ESSIC/AOSC Professor Raghu Murtugudde recently published an article titled “Natural Climate Loads The Dice That Turns California’s Droughts, Wildfires Ugly” in Tech2.
The article discusses the role of natural variability in climate change vulnerability. Murtugudde argues that the natural conditions of a location— such as climate, precipitation rates, and distance from the equator— can exacerbate the effects of climate change.
“Despite these human factors that exacerbate drought and wildfires, it would be a larger blunder to ignore the fact that California has a massive head start on droughts and forest fires simply because of where it is situated,” writes Murtugudde, “Everything humans have done since settling in has only been about adding fuel to the fire that is a part of nature’s bounty in California.”
In addition to his work at ESSIC, Murtugudde is an Affiliate Professor for the Department of Geology currently serving as a Visiting Professor in Bombay, India. He works primarily in climate studies, exploring the co-evolution of life and climate and what it means for sustainability. He also writes a blog hosted on the ESSIC website.
To read the article, click here: “Natural Climate Loads The Dice That Turns California’s Droughts, Wildfires Ugly”.
