Fires at opposite ends of California have smothered the Golden State in smoke.
Fall may be here, but rapidly-moving flames are still torching the exceptionally dry land, killing dozens of people in the state.
Photos captured by NASA satellites gazing down at the Earth from space show smoke blanketing hundreds of miles of the state on Friday, when northeast winds blew smoke from the deadly Camp Fire across the California.
The fire, which has burned 113,000 acres since November 8, has become the most destructive fire in state history.
Image: NASA earthdata
Down in Southern California, the Woolsey and Hill Fires have also contributed considerable amounts of smoke.
The Woolsey Fire, which has forced tens of thousands to evacuate from entire communities in Malibu, Thousand Oaks, and Calabasas, has burned over 91,000 acres.
Image: Digitalglobe
Here, winds pushed thick clouds of smoke off the coast, over the Pacific Ocean.
California’s modern wildfire woes have been stoked by the well-understood and intertwined culprits of dry, powerful seasonal winds, climate change, and mismanaged forests.
However, climate change has almost certainly played an outsized role in these recent fires, as well as California’s terrible 2018 fire season.
Image: nasa Earth Observatory
Warming climes dry out the land — and the state has experienced some of its hottest summer months in recorded history.
Combined with sustained dry winds and little-to-no autumn rain, the vegetation and forests across much of the state are at record or near-record seasonal lows for dryness.
The Camp Fire, which has burned down nearly 6,500 structures while taking the lives of at least 29 people — tying the record for the most deadly fire in state history — is 25 percent contained.
The Woolsey Fire is 20 percent contained, and fire-promoting winds are expected to keep blowing through Monday.
