Sierra Nevada Wildfire

The lowdown :A record drought in California has set a perfect climate for wildfire season, creating a record number of fires, as well as their size and destruction. The fire, burning over 70,760 acres in Amador and Calaveras counties, was 65% contained as more than 4,000 firefighters sought to prevent its spread. Over 500 homes have been destroyed and 2 deaths have been reported.

Californian drought

California is entering the fourth year of a record-breaking drought creating an extremely dry landscape. Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought State of Emergency in January 2015. About 12 million trees have died in California forestlands in the past year because of the drought. The drying landscape is increasingly threatened by large, intense wildfires. Researchers found that although was caused by natural variation in rain and temperature, climate change added between 8% and 20% to the effect of the drought. This is a warning that as climate change gets worse the effects of drought around the world will also be worse.

The Enterprise Bridge passes over full water levels at a section of Lake Oroville in Oroville, California, 2011. The right hand picture shows the drop of the water level of the lake in 2014.