenic coastal highway and threatened a famous bridge, although about 500 people stayed under evacuation orders, officials said.
The so-called Colorado Fire, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Monterey and just north of the area known as Big Sur, broke out on Friday night and crossed the Pacific Coast Highway, burning for a time on the ocean side of the road.
Such fires are atypical for this time of year, as the Colorado Fire has scorched an area that went more than a decade without a January fire across more than 100 acres (40 hectares), Juliette said.
California has long had an active wildfire season, but it has grown longer and more punishing in recent years, fueled at least partly by climate change and a two-decade drought.
You can read the rest of this article here:
Related Content
