Drought-hit California burns while waiting for El Niño rains

The fires are stoked by drought, in California’s case the worst its history. Earlier this year, officials went to measure the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which provides much of the state’s water. Instead of the traditional 1.5 metres of snow, they found just dry earth. This year’s snowpack is at a 500-year low, thanks to unusually warm winter weather and poor snows – conditions that are expected to become more common as climate change hits.

Climate change is widely acknowledged as being behind the severity of the drought. Warmer temperatures mean precipitation is more likely to fall as rain rather than snow. Rain runs off the mountains fast rather than piling up into a natural water reserve as snow does.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28212-drought-hit-california-burns-while-waiting-for-el-nino-rains/