Fire and rain: West to get more one-two extreme climate hits

Matt Udkow/AP

FILE - This Jan. 10, 2018 aerial photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows mudflow and damage to homes in Montecito, Calif. According to a study published in Science Advances on Friday, April 1, 2022, a one-two punch of nasty wildfires followed by heavy downpours, triggering flooding and mudslides, will strike the U.S. West far more often in a warming-hopped world, becoming a frequent occurrence. (Matt Udkow/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP, File)

By: Associated Press

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(AP) — A new study says the West is going to get more one-two punches of nasty wildfires followed by extreme rainfall as the world warms.

Friday's study says these combinations, which can lead to mudslides and flooding, will increase eight-fold in the Pacific Northwest and double in California by the year 2100 in a global warming worst-case emissions scenario.

Study authors say events like 2018's Montecito mudslide that killed 23 people, where heavy rains followed a Santa Barbara fire, will become a frequent occurrence.