Your support helps us to tell the storySupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Whipping winds are intensifying natural disasters fueled by climate change, stoking raging California wildfires and supercharging major Atlantic hurricanes. With destructive force, they have the ability to tear off roofs, flatten neighborhoods, and rip trees from the soil, leaving a barren environment in their wake. In the last few weeks, they’ve helped to set Southern California on fire, along with the effects of climate change on the arid region.“There are a lot of people that believe that climate change is happening and real, but not many people believe that they are actually currently experiencing climate change themselves personally. But, they are,” Daniel Gilford, a meteorologist and atmospheric scientist with Climate Central, told The Independent on Friday.Climate change is creating conditions ripe for fire growth in areas affected by the winds. Warmer temperatures caused by climate change and atmospheric warming fuel droughts – notably, Southern California hasn’t seen rain for months – that dry out fuels like grasses. As the climate warms, more water evaporates from the ground and vegetation.And, wildfire is also driven by hydroclimate whiplash and volatility: rapid swings between unusually wet and dry periods. Warmer temperatures can also result in more rain and heavier precipitation events, like the atmospheric river storms that have slammed the Golden State over the last couple of years. The precipitation allows for intense growth of grasses that will die out.A person tries to hose down embers from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, earlier this month. Hurricane-force winds helped the deadly wildfires spread across the region, alongside impacts from climate change (AP)Still, it remains hard to say whether the Santa Ana winds are becoming more or less frequent due to climate change – it may even decrease them.“The data [is] unclear, I would say, in terms of how climate change might affect Santa Ana winds and those strong, sort of accelerating downslope win
Dom. Gen 19th, 2025
