West LA Times

A recent study by UCLA climate scientists has connected climate change to about 25% of the extreme dryness in vegetation during the Palisades and Eaton fires. The analysis suggests that while these fires would have been severe regardless, they might have been smaller and less intense without the influence of climate change.

The research emphasizes the importance of adapting wildfire mitigation strategies due to ongoing climate changes. It recommends focusing on aggressive suppression of human-caused ignitions when extreme fire weather is forecasted, implementing home hardening techniques, and encouraging urban development in areas with low wildfire risk.

UCLA's Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative team, including Alex Hall, Park Williams, and Gavin Madakumbura, investigated various factors contributing to the fires. They aimed "to quantify how unusual these factors are, in the context of natural weather and climate variability." Their findings considered two wet winters followed by a long dry spell, changes in fuel moisture levels, and extreme Santa Ana winds.

The researchers concluded that "the fires would still have been extreme without the climate change components noted above but would have been somewhat smaller and less intense." They warned that continued climate change will likely lead to more intense wildfires as other necessary conditions for fire—such as fuel abundance, dryness, extreme winds, and ignitions—persist. Therefore, they advocate for focusing wildfire mitigation efforts on controllable factors to prevent damage.