As California oscillates between drought and deluge, wildfires rage due to "hydroclimate whiplash" driven by global warming. Hydroclimate whiplash—the rapid shifts between extreme wet and dry weather — has already intensified globally due to climate change.

Climate change has made the grasses and shrubs that are fuelling the Los Angeles fires more vulnerable to burning, scientists say. Rapid swings between dry and wet conditions in the region in recent years have created a massive amount of tinder-dry vegetation that is ready to ignite.

As Los Angeles grapples with an unprecedented wildfire that threatens to etch its name in history as Southern California’s most devastating blaze, a groundbreaking study by UCLA researchers revealed a critical climate phenomenon fueling the crisis.